Check Out the Winning Teams!

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), in partnership with the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL), invited high school and university teams to analyze FORGE data and create data visualization portfolios for the 2019 Geothermal Design Challenge™.

Teams of two or three students explored geoscience datasets, interpreted subsurface information, and built visualizations that communicated a clear geothermal story. Below are the winning submissions.

Read the DOE GTO announcement of winning teams

First Place — DePaul University / Georgia Institute of Technology

Portfolio: View here

“EGS Site Selection Using GIS and Machine Learning”

This portfolio identifies a proposed well location using machine learning, Python workflows, and ESRI’s ArcMap and ArcScene. The team combined robust geospatial analysis with a strong understanding of the FORGE dataset to develop a data-supported site recommendation.

Second Place — Colorado School of Mines

Portfolio: View here

“Open-Source Approach to 3-D Communication”

This submission integrates FORGE datasets into a 3-D scene using open-source Python tools such as The Open Mining Format, ParaView, SGeMS, and SimPEG. The approach demonstrates how researchers can communicate complex subsurface information and support reproducibility using accessible, community-developed tools.

Third Place — Stanford University

Dashboard: View here

“Want to Explore FORGE Data?”

This Tableau-based dashboard introduces foundational geothermal exploration concepts using lithology, temperature, and other key subsurface parameters. Its clean design makes it well suited for classroom instruction and introductory geothermal coursework.

Return to the 2019 Geothermal Design Challenge™ page