Energy will be the subject of the 2012 Paul D. Scholz Symposium on Technology and its Role in Society to be held from 5 to 5:50 p.m. Thursday, April 19, in Macbride Auditorium, Macbride Hall, on the University of Iowa Pentacrest.

The symposium is titled “The Future of Energy” and will feature a talk by Dan Mineck, retired vice president of engineering and environment at Alliant Energy, member of the College of Engineering Advisory Board, and coordinator of the college’s Virtual International Project Teams program. The program involves a yearlong project collaboration between UI students and their colleagues at Ecole Polytechnique Universitaire de Marseille, France.

Mineck’s talk will focus in part on how producers of electrical energy alone will have to continue to balance long-term versus short-term environmental and economic impacts of issues such as fuel sourcing, smart grid development, and terrorist threats. He notes that the participation of engineers will be necessary to ensure acceptable outcomes.

The free, public symposium was renamed in 1993 to honor Scholz, 20-year Tau Beta Pi advisor, associate dean of the UI College of Engineering (1979-1992), and member of the Legacy of Iowa Engineering. Co-sponsors are the UI Tau Beta Pi chapter, Tau Beta Pi alumni and the College of Engineering.

Further information: tbp@engineering.uiowa.edu or 319-335-5764.