UTEP Relaunches Mining Engineering Program as DOE Pushes National Workforce Expansion

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation visited the University of Texas at El Paso to discuss efforts to expand the nation's mining and critical minerals workforce.

The visit centered on UTEP's relaunch of its Mining Engineering program, now the only one of its kind in Texas. According to KVIA, UTEP is expected to graduate up to 100 mining engineers annually.

Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson came to campus as part of her engagement with universities following the DOE's launch of the PROSPECT initiative, a $100 million program designed to double the nation's graduates in mining engineering, metallurgy, and critical minerals supply chain fields over the next two years, according to KVIA.

"The ability to harvest those resources and turn them into the materials we need for our modern way of life to function has left the country," Robertson said. "The last 30 years, we've deindustrialized. We're trying to change that if we're going to reindustrialize as a nation, we have to have the materials here to do that."

Robertson noted that UTEP is one of just 14 schools offering mining engineering and supply chain degrees nationwide, according to KVIA.