South Dakota
Mines Spring 2023 STEAM Café lineup includes a wide range of exciting topics.
STEAM Café, an ongoing series of free, informal
talks by Mines faculty, staff and visiting experts, is a partnership between
the university, South Dakota Public Broadcasting and Hay Camp Brewing Company. An acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering,
Arts and Mathematics, STEAM Café is held at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each
month at Hay Camp in Rapid City unless otherwise noted.
The 2023 spring STEAM Café lineup includes:
Jan.
17, 6 p.m.
Dark
Sky Magic: 70 Years of the Night Sky Above the Black Hills
Presented
by Hank Fridell, Black Hills Astronomical Society member
For
nearly 70 years, the Black Hills Astronomical Society (BHAS) has introduced
thousands of area residents to the wonders of the night sky at the Hidden
Valley Observatory just outside of Rapid City. Hank Fridell, BHAS member, will
present a series of astronomy photos taken in the Black Hills and discuss how
observing the night sky has changed over the years and, with it, our
understanding of the universe. Attendees of this presentation will also
discover how to obtain a free copy of the book chronicling the history of the
BHAS, which was written during the pandemic by Fridell, Ron Dyvig, director of
the Badlands Observatory in Quinn, SD, and Richard Walker, director of the
Hidden Valley Observatory.
Feb.
21, 6 p.m., Performing Arts Center
Mines
Chemistry Magic Show during Engineers Week
Presented
by Mines students with the ACS university chapter
Join
us as Mines students with the university chapter of the American Chemical Society present their popular “magic
show” featuring science-based
demonstrations, including the liquid nitrogen cannon. Please note: this
presentation will be held at the Performing Arts Center as part of Mines’
Engineers Week activities.
March
21, 6 p.m.
Primal
Skills: Confronting Personal and Global Challenges Eye to Eye
Presented
by Dr. Tim Masterlark, Mickelson Professor of Geology and Geological Engineering
at Mines, and Dr. Scyller Borglum, vice president at WSP USA and a Mines alumna.
Current
environmental, societal and economic challenges making global headlines have
hit home and become overwhelming for many people. How can we navigate
uncertainty and turmoil? Dr. Tim Masterlark, Mickelson Professor of geology and
geological engineering at South Dakota Mines, spent the past year as a Jefferson Science Fellow with the U.S. Department of State,
training diplomatic security agents who operate in some of the most lawless
places on Earth. Dr. Scyller Borglum, vice president at WSP USA and a Mines
alumna, is focused on the next generation of scientists and engineers who can
solve modern transportation, energy, environmental and infrastructure problems.
They will share simple but effective
“primal skills” –
personal responsibility, mental toughness, situational awareness,
run/hide/fight and mitigating medical trauma – that can help us all tackle
difficulties in our personal lives and beyond.
April
18, 6 p.m.
The
U.S. Invasion of Canada: Border Broadcasting in the Early Days of Radio
Presented
by Dr. Bryce Tellmann
KFBB
in Havre, Mont., is often credited as the first radio station on the Northern
Plains. When the 50-watt station atop Buttrey’s Department Store started
broadcasting in 1922, it quickly became an important means of civic, cultural
and personal connection on both sides of the U.S./Canada border. Dr. Bryce
Tellmann, a lecturer in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at
South Dakota Mines, will focus on the regionalizing effect of early radio
broadcasts, how KFBB became part of a deep-rooted tradition of international
regionalism on the Northern Plains and other radio-related highlights from the
54th Annual Dakota Conference.
May
16, 6 p.m.
Presented
by Dr. Jon Kellar and Dr. Katrina Donovan
Creation
of pottery and ceramics is as ancient as human settlement, and minerals found
in the Black Hills have been used to make ceramics for hundreds of years. Drs.
Jon Kellar and Katrina Donovan of the South Dakota Mines Materials and
Metallurgical Engineering Department recently received a National Science Foundation grant to study minerals’ chemical makeup and
apply it to creative uses within their undergraduate engineering program. They will discuss the history of the
local ceramics industry, the efforts of area ceramics artists, and the science
and creative process behind turning raw minerals into ceramics.