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SME/PCMIA Annual Joint Meeting
The October 2008 PCMIA/SME
Joint Meeting is covered in the February issue of Coal
News. Click
here to review the article or go to
www.coalnews.net
for the February 2009 issue.
The meeting
was held at the Hilton Garden Inn in South Pointe, PA on
October 25-26, 2008: .
The facility offered more space for exhibits and
excellent meeting facilities.
Keynote speakers were
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commissioner Dr.
Stan Suboleski, Rita Bajura, Director of the National
Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh and
Morgantown, Colin Kelly, President of the Prairie State
Generating Co. and Vice President of Peabody Energy and,
continuing a long tradition, SME President Art Schweizer
as the Friday luncheon speaker.
Colin Kelly with Kelvin Wu, Dave
Kanagy and Art Schweizer and Stan Suboleski.
Pictures courtesy of Dan Alexander (WVU), Coal News
(Bill Reid) and Gretchen Horrell (MSHA).
Three technical sessions
featured 12 presentations on Mine Emergency Response
Planning, Preparedness and Mine Rescue, New Technology
in Mining and Factors in Longwall Operation. During the
Thursday afternoon Student Session, the winners of the
Student Design Awards took the opportunity to present
their winning projects, and Penn State and WVU SME
Student Chapter representatives gave updates to their
recent activities.
Student Session. Picture courtesy of
Dan Alexander (WVU).
The following awards
were presented:
The Stephen McCann
Educational Excellence Award went to Dr. Greg Adel,
Professor and Assistant Department Head-Mining
Engineering at Virginia Tech for his exemplary
contributions to minerals education.
John Murphy and Greg Adel. Picture
courtesy of Coal News (Bill Reid).
Dr. Eugene Palowitch was
awarded the Donald S. Kingery Memorial Award for
significant contributions to the furtherance and
improvement of mine safety and health. Dr. Palowitch
retired from the U.S. Bureau of mines as the Deputy
Director of the Pittsburgh Mining and Safety Research
Center after a long and successful career in mine safety
and health research.
Gene Palowitch and John Murphy.
Pictures courtesy of Coal News (Bill Reid).
Niccolle LaBranche is the
2004 recipient of the PCMIA-Donald S. Kingery Student
Award. Ms. LaBranche is a senior in mining engineering
at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
In addition to her academic achievements, Niccolle is
recognized by her teachers and her peers for her high
degree of commitment to the profession and as a mentor
to young women beginning their studies in engineering.
John Murphy and Niccolle LaBranche.
Pictures courtesy of Coal News (Bill Reid).
The PCMIA/SME Student
Design Awards went to Scott Smith at Mackay School of
Mines, University of Nevada, Advisor Professor Pierre-Mousset-Jones,
for his prefeasibility study on “Pogonip Resources
Incorporated Treasure Hill", and to
Donald S. Swartz II at West Virginia University, on his
study of “Swartz Mine Holding Company, Wabash Mine” that
was guided by Dan Alexander.
Kelvin Wu, Don Swartz and Dan
Alexander. Picture courtesy of Dan Alexander.
PCMIA/SME Regional
Science Fair Award Winner, Tyrelle Farris, an 8th grader
at Pittsburgh's Prospect Middle School, attended
together with his teacher, Vic DePasse. Mr. Depasse was
awarded a $500 scholarship for developing a science
curriculum that incorporates mining.
Vic Depasse, Tyrelle Farris and Jürgen
Brune. Picture courtesy of Coal News (Bill Reid).
The 2004 SME Pittsburgh
Section Student Grant Awards were presented by Dr.
Kelvin K. Wu, MSHA, to Brandon Williamson of West
Virginia University and Paul Vuljanic of The
Pennsylvania State University.
Kelvin Wu, Paul Vuljanic, Chris Bise
and Jürgen Brune. Picture courtesy of Dan Alexander.
SME Chair Jürgen Brune
recognized Mr. James G. Tilton as a 50-year member of
SME Pittsburgh Section. Kevin W. Bloom, Clyde I. Borrell,
Cas S. Bruniany, Kenneth K. Eltschlager, Robert V.
Hidalgo, Gerald T. Homce, Kenneth W. James, James J.
Schaeffer, Jr., Kevin Sheahen and Renold D. Thompson,
Jr. were recognized for their 25-year membership in SME
and the Pittsburgh Section.
The 2004 Pittsburgh
Section Distinguished Member awards were presented by
Dick Gray, GAI Consultants, Inc., to Mr. Frank J.
Ucciardi, Consol Energy Inc., retired and to Mr. James
J. Szalankiewicz, owner of T.J.S. Mining, Inc., for
their outstanding contributions to SME Pittsburgh
Section and the mining engineering community.
Frank Ucciardi and Jim Szalankiewicz.
Pictures courtesy of Coal News (Bill Reid).
The John T. Boyd Memorial
Young Engineer Award went to Robert Krog, mining
engineer with the NIOSH Pittsburgh Research Laboratory.
Jürgen Brune and Robert Krog. Picture
courtesy of Coal News (Bill Reid).
SME Pittsburgh Section
Appreciation Awards were presented to Dan Alexander, Tom
Barczak, Dana Butchley, Mary DelRosso, Dick Gray, Tom
Gray, Rick King, James Kvitkovich, Lisa Krepps, Kevin
Luster, Donna Opfer, Michael Trevits and Frank Ucciardi.
Pictures courtesy of Gretchen Horrell
and Coal News (Bill Reid).
