The School of Mines will benefit from a consolidated or "omnibus" appropriations bill that was recently signed by the President. The funding package, which had the support of the South Dakota congressional delegation, combines 11 of the 12 appropriations bills that fund government operations and agencies for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2008.
The Presidential signature on the omnibus appropriations bill completes the appropriations process for the federal fiscal year which began October 1, 2007. The first and only stand-alone appropriations bill passed and signed earlier, the Department of Defense Appropriations bill, greatly benefited School of Mines researchers, enabling them to work on projects of direct benefit to the armed services.
"We truly appreciate all the work of the South Dakota congressional delegation," School of Mines President Dr. Charles Ruch said. "The delegation's continued support allows us to work to benefit the state, region and nation through collaborative education and economic development efforts."
School of Mines projects that received funding in the omnibus appropriations bill are:
- $382,000 for the School of Mines Connector Road: The connector road will connect St. Patrick and St. Joseph streets, providing another entrance point to campus, access to the Black Hills Business Development Center, and additional parking areas. By providing better access to laboratory space and the Black Hills Business Development Center, this project has the opportunity to have a positive impact on economic development. Another entrance point to campus is valuable for emergency access and to improve traffic flow during high-volume events held on campus, such as the State Track Meet.
- $282,000 for the Black Hills Nanoscale Minerals Institute (BH-NMI): The purpose of the proposed BH-NMI is to assist companies, large and small, with engineering and manufacturing of products and processes that utilize very unique, and potentially useful, nanoscale minerals. This has significance to the local and state economy as Rapid City is near the center of high-quality, vast deposits of minerals that have the potential for such development, namely montmorillonite (commonly known as bentonite) and mica. The institute would build upon on-going state and local investments at the School of Mines in the Center for Accelerated Applications at the Nanoscale (CAAN), the Composites and Polymer Engineering (CAPE) Laboratory and major analytical instrumentation.
The bill also includes support language for the School of Mines to expand science, technology and engineering exchanges with Mongolia. The School of Mines currently has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Mongolian Technical University in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The MOU has served to facilitate collaboration among faculty and students.
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