ENERGY

ENERGY Energy Action Alliance Names Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr., as New Chair Bolsters commitment to environmental and economic equity

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire

Tational Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., has become the new Chair of the Energy Action Alliance (EAA).

EAA was created by the American Petroleum Institute (API) in 2012 to bring together diverse national nonprofits to help strengthen relationships between people of color communities and the natural gas and oil industry, which provides economic opportunities and reliable and affordable energy to communities across the nation.

Dr. Chavis affirmed, “I am professionally and personally committed to environmental justice and equity, and as well I am equally committed to the sustainable economic development of all the people of color communities that we serve across the United States. As the chair of the Energy Action Alliance, I hope that we can increase awareness about opportunities in the natural gas and oil industry and give back to people of color through good paying jobs, community engagement and investments.”

The EAA network is comprised of 18 partners, including NNPA, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, American Association of Blacks in Energy, National Urban League, and US Black Chambers.

The mission of the EAA is to develop mutually benDr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr.

eficial relationships between the oil and natural gas industry and diverse communities around two priority areas: workforce and supplier diversity. Both areas focus on awareness and building diverse stakeholder alliances to meet future oil and natural gas needs.

According to a recent API study, nearly 54% of the 1.9 million job opportunities expected to be created over the next two decades in the natural gas, oil and petrochemical industry are projected to be filled by women and people of color.

“Building a diverse, inclusive and resilient workforce is a priority for API and our members to ensure the industry is prepared to meet future challenges,” said Amanda Eversole, executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer of API. “Working with the Energy Action Alliance is critical to API’s strategy for fulfilling our industry’s commitment to increased diversity and inclusion within our workforce and creating additional opportunities for minority owned suppliers in serving our industry. I look forward to working with Dr. Chavis and welcome his leadership as we advance solutions towards achieving our common goal of providing more opportunities for communities of color around the country.”

Source: NNPA

ENGINEERING

Astroport Space Technologies, Awarded a NASA Technology Research Contract for Lunar Construction

By Subcontractors USA News Provider

Astroport and its research institution partner, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will jointly develop technology for an "Induction Furnace-Nozzle for Forming and Placing Lunar Regolith Bricks for Landing Pad Construction". NASA selected 289 small businesses and 47 research institutions to receive Phase I funding for its 2021 SBIR/STTR program. Astroport was one of only four Texas companies selected for this year's STTR program.

Astroport Space Technologies, Inc. is a deep tech space start-up with headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. The company was founded in 2020 as a subsidiary of Exploration Architecture Corporation (XArc), also based in San Antonio. Founder and CEO, Sam Ximenes, a San Antonio native and Space Architect said, "With NASA's return to the Moon with outposts and base camps, and commercial ventures for mining and even space tourism we see a market for space civil engi-

PRNewsfoto/Astroport Space Technologies, Inc. neering construction developing within the next decade. With this initial small contract we hope to plant the seeds for a San Antonio industry to become known for expertise in space construction processes and manufacturing. We believe San Antonio's heavy construction industry should start positioning now for access to this future market."

Ximenes went on to say, "The development of a space economy will not be achieved solely by 'space experts' like aerospace engineers and scientists. There are a number of disciplines required from our community and from around the world that will need to come together. For example, Astroport was recently selected by a South Australian government sponsored space incubator program (ICC Venture Catalyst) to develop partnerships with Australian companies that bring expertise in mining excavation and mineral beneficiation processes. Similarly, here in San Antonio our robotics, cyber, and heavy construction industries all go into the mix of knowledge of design and processes needed to support space architecture and construction on planetary surfaces."

Astroport's Lunar Regolith Melting and Lunar Regolith Binding stabilization and solidification technologies are used for manufacturing feedstock for lunar construction. Astroport's technology addresses two challenges of space construction: (a) converting indigenous source material (regolith) into durable construction feedstock and (b) robotic emplacement and assembly of the same into surface structures such as landing pads, roads, and habitats. The project research will be conducted at Astroport's R&D laboratories at Tech Port San Antonio and laboratories at UTSA.

For more information, please visit astroportspace.com.

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