Thursday, October 9, 5:10 pm-5:50 pm

Exploring Geothermal Frontiers: EGI’s Research, Collaborations, and Possibilities

Pengju Xing, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor | Civil & Environmental Engineering 
Research Associate | Energy & Geoscience Institute 
University of Utah

For over 30 years, Energy & Geoscience Institute (EGI) at the University of Utah has been engaged in conducting basic and applied geoscientific research for the geothermal industry. Using cutting edge tools, EGI staff have deep expertise in applied geoscience and engineering required to explore, drill, and develop geothermal resources. It is now on the forefront of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology with the Utah FORGE (Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy) project, which aims to produce power from hot dry rock. FORGE, which is funded by US Department of Energy and managed by EGI, is a dedicated underground field laboratory for developing, testing, and accelerating breakthroughs in EGS technologies to advance the uptake of geothermal resources around the world. A lot of different techniques/tools and drilling methods have been tested at the Utah FORGE site. Both the injection and production wells have been drilled. Commercial scale hydraulic stimulations have been conducted in the wells, which successfully established the conductive path way between the injection well and the production well. In 2024, a one-month long circulation test showed a production rate of 26.5 kg/s with a temperature 196 oC. This talk will showcase the most recent update of EGI’s geothermal activities with a focus on FORGE project. The importance of geomechanics during EGS development will be discussed.
 

Thursday, October 9, 5:50 pm-6:30 pm

ScientistCloud: Streaming, Storage, and Management for Massive Scientific Datasets

Dr. Amy Gooch
Chief Operations Officer
ViSOAR LLC

ScientistCloud™ revolutionizes the management and visualization of massive scientific datasets by delivering high-performance streaming technology and robust data storage solutions. The platform empowers users to efficiently explore large-scale 2D, 3D, and time-varying multiresolution data through adaptive streaming, progressive refinement, local caching, and long-term cloud hosting—minimizing data loss risk and enabling rapid access. Continuous repository maintenance, automatic updates, and streamlined data conversion ensure seamless exploration via a web-based dashboard, with support for integrating both workstation memory and external storage systems. This comprehensive ecosystem helps research teams securely maintain, share, and visualize critical datasets while controlling costs and fostering collaboration at scale. The presentation will include demonstrations of our work with the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), NASA Climate Data, National Science Data Fabric, and Material Commons.