CMI organizes youth event for National Engineers Week and introduces new toolkit activity

series of images shows planning the activity, insert with detail of the activity, and A group of students participating in cookie mining activity
Planning the activity and a group of students participating in cookie mining activity

CMI researchers at Colorado School of Mines conducted the research for this highlight

Achievement
The Critical Materials Innovation Hub Education and Outreach team at Colorado School of Mines recently introduced a new activity for the CMI toolkit and planned Engineering Day in honor of National Engineers Week held on February 25, 2026, at Colorado School of Mines in partnership with and Rocky Mountain MESA and Nexus.

Details

  • CMI and Nexus, a research partnership between CMI Team members Colorado School of Mines and National Lab of the Rockies, welcomed 111 high school and middles school students from the local area to celebrate National Engineering Week. Middle and high school students engaged in three engineering challenges including a cookie mining activity that introduces resource extraction. 
  • Celeste Stroup, CMI Education and Workforce Development Program Manager at Colorado School of Mines, and Danielle Ladd, CMI Outreach Coordinator, shared a new lesson plan and activity they developed for the CMI toolkit that encourages individuals to think about how materials are used and where they come from.

Hub Targets Addressed 
Training the critical materials workforce of the future. 

111 students participating in engineering challenges
111 students participating in engineering challenges