The Co-Host Organization is the National Renewable Energy Laboratory . These three institutions are represented in the Host Committee. The Joint Center for Combustion and Environmental Research is an interdisciplinary group established to study fundamental problems relating to the field of combustion and environmental protection. Available facilities include premixed and diffusion flame burners used in the study of combustion chemistry and fluid mechanics, turbulent, high mass flow burners characteristic of jet engines, and automotive engine test facilities. State of the art laser diagnostic instrumentation is a highlight of the test facilities which can be used for a variety of flow visualization, velocity, temperature and composition measurements.
Computational facilities range from PC's to graphics workstations, to supercomputers.
Examples of ongoing research are projects in combustion generated air pollution, propellant combustion, combustion instability, combustion control techniques, materials processing, combustion under reduced gravity, and combustion of waste materials. The Colorado School of Mines was founded in 1874, two years before statehood, in order to develop methods of exploration and recovery for the mining industry. In the ensuing 120 years, CSM has grown to become a specialized college of science and engineering. The interdisciplinary Center for Reactive Flows and Optical Sensing at CSM is a research and education center involved in the study of the chemistry and physics of reacting flows, and novel optical techniques for monitoring these system. Most of this work is combustion related.