Dear friends and alumni of Mining and Mineral Processing,
2025-1890 = 135. That’s how long our mining program has been at Penn State. We have a long history of educating mining and mineral processing engineers and conducting research into the important topics of the day. I’m counting twenty-five undergraduates right now from first year to ready to graduate; that’s up from last year as we had several students transfer in the program. We are encouraged by some of our outreach activities in this space. MINING ROCKS! Penn State Summer Mining Camp was a success. With seven campers for our inaugural year, we were able to get the kinks out! Our next one is scheduled for July 20-25, 2025. We hope that you’ll again help to sponsor our campers in order to defray the cost for families. We’ll reach out in the spring to ask for your contributions.
2024 was filled with other activities. We participated in the Penn State Climate Consortium in May with a focus on respirable dust—a major focus of our health and safety research. And, in August, we hosted the 7th International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering at the Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. We’ll be there again in June 2025 to host the North American Mine Ventilation Symposium. We’ll also reprise MINING PA later in the summer. If you would like to exhibit or speak, please let me know! Outreach to our Pennsylvania (and beyond) mining community is one of our top priorities. Much of our research reaches out to mining companies and suppliers—from dust to critical minerals and everything in between.
Twenty-five students—still too low to help meet the current demand for mining engineers let alone the need for critical mineral development. I participated in both a U.S. Senate and U.S. House hearing on critical mineral workforce development this year. The government is taking notice of this need for engineers and also skilled laborers. We need your help to increase these numbers. Talk to your neighbors! Encourage your relatives! Do you need talking points? Just ask! Check out the video on the website: https://www.eme.psu.edu/undergraduate/academics/undergraduate-programs/mining-engineering-major
This spring, look for us at SME MINEXCHANGE in Denver. Or stop by when you are in Happy Valley! Don’t be a stranger!
Sincerely,
Barbara Arnold, ’82, ‘85g, ‘89g
Chair and Professor of Practice, Mining Engineering