Dubbed Wiess Energy Hall 3.0, the third iteration of this popular hall has been enlarged from its previous 8,500 square feet to an expansive 30,000 square feet—almost the size of a football field. Joining the completely redesigned “classic” displays is a bonanza of entirely new exhibits, making the new hall the most contemporary, comprehensive and technologically advanced exhibition on the science and technology of energy anywhere in the world.
Entering the new Wiess Energy Hall, visitors step off of the elevator into a dynamic floor of a 21st century offshore drilling rig populated by a motley crew of sci-fi robots. Near the center of the cavernous new hall, a replica of a tricone rotary drill bit—fourteen feet in diameter—spins vigorously overhead.
Not far away, the completely reinvented Geovator takes visitors on a reimagined fantastic voyage plunging down through the Museum floors into the earth, then back in time to the Cretaceous Period for an attack by hungry pteranodons and a meteor strike.
The new hall also features “Energy City,” a 2,500-square-foot 3-D landscape representing Houston, the surrounding Gulf coastal waters and the terrain of southeast and central Texas. This vibrant “white model” uses bleeding-edge projection mapping technology to bring to life the energy value chain.
Adjacent to the Unconventional Resources Gallery, the mammoth presence of the Eagle Ford Shale Experience, a.k.a. the “EFX 3000,” beckons visitors to step aboard for a wild ride out to prime Texas shale oil and gas drilling country and down into the borehole of an oil well, made real with curved projection techniques and mechanical motion effects. Reduced to microscopic size, the craft ventures into the narrow spaces of a hydraulic micro-fracture, surrounded by seemingly massive grains of proppant. Things may get a little dodgy for a bit, but the EFX makes a safe return to the Museum!
Wiess Energy Hall 3.0 features a sizable new gallery called “The Unconventional Hydrocarbon Revolution” that enlightens visitors on how shale oil and shale gas have transformed the U.S. energy picture. A vast island in the center of the Wiess Energy Hall with a unique Möbius strip-inspired design invites guests to delve into the growing importance of renewable energy sources, as well as experimental and cutting-edge technology happening right now—and in the future. Highlights include a detailed exploration of solar energy and wind energy, two sources in which Texas is a national leader, as well as various forms of ocean energy, fuel cells, geothermal energy, and fusion power.
Finally, not to be missed is the “Energy Jukebox” featuring “PowerPlayz,” a collection of ten inescapably catchy songs that explore topics including conservation, renewable energy, biomass, hydrogen power, nuclear fission, oil, natural gas, unconventional hydrocarbons, electricity and thermonuclear fusion.
PowerPlayz-Teaszer from HMNS on Vimeo.
Prepare to see energy as you’ve never seen it before in the incomparable new Wiess Energy Hall.
Wiess Energy 3.0 Renovation Campaign Donors
The renovation and construction of the Wiess Energy Hall is generously underwritten by:
$1,500,000 – 10,000,000
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
The Cockrell Foundation
The Elkins Foundation
Chevron
GeoSouthern Energy Partners GP, LLC
Walter Oil & Gas Corporation
$1,000,000
ConocoPhillips
Enterprise Products Partners L.P.
EOG Resources, Inc.
Exxon Mobil Corporation
Halliburton Foundation, Inc.
Phillips 66
Shell Oil Company
$350,000 – $500,999
Aramco
Constellation and Exelon Foundation
EnCap Investments L.P.
Texas Crude Energy, LLC – K.C. Weiner & Peter J. Fluor
LINN Energy
$250,000
Cheniere Energy
Claire and Joe Greenberg
HMW Entertainment
William S. and Lora Jean Kilroy Foundation
LyondellBasell
Marathon Oil Corporation
Kelly and Bill Montgomery
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.
Simmons & Company International
Carolyn and Garry Tanner
Total
Jennifer and Wil VanLoh
Michele and Dheeraj Verma
$100,000
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
Oasis Petroleum
Susanne and William E. Pritchard III
$50,000 – $99,999
David Williams
Up to $49,999
Mr. and Mrs. Carl A. Davis
The Alan & Michelle Smith Family Fund
Wiess Energy Hall Partners
Wiess Energy Hall Partners include corporations, foundations and individuals who have a special affinity for education of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts and careers. Support from our Wiess Energy Hall Partners allow the Museum to maximize its effectiveness as the premier science education resource in the Houston region and abroad, and educate the general public about the science and complexity of the energy industry.
$100,000
Chevron
$50,000 – $99,000
ConocoPhillips
Exxon Mobil Corporation
Phillips 66
Shell Oil Company
$25,000 – $49,999
Aramco
Marathon Oil Corporation
PwC
Southwestern Energy
These online courses cover an array of energy topics, starting with an overview of energy and continuing with the lifecycle of hydrocarbons—from formation through exploration and discovery, drilling, production, refining, transportation and end users. The course series concludes with a survey of alternative energy sources, including renewables, alternative fuels, nuclear fusion and more.