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AIME Awards [Mining Engineering](Mining Engineering Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Howard W. Eavenson Award to Pramod Thakur The Howard W. Eavenson Award recognizes distinguished contributions to the advancement of coal mining. The award is presented to Pramod C. Thakur "for his distinguished contributions to the advancement of coal mine safety through research, innovative techniques for methane degasification and for his lifetime endeavors in minimizing the risk of coal mine explosions worldwide." Thakur is the manager of the Coal Degasification Group for Consol Energy. He has been with Consol for the past 38 years. He is also an adjunct professor at West Virginia University, where he teaches reservoir and production engineering for coalbed methane, and is the president of the board for the North American Coalbed Methane Forum. He holds six U.S. patents. Thakur received his undergraduate degrees in mining engineering from the Indian School of Mines. He moved to the United States in 1969 and earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in mining engineering from Penn State. In 1974, he joined Conoco and conducted exhaustive research on coal seam degasification, respirable dust control and diesel exhaust control. He successfully managed research projects that led to the development and application of four different techniques for coal seam degasification. In 1997, Thakur was appointed a commissioner by the governor of West Virginia to write regulations and approve diesel engines for use in coal mines, replacing trolley wire haulage. He also developed new ways to improve dust control by water infusion, the use of surfactants and electrostatic charging of water particles. Thakur has published about 50 peer-reviewed technical papers and wrote a book on solving mine-network problems analytically. He contributed chapters to Mine Ventilation and Air Conditioning by Howard Hartman and the SM E Mining Engineering Handbook (2011). He received the Hartman Award in 2004 for his contributions to mine ventilation engineering and promoting coal mine health and safety. Erskine Ramsay Medal to Michael Karmis The Erskine Ramsay Medal recognizes distinguished achievement in coal mining, including bituminous coal and anthracite. The medal is presented to Michael Karmis "for his contributions to mining engineering, mine health and safety, the improvement of environmental performance of coal mining and for his international recognition as a teacher, researcher and academic leader." Karmis is the Stonie Barker Professor in the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering and the director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech. His expertise is in the areas of mine health and safety, rock mechanics and ground control, mining systems and the sustainable development of energy and mineral resources. He has authored or co-authored more thanl60 scientific papers and has directed 60 major research projects funded by federal and state agencies, foundations and private companies. Karmis is a recognized teacher, graduate advisor and student mentor and has received numerous certificates of teaching excellence and other teaching commendations. He is a licensed, professional engineer and an active consultant to the mining industry, academic and research institutions, government agencies, engineering companies, and financial and legal firms. He served as the 2002 president of SME and as the 2009 president of AIME. He currently serves as a trustee and vice president of the United Engineering Foundation. He was elected as the 2002 President of the Society of Mining Professors (Societät der Bergbaukunde) and served as its secretary general from 2005 to 2012. Karmis is an Honorary Member of AIME, a Distinguished Member of SME, a Fellow of the Institute of Quarrying and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Hal Williams Hardinge Award to Sarkis Ampian The Hal Williams Hardinge Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of industrial minerals. The award is presented to Sarkis Ampian "for service to the Industrial Minerals & Aggregates Division (IM&AD) and the industrials minerals industry in the characterization and regulation of clays and other industrial minerals." Ampian is an industrial minerals consultant and geochemist. He retired from the U.S. Bureau of Mines after nearly 40 years of service in the bureau's research and commodity groups. The commodity group work centered on monitoring all domestic and offshore clay, oil shale, zircon, barium and strontium, and drilling-mud activities. He also served as the principal mineralogist in the bureau's outreach to all federal, state and international regulatory agencies, publishing and lecturing for the Department of Interior on policies relating to asbestos and crystalline silica and to locatable clay minerals. Ampian has been an SME member for nearly 40 years. He was the chair of the Industrial Minerals Division in 1995, a member of the SME Board of Directors and served on many division committees. He received the IM&AD A. Frank Alsobrook Distinguished Service Award and is a frequent speaker and session chair at SME annual meetings. Currently, Ampian is an asbestos and crystalline silica consultant. As a member of the National Academy of Science's Mineralogy Committee, he has reviewed National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's proposed 2008/2009 document "Asbestos Fibers and Other Elongated Mineral Particles: State of the Science and Roadmap for Research." Daniel C. Jackling Award to Edward C. Dowling The Daniel C. Jackling Award recognizes significant contributions to technical progress in mining, geology and geophysics. The award is presented to Edward C. Dowling "for his exceptional ability in the creation, design and operation of mines and for demonstrating the courage and pioneering spirit to advance the interests of mining across the globe." Dowling is currently a director of Alacer Gold and Victoria Gold and has served on the boards of Anatolia Minerals and Meridian Gold. He was elected to the board of directors of Teck, a diversified resource company, in September 2012. He is the former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Alacer Gold Corp., a position from which he retired in July 2012. Other leadership roles held throughout his 30-year career in the mining industry include president and CEO of Anatolia Minerals Development; president and CEO of Meridian Gold; executive director, mining and exploration for De Beers in Johannesburg, South Africa and executive vice president, operations for Cleveland-Cliffs. He also served in a variety of leadership positions at Cyprus Amax Minerals. Dowling received a B.S. in mining engineering and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in mineral processing from The Pennsylvania State University. Robert M. Peele Memorial Award to Ananta L. Yennamani Ananta L. Yennamani is the recipient of the Robert M. Peele Memorial Award for the paper "Blast- Induced Rock Movement Measurement for Grade Control" by A. Yennamani, S. Aguirre and P. Mousset- Jones, published in Mining Engineering magazine in 2011. The award recognizes the most outstanding paper published on behalf of the Mining & Exploration Division by an SME member-lead author under the age of 35. Yennamani received a diploma in civil engineering in 2004 and a B.S. in civil engineering in 2007. In 2008, she attended University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and received a M.S. in mining engineering. Her thesis project was on blast movement measurement for grade control, which she worked on while she was an intern at the Phoenix Mine. She also worked as a research assistant at the university. She received the UNR outstanding student award for 2010. Yennamani began working for AMEC in 2011 as a mining engineer. She supports senior staff members on projects and mining engineering protocols, prepares plans and reports with related engineering calculations, develops the specifications required to improve the results and provides support to various mining and geology projects. William L. Saunders Gold Medal to Ronald W. Thiessen The William L. Saunders Gold Medal is presented to Ron Thiessen "for his inspiration and transference of corporate values, instilling a philosophy that strives for responsible and ethical development of minerals, the respectful treatment of stakeholders, maximizing shareholder value, and best management practices in corporate governance, while creating a working environment that is fulfilling to employees." The award recognizes distinguished achievement in mining other than coal. The term "mining" includes the production of metals as well as nonmetallic minerals. Since the 1980s, Thiessen has concentrated on the management and financing of public and private companies. He joined Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI), a Canadian corporation, in 1996 as director of corporate development and, in addition, became chief executive officer in 2000. Since 1985, HDI has grown to be among the largest and most successful mine development groups in North America. He and his associates have completed in excess of 25 property or project acquisitions, raised more than $1.4 billion in equity financings and built an impressive portfolio of advanced mineral exploration, development and mining projects. Thiessen and the HDI principals won the Pacific Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2004. He and the Northern Dynasty team won the Thayer Lindsley International Discovery Award from the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada for the Pebble East deposit discovery in 2007. Thiessen received the E.A. Scholz Award from the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia for excellence in mine development in 2008 and was named the Business Person of the Year by the Canada-Southern Africa Chamber of Business in 2011. He holds a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a chartered accountant designation. Robert H. Richards Award to Nick Hazen The Robert H. Richards Award recognizes achievement in any form, which unmistakably furthers the art of mineral beneficiation in any of its branches. The award is presented to Nick Hazen "for his contributions in the development of innovative and commercially effective metal extraction process flowsheets, and his leadership role in growing and enhancing Hazen Research Inc. as a global leader in metallurgical testing, research and development." Hazen is president and chief executive officer of Hazen Research, an employee-owned company that was founded by his father and grandfather in 1961.The company has grown from a single-building laboratory to the largest private metallurgical and processing research and development (R&D) facility in the United States and serves clients around the world. During his tenure at Hazen, the company has played a vital role in developing several key processes in the metallurgical industry. Processes developed under his direct technical leadership include pressure leaching and recovery of molybdenum from sulfide concentrates, pressure oxidation and recovery of copper from sulfide concentrates, copper and cobalt recovery from African copper belt ores, and copper direct electrowinning technology. All of these processes were taken from R&D through piloting to effective fullscale commercial production. Hazen received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1980. He received the 2008 Arthur E Taggart Award, the 2012 Futers Gold Medal and has been awarded 30 patents. Hazen enjoys transferring knowledge from research into industrial applications and believes that, while a metallurgical problem may be complex and require bringing together many disciplines, the outcome must be simple to be successful in an operating plant. The Robert H. Richards Award is funded by HP Billiton Base Metals. Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal to Arthur Schweizer The Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal recognizes distinguished achievement in mining administration. The medal is presented to Arthur Schweizer "for his business acumen, willingness to challenge the status quo and inspirational leadership in overcoming seemingly intractable problems to address the needs of the minerals sector." Schweizer graduated from the Missouri University of Science & Technology (MS&T) with a B.S. in metallurgical engineering. In 2000, he received a professional degree from MS&T's metallurgical department for career achievements and success. For the past 12 years, Schweizer has been the president and owner of Green Diamond Sand Products. He has focused his efforts toward development and growth, and the company has increased its yearly production from 45 mt (50,000 st) of abrasives to more than 272 mt (300,000 st) of more than 40 varieties of industrial minerals products. Schweizer has also played an important part in promoting mining education in elementary and high school curriculua in the state of Oregon. He has been involved in publishing professional papers and books, and he was the chair of the National Science Teachers Association meetings in Portland, OR in 2002 and 2008. Schweizer has also been involved in many community projects. He was actively involved in developing children's soccer programs and has been a member of the Optimist Club, Elks Club and Chamber of Commerce. Schweizer has always been involved with SME on the local and national levels. He has held many positions on various committees and was SME President in 2004. He is currently a member of the SME Foundation Board of Trustees. Frank F. Aplan Award to Barbara Arnold The Frank F. Apian Award recognizes engineering or scientific contributions that further the understanding of the technology of coal or mineral engineering. The award is presented to Barbara Arnold for "her R&D contributions and accomplishments in all facets of coal processing, particularly froth flotation, computer simulation, flowsheet development and plant evaluation." Arnold is currently president of PrepTech in Apollo, PA. She holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mineral processing from The Pennsylvania State University, where she specialized in coal froth flotation, fine particle processing and coal petrology. Her research and development experience has included projects for government and industry funding agencies, as well as for private companies. She has worked on the development of a coal-cleaning simulator, coal handling, coal blending, coal-cleaning characterizations and flowsheet evaluations. Her project management experience has included the development and management of project budgets, project schedules, oversight of project personnel and reporting functions. Arnold has published more than 50 technical papers and reports and given technical presentations at industry conferences and meetings in the United States and abroad. She received the Coal & Energy Division's Young Engineer award, the division's Distinguished Service Award and was chosen an SME Distinguished Member in 2006. She also received the 2007 Robert Stefanko Distinguished Achievement Award in mineral engineering from Penn State. She is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania. Arnold is currently president of the SME Foundation Board of Trustees and a member of its IK Club and has served on the SME Education & Professional Development Strategic Committee. AIME Honorary Membership to Nikhil Trivedi AIME Honorary Membership is awarded in appreciation of outstanding service to the Institute or in recognition of distinguished scientific or engineering achievement in the fields embracing the activities of AIME. AIME Honorary Membership is given to Nikhil Trivedi "for 40 years of exceptional contributions to SME including his service as president and board member and for his contributions to industry, especially in the industrial minerals sector." Trivedi has a B.S. degree in chemistry and geology from the University of Bombay, India, an M.S. degree in metallurgy and mineral economics from the Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada-Reno, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and microbiology from the University of Minnesota. For 30 years, Trivedi worked for Pfizer's Minerals Division, which is now known as Minerals Technologies Inc. His last position there was chief technology officer. After his retirement in 2004, he founded Idekin International, an industrial minerals consultancy. He is a senior partner at Idekin. Trivedi has served on the SME Executive Committee, Nominating Committee and the Governance and Organization Strategic Committee. He has served as the SME Program Chair (1993) and on SME Board of Directors from 1993-1997 and from 2006-2008. He was president of SME in 2010. He is currently SME's representative on AIME's Board of Trustees. Trivedi became a Distinguished Member of SME in 1998. He received the IM&AD Distinguished Service Award and the Hardinge Award. He also received the 1995 John William Mackay Outstanding Alumni Award from the Mackay School of Mines. The SME Foundation has honored him with the John T. Boyd Challenge plaque. He received the SME Presidential Citation in 2007. He was a senior editor of the seventh edition of SME's Industrial Minerals and Rocks. James Douglas Gold Medal to Patrick R. Taylor The James Douglas Gold Medal recognizes distinguished achievement in nonferrous metallurgy, including both the beneficiation of ores and the alloying and utilization of nonferrous metals. The medal is presented to Patrick R. Taylor, P.E., "for his distinguished career contributions and accomplishments in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy and their application in waste treatment, recycling and reactor design. Taylor has more than 38 years of experience in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy engineering, research, teaching and consulting. He is currently the George S. Ansell Distinguished Professor of Chemical Metallurgy at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). He is also the director of the Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy. He has supervised research for more than 80 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. He received his Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering from CSM in 1978. He has authored or co-authored 200 papers and presentations and holds eight patents. He has served as a director of three publicly traded mining companies and has owned a private testing and consulting engineering business for 20 years. He has served as a consultant for more than 20 companies and been an expert witness. Taylor was named Distinguished Faculty Member at the University of Idaho in 1990, and in 1994 he received university's Research Excellence Award. In 1996, he was named a Fellow of ASM International. He received the 2003 Wadsworth Award from SME and was named a Distinguished Member in 2008. In 2006, he was the TMS Extraction and Processing Division Distinguished Lecturer and received the TMS EPD Distinguished Service Award in 2010. AIME Mineral Economics Award to Roussos Dimitrakapolous The AIME Mineral Economics award recognizes distinguished contributions in the advancement of mineral economics. The award is presented to Roussous Dimitrakapolous, "a worldclass mining engineer and scientist who has successfully demonstrated that stochastic mine-planning techniques substantially increase the value of a mineral deposit." Dimitrakapolous is currently professor and the Canada research chair (Tier I) in Sustainable Mineral Resource Development and Optimization under Uncertainty and director of the COSMO laboratory at McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada. Previously he was full professor and director of the Bryan Research Center at the University of Queensland, Australia. He holds a Ph.D. from Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal and an M.S. from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Dimitrakapolous has been working in deposit risk analysis since 1983 and, more recently, on stochastic optimization for mine design, production scheduling and valuation. Recent interests and work include modeling aspects of geologic C02 sequestration. He has been the senior geostatistician with Newmont Mining Corp., Denver, CO and senior consultant with Geostat Systems. He has taught and worked in Australia, North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and Japan. He was elected Fellow of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He has served as editor-in-chief of Mathematical Geosciences. Robert Earll McConnell Award to Larry A. Watters Robert Earll McConnell Award recognizes beneficial service to mankind by engineers through significant contributions that tend to advance a nation's standard of living or replenish its natural resources. The award is presented to Larry A. Watters "for his successes that advance clean coal technology and thereby extend the coal supply, globally improving standards of living and for training young engineers." Watters is a founding owner of Taggart Global LLC, a company specializing in the design and construction of coal preparation plants and materials handling projects. He currently serves as an executive director responsible for operations in Australia, South Africa and international business development. Prior to formation of Taggart Global (then known as Sedgman USA) in 1993, he worked as a principal process engineer for CLI Corp. and Kaiser Engineers. Watters has more than 40 years of experience in the coal preparation industry, particularly in the areas of plant operations, process and materials handling design, construction and startup. He designed and directed construction of more than 100 coal preparation facilities in North America, China, South America, Russia, Indonesia, Africa and Australia. He has pioneered many of the new coalcleaning technologies that improve efficiency and reduce costs. He holds six patents, all in coal preparation and beneficiation. These developments have improved coal yields and sulfur-ash rejection, thereby advancing clean coal technology and, ultimately, helping to extend the country's coal supply. Watters received a B.S. in metallurgical engineering from the University of Washington in 1972. Rossiter W. Raymond Award to Timothy W. Beck Timothy W Beck is the recipient of the Rossiter W Raymond Award for his paper "Dust capture performance of a water exhaust conditioner for roof bolting machines." The award recognizes the best paper published by SME in a given period where the lead author is a member under 35 years of age. Beck joined the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR) in 2003. Currently, he is a research engineer and a part of the dust control team within the Dust, Ventilation and Toxic Substances Branch. His research focuses on field and laboratory development and evaluation of dust control technologies for the underground coal mining environment, and he has published several papers evaluating engineering controls and innovative drilling techniques. Most recently, he completed an evaluation of a bit-sleeve device for controlling drill hole dust emissions. This research has been instrumental in stimulating industry adoption of newly identified technologies to reduce dust emissions and worker exposure. Presently, Beck is updating the full-scale, longwall simulation laboratory at OMSHR, redesigning and replacing the mockup longwall shearer with a modern unit with advanced instrumentation. These changes will allow for finer control and more comprehensive monitoring of test parameters. A member of SME since 1997, Beck graduated from the Missouri University of Science & Technology with a B.S. in mining engineering. He is currently completing a master of public health degree in environmental and occupational health from University of Pittsburgh with a certificate in health risk assessment. He received the John T. Boyd Memorial Young Engineer's Award from the Pittsburgh Section, the Woomer Award and the Stefanko Best Paper Award. (c) 2013 Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. |