2018 YEAR IN REVIEW S E WV C OUR S E R INERAL M AND Secretary Zatezalo with WVU mining engineering students and faculty. NGINEERING E OF MINING OLLEGE C ENGINEERINGJESSE WRIGHT/WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING TATLER . S M MSHA SECRETARY ENJAMIN DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING ZATEZALO DELIVERS B 2018 POUNDSTONE LECTURE On September 20, David Zatezalo, assistant He has a degree in mining engineering (1977) secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine from West Virginia University and is a registered TABLE OF CONTENTS Safety and Health Administration, presented the professional engineer in Ohio and West Virginia. He annual William N. Poundstone Lecture entitled, also has an MBA from Ohio University. He is the past “MSHA in Review and Forecast of Priorities.” chairman of the Kentucky Coal Association and the CHAIR MESSAGE 2 Ohio Coal Association. He’s also been a member of U.S. President Donald J. Trump nominated Zatezalo the Mine Rescue Veterans of the Pittsburgh District. to be the ninth assistant secretary for MSHA. He DEPARTMENT NEWS 4-7 was sworn in on November 30, 2017. Zatezalo shared valuable safety lessons from the past with students, and pointed to priorities for A native of West Virginia, Zatezalo has spent a MSHA in the future. He emphasized the importance FACULTY NEWS 8 lifetime working in mining. He began his career as of using safety technology to help reduce and a union miner and since then has held positions at a eliminate injuries in mines. At the end of his lecture, number of companies as shift foreman, engineering Zatezalo was recognized as WVU’s Distinguished STUDENT NEWS 9-19 superintendent, mine manager, vice president of Engineer of Mines. operations and chief executive officer. Zatezalo has worked in mining all across the U.S. and internationally in Australia. MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR 2 2018 YEAR IN REVIEW DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING Dear Alumni and Friends, Greetings from Morgantown! The brilliant colors of fall have left us and we have already experienced the snow and cold weather of the winter season. It felt as if it was just yesterday when we had the last snow of the previous winter, and it feels like the time between winters is getting shorter. This cold weather reminds me to appreciate and pray for all our coal miners who work around the clock to provide us with electricity so we can keep our homes warm and our lights on. If there is one word to describe the state of the Department of Mining We have also welcomed Robert E. Murray, president and CEO of Murray Engineering, it is ”growth.” We are growing in terms of number of student Energy, as the guest speaker at this year’s Students’ Awards Banquet. I and faculty activities; productivity; and the number of opportunities to share extend my warm congratulations to Mr. Murray for being inducted into the with our alumni, friends and future students. National Mining Hall of Fame at this year’s ceremony in Denver, Colorado. This newsletter contains several articles that highlight the achievements, In my communication with WVU President Gordon Gee over the summer, accomplishments and activities of our students and faculty, and I do hope I promised that we will build the best mining engineering school, not only that you will enjoy reading them. nationally, but also internationally. Mining is an international business with so many opportunities for both national and international jobs, so I like to Our mining engineering students landed summer 2018 internships and jobs challenge students to consider opportunities beyond our local environment. across the coal, metal and non-metal sectors of our industry. In my survey We were fortunate to have two undergraduate students, Keegan Patrick of the students, they worked for a number of companies, nationally and and Thomas Hohenwarter, working at Peabody mines in Australia, and internationally, including NALCO, Westmoreland Coal, Martin Marietta, William Chmelik working at the National University of Colombia through Alliance Coal, Peabody Australia, Murray Energy Corporation, Alpha Natural sponsored projects between universities. I hope you will enjoy reading Resources, Warrior Met Coal, Luck Stone, Specialty Granules, Coronado about their international experience. It is encouraging to learn that three Coal, RESPEC, GMS, Barrick, Newmont and Freeport-McMoRan. It is additional WVU mining engineering students will be working with Peabody gratifying to have our students working in a variety of commodities and in Australia in summer 2019. gaining valuable experience during the summer. I have asked our students to always act as proud ambassadors of our It is also encouraging to host more than a dozen info sessions on campus Department and WVU. We will engage in a lot of recruitment activities and to see so many companies coming back to interview our students. We in 2019, and we will also be making a new promotional video for the welcomed Martin Marietta, Alliance Coal, Murray Energy Corporation, Department. I have been working on this project with Ryan Murray of Coronado Coal, RESPEC, GMS, United Coal, Peabody Australia, Blackhawk Murray Energy, and five alumni from national and international underground Mining and Contura Energy. We also hosted a career fair on campus and and surface coal, metal and non-metal mines. Stay tuned; I will be sharing were excited to see and meet with representatives of NALCO Mining, Arch the results of this project with you in 2019. Coal, Westmoreland Coal, Warrior Met Coal and SGI. We appreciate them coming to campus. Please remember that your feedback, observations and experience with the WVU Department of Mining Engineering, either in person, by e-mail or by As the Department chair, I encourage our students to get actively engaged phone, is always welcome and much appreciated. My office door is always in professional societies, attend professional meetings, industry info open, and you are welcome to share information about any aspect of our sessions and mine trips, sign-up for job interviews with mining companies Department. I will be listening to your suggestions to continuously improve. and volunteer to assume leadership responsibilities in order to build The faculty and staff of the Department are fully committed to provide all valuable skills and accumulate experience that will serve them well in our undergraduate and graduate students with a friendly, conducive and their future professional careers. Thank you for welcoming and mentoring supportive educational environment. them in all venues. Please let us know if there are other opportunities for students to participate in. I also advise and encourage them to apply As the Chair, and on the behalf of the faculty, staff and students, I thank and compete for many external scholarships that are awarded to mining you very much for your support and commitment to the WVU Department of engineering students. To that extent, I am happy to report that our students Mining Engineering. have won a number of national scholarships and awards; they make us very proud of their achievements. I wish you all safe, healthy and happy New Year. We had a memorable William N. Poundstone Lecture this year. It was an VLADISLAV KECOJEVIC honor to welcome David Zatezalo, assistant secretary of the Mine Safety Robert E. Murray Chair and Professor and Health Administration, who shared a valuable and personal safety Department of Mining Engineering lecture with the students, faculty, alumni and friends of the Department. BENJAMIN M. STATLER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES | WVU 3 NEWS / DEPARTMENT NEWS A WORLD-RENOWNED GROUND CONTROL EXPERT RETIRES FROM WVU Heasley taught a number of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the Department. He had been in charge of senior mining engineering design projects, and WVU mining engineering students won numerous recognitions at national competitions. As a graduate advisor, he WVU held its second Day of Giving on November directed eight PhD and nine MS students, and was a committee member for almost 14. If you were one of the many alumni and 40 PhD and MS theses. friends that made donations, thank you! Your support is greatly appreciated. He is internationally recognized for his Keith Heasley, the Charles T. Holland work in rock mechanics, ground control and Professor of Mining Engineering, retired It’s not too late, however, to consider giving numerical modeling. He is probably best from WVU in May 2018, after almost to the Department. We’re sure you are known as the originator and promoter of two decades of dedicated service to the the LaModel program for coal mine pillar overwhelmed with the number of requests you Department, College and University, and design. Over the years, he has supervised get to give to worthy causes, so why is this more than three decades of service to the in excess of 30 research projects worth mining profession. request any different? The bottom line is that one more than $3 million, and authored or of the metrics that is used in ranking universities Heasley’s contributions to teaching, co-authored more than 60 journal and conference articles. He has also been in several of the national systems is the degree of research and service in the Department are greatly appreciated, as well as the co-editor of 10 conference proceedings. alumni support. This is reported as a percentage leadership he provided for many years. His involvement and leadership in the of alumni that have contributed and not as the Even during the last two years of reduced International Conference on Ground amount given. West Virginia University ranks teaching, research and service activities, Control in Mining made it one of the most successful events of its kind in lower compared to our peers in this category, he continued to be a highly productive member of the mining engineering faculty, the mining industry.