The Geo-Heat Center can trace its beginning to an international conference held on the Oregon Institute of Technology campus during October of 1974. This conference on the “Multipurpose Use of Geothermal Energy” which included papers on the uses for industrial, agricultural and commercial-residential of geothermal energy, generated an interest in exchanging and disseminating information on the direct-uses of this renewable and domestic energy source. In addition, since the campus was heated with 192F (89 C) geothermal water, it was a natural location for a geothermal research and technical assistance center. The Geo-Heat Utilization Center was established in 1975 and later changed to the present Geo-Heat Center