Christopher Smith, assistant secretary for fossil fuels at the U.S. Department of Energy, will be at the University of Houston Wednesday, Feb. 24, to discuss two collaborations between the department and the University.
Smith will meet with officials from UH and Texas Southern University and will tour research facilities at the UH Energy Research Park.
The collaborations include a Department of Energy (DOE) partnership with UH and Texas Southern to engage minority students in a summer pilot project focused on management training, business plan development and career readiness skills, an effort to train and mentor minority science, engineering and business students to pursue leadership positions in the energy industry, DOE and its national laboratories.
UH also will work with DOE to host an Innovations in Conventional Energy Technology Business Plan competition, a first-of-its-kind, international business plan competition set for October. The competition, which will offer a cash prize, will include 10 teams from universities and 10 teams from start-up companies, all focused on new technology for the oil and gas sector.
WHAT: Assistant Energy Secretary Christopher Smith will tour UH research facilities and
discuss two upcoming collaborations with the University, including a business plan
competition for conventional energy technology.
WHEN: Smith will be available to talk with media after brief remarks at 1:55 p.m. Wednesday,
Feb. 24. Tour starts at 1:20 p.m.
WHERE: UH Energy Research Park, Building 4, 5000 Gulf Freeway.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeannie Kever, 713-743-0778, m-713-504-3769, jekever@uh.edu.