Winter 2015 by Penn State John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering

Winter 2015/16

www.eme.psu.edu

FROM THE DEPARTMENT HEAD

IN THIS ISSUE

Greetings,

Spotlight - 3 Alumni & Faculty News - 4

When I sat down to write this short note to you on January 24, 2016, I was glancing at my calendar realizing that we are already into the third week of the spring Semester. It will be fair to say that spring break is within reach and after spring break when the winter is over (well, kind of…) we will be getting ready for our end of the semester activities. Over the past fall semester, we were happy to learn that all of the four engineering programs of the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering have successfully completed another ABET review cycle. As we do not want to rest on our oars we are always asking ourselves whether we can do better along those lines, and we have already started with our preparations for the next ABET visit, which will take place in 2020. The enrollment in the department is strong both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In our undergraduate programs we have 353 students in Energy Business and Finance, 269 students in Energy Engineering, 192 students in Environmental Systems Engineering, 46 students in Mining Engineering, and 808 students in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. Furthermore, the online undergraduate program in Energy Sustainability Policy has 158 students enrolled. In our graduate program we have 150 students almost divided in half at the master’s and doctoral levels. This spring semester we expect to have our largest ever graduating class. As you are, I am sure, well aware, unfortunately, once again we find ourselves out-of-phase with the industrial hiring trends. We expect that the current low oil and natural gas prices will stall the explosive growth in our academic programs. No matter what, we have a busy year ahead of us. We will expend efforts to renew and remodel our instructional laboratories; we will delve deep into our preparations for the long over due renovations of the Hosler Building; we will work on creating some new opportunities for internships for our students; and most importantly, we will be busy with our new incoming students. Therefore, there is no doubt that each year brings new excitements, new challenges, and new responsibilities as we have to be ready for whatever direction the

Research News - 5 Program Updates - 6 Student News - 12 Research Feature - 13 Mining Anniversary - 14

wind blows. As it has always been over the course of the years, we again would like have you working with us shoulder to shoulder to transform these challenges into new opportunities. I am very proud of our faculty who are pioneering scholars who continuously redefine our understanding of the increasingly more complex problems in the energy and mineral engineering fields of study. I am also very proud of our dedicated and caring staff. When this talented faculty and staff is joined with our remarkable students, we form a rich and vibrant community, and we invite you to be with us all the way! I am confident that together, we can launch meaningful efforts involving strong entrepreneurship that fuels innovation. This is why we ask you to become fully engaged with our academic programs. As you do so, I am confident that you’ll help our students’ academic experience to become truly transformative and help them gain a forward-looking vision. As the head of the EME department, and speaking for the faculty and staff and students, we thank you for everything you have done and wish that 2016 brings the best in your direction.

All the best,

Turgay Ertekin

CONTACT US Connection is a publication of the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. Editorial Director: Turgay Ertekin Editor: Morgann McAfee CONTACT: 110 Hosler Building Penn State University University Park, PA 16802-5000 www.eme.psu.edu Phone: 814-865-3437 E-mail to: eme@ems.psu.edu U.Ed. EMS 15-107

This publication is available in alternative media on request. The University is committed to equal access to programs, facilities, admission and employment for all persons. It is the policy of the University to maintain an environment free of harassment and free of discrimination against any person because of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, service in the uniformed services (as defined in state and federal law), veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, marital or family status, pregnancy, pregnancyrelated conditions, physical or mental disability, gender, perceived gender, gender identity, genetic information or political ideas. Discriminatory conduct and harassment, as well as sexual misconduct and relationship violence, violates the dignity of individuals, impedes the realization of the University’s educational mission, and will not be tolerated. Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to Dr. Kenneth Lehrman III, Vice Provost for Affirmative Action, Affirmative Action Office, The Pennsylvania State University, 328 Boucke Building, University Park, PA 16802-5901, Email: kfl2@psu.edu, Tel (814) 863-0471.

COVER PHOTO Hot air balloons take to the skies over Cappadocia, a human-created network of tunnels, caves and living quarters carved into a natural rock formations that resemble chimneys. This was one of the many historically important sites that Penn State students Ryan McCann and Luke Schramm visited and learned about during their study abroad experience in Turkey. The dwellings served as home for ancient humans, and as a refuge for early Christians fleeing from the Roman Empire during the fourth century.

SPOTLIGHT

FIRST PENN STATE STUDENTS TO STUDY IN ANKARA DEVELOP

DEEP CULTURAL APPRECIATION By Liam Jackson

Ryan McCann and Luke Schramm had the chance to experience something that no other undergraduate Penn State student has experienced — studying for a semester at the prestigious Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. From the moment the two petroleum and natural gas engineering (PNGE) students set foot in Turkey, the trip was filled with new sights and activities, as well as many interactions that helped the students feel at home. “I was wearing a Penn State hat during our flight, and as soon as we got off the plane in Ankara, someone saw my hat and started talking to us. It turned out to be a Penn State grad. That made the trip easier at first,” said Schramm, who hails from Butler, Pennsylvania. The following day, the students experienced something that would take them further out of their comfort zones than they envisioned. “Shortly after we arrived in Turkey, we needed to get residency permits. On our way to Ankara’s Migration Management Office, we saw a few hundred refugees from Iraq and Syria lined up trying to immigrate into the country. Entire families were standing in line with their lives in drawstring bags. Just to see how the events going on in the Middle East affected everyday peoples’ lives was a very sobering experience,” said Schramm. Those two experiences represent some of the unique and sometimes challenging experiences that would allow the students to grow into well-rounded individuals and learn to appreciate people from vastly different backgrounds. Before enrolling in college classes, students in Turkey are required to take a nationwide placement exam. More than 1.5 million students complete this each year, and many departments of METU only accept the top 1 percent of these applicants. “The Middle East Technical University is one of the best Turkish institutes for technical degrees. Some of the best petroleum engineers throughout the Middle East have received their degrees through METU,” said McCann, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The courses were all taught in English, and the METU’s PNGE program is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Inc. (ABET). McCann and Schramm chose to study there because the program offered courses that would directly translate to their PNGE degree program. “The classes were very in depth and there was a very strong bond between professors and students there. They really welcomed us with open arms and were excited about us being there,” said McCann. The name “Penn State” was well known to many PNGE students and instructors at METU, Schramm said, because of the connections that had been built over the years by Turgay Ertekin, who received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in PNGE from METU and is the EME department head. “A lot of PNGE students and instructors knew of Penn State because of Dr. Ertekin’s petroleum and natural gas engineering research. Even the department head of the PNGE program at METU, who taught one of our courses, was good friends with Dr. Ertekin,” said Schramm. Ertekin, who also received his doctorate in PNGE from Penn State, maintains close ties with METU researchers and regularly visits to present guest lectures. “Quite a number of qualified, productive METU graduates have chosen Penn State for their post - graduate studies, both in our PNGE program as well as other programs across the university,” said Ertekin. “Personally, I was happy to see that some of our PNGE students were visiting the school I graduated from. It’s very fulfilling to me, and I’m happy that they came back with a positive experience. I hope that it will help us continue building our relationship with METU and that it will show Penn State PNGE students about a new opportunity to enhance their education.” The trip wasn’t the students’ first time abroad — they traveled to Jamaica in 2013 through the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Learning Edge Academic Program (LEAP) — but spending a semester in Turkey gave them a chance to “be on their own,” they said. They forged new relationships throughout the semester with their Turkish roommates, lab partners, and classmates, and made international friendships through the METU chapter of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), a European student association that facilitates study abroad and exchange programs. “Every Thursday night, a group of students from between 10 and 20 countries would get together through the ESN. We’d meet at one person’s apartment and everyone would bring a traditional dish from their country. Being able to sit down

Photo credit: Luke Schramm

and eat and talk with students from different nationalities is something I’ll always remember,” said Schramm. Sharing an apartment suite with two Turkish students also helped the Penn State students build deep connections and understand the Turkish culture in a way they never dreamed of before the trip. “We would talk about religion and current events, and everyone we met seemed to be very well informed on some of the major news from the United States. They did have a different perspective than we, but it really helped us learn a new respect for the Turkish culture. It really does open your eyes,” said McCann. McCann and Schramm also spent time traveling throughout Turkey, visiting Istanbul, Mount Ararat, and the three major seas that border Turkey — the Mediterranean, the Aegean, and the Black seas. One of the most memorable sites was Cappadocia, a human-created network of tunnels, caves and living quarters carved into a natural rock formations that resemble chimneys. The dwellings served as home for ancient humans, and as a refuge for early Christians fleeing from the Roman Empire during the fourth century. “There were so many amazing landscapes to see, from mountains to the seas to the desert areas to more lush environments near the Black Sea. It’s so unlike anything we had seen in the United States,” said Schramm. The most lasting impression for the students was the bonds they built, said Schramm. “Something I’ll always remember is the group interactions we had both inside and outside of class. That cross-cultural group dynamic, with everyone being respectful to each other and getting along, was nice to see and experience,” he said. Connection

ALUMNI AND FACULTY NEWS

By Liam Jackson

Frank Aplan, distinguished professor emeritus of metallurgy and mineral processing, and Edward Steidle, dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) from 1928 to 1953, were inducted into the National Mining Hall of Fame on Oct. 23, 2015, during a ceremony held at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They were among five new members inducted this year, bringing the total number of inductees to 232. Aplan and Steidle join four other Penn State mining engineering faculty in the Hall of Fame: George Deike Sr., Howard Hartman, David Mitchell, and John T. Ryan Sr. “The Department is very proud to have Dr. Aplan, the latest Penn State Mineral Engineering faculty to be inducted into the 2015 Mining Hall of Fame class, as being among the most influential mineral processing leaders in industry and academia. Another member of this 2015 exclusive class is Dean Edward Steidle, a Penn State mining engineer and former dean, who was being bestowed this distinct honor for his vision to bring under one roof all of the sciences and technologies needed to discover, extract, process, utilize and conserve the mineral wealth for the benefit of mankind,” said Turgay Ertekin, professor and EME department head. Considered to be a leader in mineral processing, Aplan researched the processes involved in the preparation of coal and ores.

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The author of more than 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, Aplan is a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering. In 1989, the United Engineering Foundation created the Frank F. Aplan Award in his name “to recognize engineering and scientific contributions that further the understanding of the processing of minerals.” Aplan has served on the mining engineering faculty at Penn State since 1968. Prior to this, he worked as a research engineer and research manager for multiple mines in South Dakota and Colorado. He received a bachelor of science from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1948, a master of science in mining engineering from the Montana School of Mines in 1950 and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1957. Steidle helped shape mineral education by encouraging and facilitating collaboration among earth-related disciplines. After receiving his bachelor of science and master of science degrees in mining engineering from Penn State, he worked for the U.S. Bureau of Mines, rising from assistant to chief mining engineer. He then joined the Carnegie Institute of Technology as an associate professor and was named dean of Penn State’s School of Mining and Metallurgy (the predecessor of EMS) in 1928. As dean, Steidle brought together disciplines in earth sciences, mineral engineering

and mineral processing to promote an interdisciplinary approach to studying minerals. Under his leadership, the college added programs in petroleum and natural gas engineering, fuel science, mineral economics, geography, and meteorology. He also emphasized the importance of liberal arts and culture in education, and began the Steidle Collection of artwork, which depicts Pennsylvania’s mineral industries during the first half of the 20th century and is one of the permanent collections of the EMS Museum and Art Gallery. In 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Steidle chair of the Federal Coal Mine Safety Board. In 1978, the Mineral Industries Building on Penn State’s University Park campus was renamed to the Steidle Building. ABOUT THE NATIONAL MINING HALL OF FAME: The National Mining Hall of Fame is a memorial for men and women who achieved lasting greatness in the mining and natural resource environment. Usually a candidate must be retired for at least five years and have made significant contributions to the American mining scene. Consideration is given to prospectors, miners, mining leaders, engineers, teachers, financiers, inventors, journalists, rascals, geologists and others. Their engraved photographs and biographies are placed in the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum.

RESEARCH NEWS

Cracks in abandoned wells could hinder carbon sequestration efforts By Liam Jackson

In search of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, engineers are investigating the feasibility of sequestering carbon dioxide in saltwater aquifers deep underground. New Penn State research suggests that cracks in abandoned oil and gas wells, depending on their size and other factors, may impede sequestration efforts. "Underground saline aquifers are one of the most promising destinations for sequestered carbon dioxide because they are abundant all over the world and they have very little use to society," said Zuleima Karpyn, associate professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering and Quentin E. and Louise L. Wood Faculty Fellow in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. "The general idea of sequestration into saline aquifers is to inject carbon dioxide deep into the Earth's subsurface to reduce emissions into the atmosphere. But if you inject it into the ground and it escapes, not only are your efforts in vain, but the carbon dioxide could also seep into groundwater or aquifers, making the water acidic and potentially causing other environmental issues," said Li Li, associate professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering. To sequester carbon dioxide, the gas must be captured from power plants before it escapes into the atmosphere, and pressurized until it behaves like a liquid. The carbon dioxide is then injected into a saline formation underground --

typically more than 1,000 meters deep, where the high pressure forces the carbon dioxide to maintain its liquid-like behavior. "Carbon dioxide is highly soluble in saltwater, so some of it will dissolve. Over time, some will precipitate out as minerals such as calcium carbonate, and the minerals won't leak into the atmosphere. However, the dissolved carbon dioxide can create problems if it comes into contact with cement from abandoned wells," said Karpyn. Carbon dioxide dissolved in water often forms carbonic acid, which can dissolve cement and other hard structures. Cement was used to form the walls of active wells, and to fill in many wells when they were abandoned. The cement in abandoned wells may be cracked, providing a potential escape route for carbon dioxide. There have been no definitive studies to count the number of abandoned wells existing in the U.S., but researchers estimate there are 200,000 in Pennsylvania alone. Some past research has shown that injection of carbon dioxide into saline aquifers tends to heal cracks in abandoned wells while other studies suggest the practice makes cracks worse. The Penn State team set out to understand this discrepancy. They recreated the underground environment in a laboratory and, using X-ray microtomography, obtained high-resolution images of carbon-dioxide-rich saltwater interacting with the cement walls. The team then created a computer model to analyze hundreds of variations of their experiment.

Results of their studies, published in journals including Water Resources Research, suggest that the size of the cracks and the amount of time carbon dioxide is in contact with cement are predictors for whether a crack will self-heal or open up. When the contact time is long, meaning that slower-moving water flowed across long cracks, minerals were allowed to precipitate and adhere to and fill in gaps in the cement, leading to a self-healing crack. In contrast, fast-moving water in short cracks provided replenishment of carbonic acid in the solution, dissolving the cement and eventually opening up the cracks. The researchers' findings could have significant implications for whether carbon sequestration in saline aquifers is a viable solution for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. "As underground wells age, they are subject to geothermal heating and cooling from Earth's natural processes, which means they may crack over time. By observing and modeling what happens in a laboratory under similar pressure and temperature conditions as in the deep subsurface, we're able to get a clearer picture of what actually happens deep underground," said Li. Peilin Cao, a Ph.D. candidate in energy and mineral engineering at the time of research, was lead author on the published papers. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the EMS Energy Institute and the Quentin E. and Louise L. Wood Faculty Fellowship in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering.

On the left is a piece of a cement well recreated for laboratory testing; 'A' shows the well prior to sequestration, and 'B' shows the well eight days after sequestration. On the right are images of the cement created with a high-resolution scanner that allow the researchers to track whether cracks in the abandoned wells are worsening or healing during the sequestration process.

Connection

PROGRAM UPDATES

Energy Business and Finance By Seth Blumsack, Program Chair, Associate

Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics

This being my first update for the Energy Business and Finance (EBF) program since taking over as program chair from Professor Andrew Kleit this past summer, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect briefly on how the program has changed and (especially!) grown since its inception roughly a decade ago. Since I joined the faculty at Penn State in 2007, the EBF program has grown from a start-up project with a few dozen students to an established and significant program for the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. Our enrollment is close to 400 students in the EBF major, with 200 students from mostly engineering fields enrolling in the newlyformed EBF minor. In my first years with the EBF program, our graduates went primarily into trading and risk management positions in the oil and gas sector. We now send graduates into all sectors of the energy economy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; interest in the electricity sector in particular has grown rapidly, aided by a new course on electricity markets. Based on our senior exit surveys, just as many EBF students are finding employment in the electric utility or power generation sector as with oil and gas companies. We are also seeing demand for our graduates from the financial services industry. Most significant in my mind is how the EBF program has adapted to serve the energy industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs for graduates with both technical and business training, or a global business perspective. We are now requiring EBF students to take a minor in a technical area or foreign language, or take a business-focused term abroad experience. A growing number of engineering students in the department are choosing to take EBF as a second major.

New opportunities for EBF students include new courses in natural gas engineering and GIS aimed at the Energy Land Management Option. A new student group, the Penn State Energy Marketing Association, was recently formed in conjunction with the Smeal College of Business. The group will offer energy trading simulations, presentations from industry, and other activities related to energy procurement and sales. We are also expanding our study abroad programs targeted specifically to EBF students. In conjunction with ESAN University in Lima, Peru, we are now offering a Certificate in Business in Emerging Markets to EBF students. The first cohort for the certificate program

will travel to Lima in the fall of 2016. In addition, our summer abroad program in Dalian, China, is being expanded to offer students an internship with PetroChina in addition to coursework. EBF faculty and graduate students recently participated in a workshop on the future of the power grid, hosted at Penn State and organized by Professor Mort Webster. The event attracted leaders in the study of the power grid from industry and universities, and was a resounding success. Later this spring, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, I will be hosting a joint industry-university workshop on technological innovation in power generation and delivery.

Seth Blumsack working with faculty at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico.

Group shot of those who attended the power-grid workshop organized by Mort Webster.

PROGRAM UPDATES

Energy Engineering By Sarma Pisupati, Program Chair, Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering, Director of Online Education

Dear Alumni and Friends, Let me wish you all a happy, prosperous, and peaceful New Year. I am glad to report that along with all other engineering programs in the department, the energy engineering program was accredited for another cycle. The program is doing well both in terms of number of students and quality of the graduates. Students from energy engineering who took the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam to become licensed professional engineers (P.E.) had a success rate of 100 percent. More employers are seeking energy engineering students as summer interns and for co-ops. This summer a record number of students had internships in both renewable and non-renewable sectors of the industries.

a group of students in a semester. Students from various disciplines (usually four to five, depending on the project) work collaboratively, in consultation with the sponsor, complete the project, and “showcase” the outcome at the end of the semester. As always, the program is looking for these industry-driven projects. If you would like to sponsor a project, or know someone who can, please pass this information or contact Semih Eser (seser@psu.edu).

If you have any comments or suggestions about the program, please do not hesitate to email (sxp17@psu.edu) or call (814-865-0874). Sarma

Energy Engineering students participating in solar array building workshop on campus.

Our industrial and professional advisory committee (IPAC) has been very supportive in continuously improving our program. The committee gave some great suggestions to make it even better. Thanks to all of them for their hard work and time commitment. Faculty have met and discussed at a retreat in December to follow up on the recommendation of the IPAC and also the PEV. Several changes were discussed for the improvement of the program. The energy engineering capstone design course is another success in cooperation with the “Learning Factory” in the College of Engineering. Through the Learning Factory, industrial groups sponsor small projects that can be completed by Connection

PROGRAM UPDATES

Environmental Systems Engineering By M. Thaddeus Ityokumbul, Associate

Professor of Mineral Processing and Geo-Environmental Engineering; Undergraduate Program Chair of Environmental Systems Engineering

The popularity of the Environmental Systems Engineering (ENVSE) program has continued to grow. This is reflected in the number of students who are in the program. In fall 2015, there were 192 students in the major. This number includes students who have indicated ENVSE as their major of preference at the University Park and Commonwealth campuses. The program also receives students from other universities in the Commonwealth who have 3+2 arrangements with Penn State where those students complete three years at their home institutions and then spend two years at Penn State to earn an engineering degree. As part of the continuous improvement of the program, we routinely request input from our alumni. This is required for ABET accreditation of our program. We want to thank all our alumni who responded to the surveys that were sent to them and to their employers who also did their part. This feedback contributed positively to the outcome of the ABET review process. Because this is a continuous process, we will be sending out surveys from time to time and would appreciate your feedback.

become a tradition at the kickoff meeting, ENVSE students welcomed new members and discussed their summer internships and experiences. The next meeting featured a program graduate, who discussed his work experiences with Pennsylvania Services Corporation and Alpha Natural Resources. The following meeting featured another program graduate from Arcadis U.S. Inc. who discussed several projects that were of interest to the students. The society is planning to bring in additional speakers for the spring semester and will again be coordinating ENVSEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s participation in the college-wide open house Earth and Mineral Sciences Exposition (EMEX). Several ENVSE students had the opportunity over 2015 to participate in a set of research

studies with Dr. Jeremy Gernand, evaluating the validity of aerosol particle measurement techniques, capturing and characterizing the particles emitted from consumer products such as aerosol sunscreens, and comparing such exposures to traditional occupational dust exposures and those anticipated in the nanotechnology field. The group of student has successfully submitted one journal manuscript and is in the process of finalizing another. The program continues to receive an annual gift from Chevron for targeted use in our laboratories. We are planning to purchase another piece of equipment (e.g. x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer) for use in one of our classes. The support of Chevron over the years is greatly appreciated.

Students in the Society of Environmental Systems Engineers toured the Graymont mines in Pleasant Gap, PA.

Prior to the start of the fall semester 2015, the program faculty had a one day retreat to discuss program-related activities as part of the ABET continuous improvement process. This was followed by a meeting of the Industrial and Professional Advisory Council (IPAC). As a result of these consultations, some minor changes are planned for the program. The student Society of Environmental Systems Engineers (SESE) continues to hold monthly meetings and organize a variety of professional and social activities for ENVSE students. During the fall semester, the SESE hosted two speakers at the monthly meetings and participated in a reverse career fair in which companies learned about the ENVSE program and its graduates. As has

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Students in the Society of Environmental Systems Engineers play broomball at the Pegula Ice Arena.

PROGRAM UPDATES

Mining Engineering By Jeffery L. Kohler, Program Chair, Professor of Mining Engineering and the George H. Jr. and Anne B. Deike Endowed Chair in Mining Engineering

It’s been a year since I last provided you with an update here in Connections, and there are several things that I want to share with you. Shortly after I returned to the University in September of 2014, we established the major goals of improving our recruiting and aligning our curriculum to better meet the anticipated demands on the 21st century mining engineer. We talked with alumni, our Industrial and Professional Advisory Committee, the companies who hire our graduates, and our colleagues here in the College. I’m excited to report significant progress. Our enrollment has increased by 30% from the Fall of 2014, and this includes new students from the Schreyer’s Honors College. This semester, the introductory mining engineering class has doubled to 25 students. The student chapters of both SME and ISEE continue to grow, as do other student activities including the support to the Boy Scouts of America’s Mining in Society merit badge. The enthusiasm and commitment of these students to mining is outstanding. The curriculum for the introduction to mining engineering, underground mining, and surface mining courses has been reworked to ensure that students have a solid foundation to begin their career in the metal/nonmetal as well as the energy sector. Many of you have provided case studies and other expertise to help us, and this has been invaluable! We still have more improvements underway, but we are now closer to our goal. I should also mention that the Program underwent an ABET review in 2014, and has been accredited. The good news from the Mining Engineering program here at Penn State is tempered by the downturn in the mining industry. Many of us have lived through multiple cycles of the industry’s ups and downs. However, this is the first time that I recall both the commodity and coal markets being depressed simultaneously. There are fundamentally different factors affecting

the industry in this cycle. Nonetheless, the 75 or more minerals that we mine here in the U.S. contribute to nearly 15% of the U.S. gross domestic product, and are critical to everything from food production to the manufacture of solar cells and electric cars. While the domestic coal requirement has declined markedly in the past few years, the projected need for coal in the next several decades is not all that different than from today. The need for mining engineers will continue to be strong as the industry adapts to the new order, but will there be mining engineering graduates to fill the need? This past year nearly all of the students who wanted an internship were able to get one. Job placement has dropped to under 100% for the first time in several years.

Fortunately, this past fall, some companies that had historically not recruited here, made recruiting visits. We are seeing an uptick in the number of students accepting jobs in the industrial minerals and stone sectors, and a reduction in those going into the coal industry. Internships tend to disappear during tough times, but their availability is a key factor in our ability to recruit good students into the program. For those of you who are in a position to support or offer internships, please continue to make this investment in the future of our industry. I enjoy hearing from you and I appreciate your support of Penn State Mining! Please let me know if you will be on campus or would like to make a visit to the Department!

Penn State Mining students at the ISEE annual meeting in Las Vegas, shown here with their industry mentor Dale Ramsey. (February 2016)

Penn State Mine Rescue Team competed at the annual Metal/ Nonmetal event in Rolla Missouri. Shown here preparing to enter the mine. (September 2015)

Mine rescue team members Adam Rodriquez and Sam Baker performing CPR on a “fallen miner”during the Rolla Mine Rescue Competition (September 2015)

Connection

PROGRAM UPDATES

Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

By Russell T. Johns, Professor of Petroleum and

Natural Gas Engineering, Victor and Anna Mae Beghini Faculty Fellowship, Petroleum and Natural Gas Program Chair

Dear Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering (PNGE) Alumni, I am delighted to write my first letter to you as PNGE Chair. There have been many exciting developments this year for PNGE faculty, but perhaps I should begin with the elephant in the room. Oil prices have dropped, crushing a previously robust demand for our students. This decline in crude prices and job opportunities creates significant worry for our students and potential hardship for our current senior class. We sent PNGE students a letter with many suggestions on how to secure a position and maintain a connection to petroleum engineering. These ideas include considering less traditional jobs to launch their careers, such as a field supervisor, pumper, hourly technician, or field assistant. Please consider hiring our students either full-time employee or as an intern. We need alumni support as never before. Many PNGE students could be placed if a fraction of our alumni each hired one student. Penn State students are the best petroleum engineering students in the world, and this is a great opportunity to beat the competition, in preparation for the next upturn. Want to hire a student? Please contact Carole Donald at cld14@psu.edu or me at rjohns@psu.edu to receive a list of students and resumes. In addition to providing career guidance, we are helping our students with enrollment controls. Three years ago, we instituted controls on incoming freshman to limit our student numbers. Our enrollment peaked in 2014-2015 at 860 undergraduate students and is now about 750. Our senior class next year will be half of the current senior class owing to these controls. With the deteriorating market, we will not be

surprised if our levels fall in subsequent years to around 300 students. This would be a healthy level for our program, given anticipated resources. On the faculty front, we added two new faculty this fall, Dr. Sanjay Srinivasan from the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Hamid Emami-Meybodi from University of Calgary, for a total of ten core petroleum engineering faculty. This is a substantial increase for our program, allowing us to increase our research efforts and interaction with students. We are hopeful to hire three new faculty through the Institute for Natural Gas Research (INGaR), which will significantly aid our program. We had a very successful outcome to

our 2014 ABET visit, with no outstanding weaknesses or deficiencies. One result of the visit is that we are going to offer a new sophomore introductory course. This course will help to keep students in our program, foster earlier interaction with these students, and sharpen their skills prior to summer internships. There are many reasons to expect a bright future in petroleum engineering at Penn State. We rely on your support to help us achieve our goals, and we appreciate all you have done thus far. Please consider hiring our students this spring, and we hope you will stop by whenever you are in Happy Valley. Our doors are always open, and we would be excited to see you! Russell T. Johns

Senior students at the 2016 Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Student Symposium in Houston, Texas -- hosted by Chevron

Petroleum and natural gas engineering students Adam Larson and Tyler Farnan receive a $5,000 donation from EQT for Positive Energy, a new Penn State SPE subcommittee focused on environmental philanthropy. To support Positive Energy visit: www.psupositiveenergy.org

The new X-ray micro CT scanner (GE Vtomex L300) housed in the Center for Quantitative Imaging in the EMS Energy Institute. Drs. Zuleima Karpyn and Dr. Timothy Ryan (Assoc. Prof of Anthropology) are co-directors of the lab, which also functions as a core facility. Read more at: http://www.energy.psu.edu/cqi/ Photo credit: Angela Kendall

Energy and Sustainability Policy By Vera Cole, Program Chair, Senior Lecturer, Energy and Sustainability Policy

In 2016, Penn State was ranked No. 1 in the Best Online Bachelor’s Programs by U.S. News and World Report, for the second year in a row! As EME’s online bachelor’s degree, the Energy and Sustainability Policy B.A. (ESPBA) program is very pleased to be included in this recognition. Students in the ESPBA program are online learners residing around the country—even in other countries, sometimes deployed with military service. Most are adults with family and professional responsibilities. The ESPBA program values the experience and perspective these students bring and works hard to promote their engagement with faculty, other students, their places of work and local community.

the club’s newsletter. This recent graduate just got her “dream job” with a solar developer in Colorado. Abby Watson chose to make her presentation to co-workers at Gamesa wind energy. A recent graduate of ESPBA, she says the presentation helped earn her promotion from sales specialist to government affairs and communications manager. “It was a new position, and the company was looking for someone with previous governmental lobbying experience, which I didn’t have. But that capstone presentation helped me to demonstrate that, even though I didn’t have the work experience in the field yet, my educational program has done a lot to prepare me.”

PROGRAM UPDATES

All ESPBA students also fulfill a requirement for an internship or foreign studies. For example, ESPBA students Kelli Gohn and Brian Hillard joined instructor Dan Kasper and a group from Delaware Technical Community College for study abroad in Switzerland, with tours of hydroelectric facilities, solar thermal and solar photovoltaic installations, an electric vehicle factory, a geothermal energy installation, the renewable energy infrastructure in Zurich, a biogas facility, and more. And, in perhaps the most special “engagement” opportunity of all, many ESPBA students traveled from around the country to join graduation activities, often their first in-person trip to a Penn State campus. We wish all of our 2015 ESPBA graduates the very best.

In the summer of 2015, we had our largest ever in-person gathering of ESPBA students, when nine students attended the Sustainable Energy Fund’s annual EnergyPath event at the University of Scranton. It was a moving experience to meet in person for the first time classmates they had known online, sometimes for years! In the event’s three-day solar energy camp, co-instructed by me, six ESPBA students joined others to build a 4.2 kW fully operational photovoltaic system.

ESPBA students participating in hands-on energy workshops at EnergyPath 2015. Front row (l-r), Bethany Steiner, Jamie Hetrick, Kayla Kalinoski, Michael Reichart, Al Rutter. Back row (l-r) Mark Moore, Kelli Gohn, Vera Cole (lead faculty), Brian Hillard, Mark Mulhollem.

All students in the ESPBA program complete a capstone course and project, requiring research, personal interactions with industry and government stakeholders, and a public speaking engagement, arranged by the student in his or her local community. In 2015, sixteen ESPBA students presented their research and ideas at venues across the country, including their workplaces (many ESPBA students are already working in related fields), public policy arenas, classrooms (as invited speaker), and public meetings.

On a study abroad trip, ESPBA students Kelli Gohn and Brian Hillard join group touring a soon-to-be commissioned anaerobic digester on a small farm near Lucerne, Switzerland. Organic waste from local farms, restaurants, and grocery stores will be converted to methane used to run a combined heat and power generator.

To name a few, Eli Roth gave public testimony at a PA Department of Environmental Protection hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan. Marielle Martin spoke to the Eastern Electric Vehicle Club about her research into labeling for charging stations. Afterwards, she test drove EVs at the event and was featured in

Fall 2015 ESPBA graduates travel from as far as California to gather on University Park campus for commencement ceremonies and celebrations. Back row (l-r) Al Rutter, Rob Fulton, Beth Calehuff, Bret Cole, James Facciolla, and Eli Roth. Front row (l-r), ESPBA faculty Brandi Robinson and Haley Sankey. Connection

STUDENT NEWS I had all my facts straight,” said Watson.

Student elevates wind energy career through online degree program By Liam Jackson

When Abby Watson first enrolled in Penn State’s Energy and Sustainability Policy (ESP) program, she didn’t realize she would advance her career before completing her degree. Through one course assignment, Watson was able to show her company — Gamesa, a wind industry leader that manufactures wind turbines and maintains wind farms in more than 50 countries — that she was qualified for a newly created position directly related to her studies. Every student in the ESP program, which is taught online through Penn State World Campus, takes a capstone course in which students synthesize what they’ve learned into one presentation and deliver it to stakeholders. Students are encouraged to provide formal comment at public policy hearings or present to citizen groups, policy makers, advocacy groups, or other stakeholder parties. Watson chose to make her presentation to her coworkers — staff from Gamesa sales, marketing and general counsel departments.

It was that presentation that helped her change her role in the company from sales specialist to the role she holds today—government affairs and communications manager. “It was a new position and the company was looking for someone with previous governmental lobbying experience, which I didn’t have. But that capstone presentation helped me to demonstrate that, even though I didn’t have the work experience in the field yet, my educational program has done a lot to prepare me,” she said. As Gamesa’s government affairs and communications manager, Watson stays up to date with ongoing legislation changes and how proposed laws might affect the wind industry. Watson also works closely with the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), which lobbies Congress for policies beneficial to wind energy. “My job is to gain as much insight as possible into U.S. policy outlook for wind energy, to keep corporate management informed of how changes in the political landscape could impact our business so we can plan our operations accordingly,” she said. The ESP program as a whole — not just the capstone course — was instrumental in preparing her for this position. “I got experience with writing policy briefs through many courses I took and I learned about the legislative process that goes into creating policies and who the important players are. The ESP program gave me a solid base for understanding the political landscape and policy-making process, as well as how to look at constituents on either side of the political spectrum and understand their motivations,” she said. “I honed many skills through the ESP program that are now a regular part of my job today.”

For Watson, her new career is allowing her to spend her days close to a passion that she began cultivating as a high school student at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts. “I had an advanced placement [AP] environmental science class, and in that class I remember watching a video about how global warming impacts developing nations. It seemed to me that those countries really are suffering the most from climate change and are least equipped to deal with it, even though they have contributed the least. I felt that it was an incredible injustice, and I wanted to do something to help right that wrong,” she said. After graduating from high school, Watson enrolled in a geology program but had to withdraw due to financial difficulties. She put her studies on hold and entered the workforce full-time as a receptionist for a construction risk management company that handled renewable energy projects. She then slowly began working her way up in sales positions in the renewable energy field. Enrolling in the ESP program has helped her make a huge — and satisfying — jump in her career, she said. “I’m excited that the ESP program has given me a chance to work with wind energy policy, which I feel passionate about,” said Watson. “I love my job, and I can’t believe I get to do this for a living.” About the Penn State bachelor of arts in Energy and Sustainability Policy Program: Launched in 2010, the bachelor of arts in energy and sustainability policy is a 121-credit degree program developed by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and offered exclusively online through Penn State World Campus. The curriculum is designed to teach students to analyze, synthesize and communicate diverse information about global trends in energy policy, technologies and economics.

“I delivered a policy briefing on the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit, which provides economic benefits to companies that produce wind energy. It was a comprehensive presentation on the future outlook of policy, what quirks had gone into developing it and how it had benefited the wind energy industry. These were true stakeholders who knew the policy landscape well, so I needed to make sure Image: Abby Watson

www.eme.psu.edu

RESEARCH NEWS

new technique both enhances oil recovery & sequesters carbon dioxide By Liam Jackson

A proposed recovery technique for oil extraction developed by a Penn State-led research team not only outperforms existing drilling and recovery techniques, but also has the potential to sequester more carbon dioxide in the process. The team estimated that companies using this new technique would greatly improve oil recovery rates. They developed a model that indicates that the process could extract between 78 and 90 percent of the oil in a reservoir over several decades. Existing drilling techniques in use today extract a maximum of 50 to 60 percent of the estimated total volume of oil before production, and on average, that number is closer to 35 percent. The model uses horizontal drilling, in which wells are drilled up to about 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) underground, parallel to the Earth's surface, through known oil reservoirs. This differs from vertical drilling techniques, in which wells run perpendicular to the Earth's surface. Two wells, organized in a staggered line drive, form the basis of the model -- one well in the top of the reservoir to inject supercritical carbon dioxide into the system, and another well at the bottom of the reservoir to extract oil. Carbon dioxide normally behaves like a gas at room temperature and pressure, but when it is pressurized and heated past a certain point -- the critical point -- it becomes a supercritical fluid, which exhibits liquid density and gas viscosity. When injected at a continuous rate, supercritical carbon dioxide is an excellent solvent that is able to contact oil and form two hydrocarbon phases -- one that is light, containing a significant amount of carbon dioxide, and one that is denser, containing more oil.

Liwei Li (left) and Saeid Khorsandi (right) are two Penn State graduate students in petroleum and natural gas engineering who helped develop a method to enhance oil recovery and sequester carbon dioxide. On the monitors behind them are graphics from a research paper describing their model. Image: Farid Tayari

"The idea of our model is that, if you can inject carbon dioxide as a supercritical fluid into the reservoir, it will extract light components from the oil, such as methane. This forms a less dense and less viscous fluid. Then, the reservoir is drained of water and oil, and the more buoyant, carbon-dioxide-rich fluid expands in a controlled way toward the lower well, where the oil can be extracted," said Russell Johns, professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering.

an added expense for companies but no added revenue. Using our model, however, companies can leverage their existing horizontal drilling infrastructure, which is more economical in the long run."

The team used data from reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, and then developed a computerized simulation that ran 7,000 times to account for variations in reservoir properties that exist across the U.S.

"Imagine you had a cup filled with water and you used a straw to take out water at a constant rate," said Johns. "You could keep doing that until you had nothing left as long as the water level was more or less horizontal. But if that cup was porous and contacted a deep underground aquifer, the cup would be constantly refilling, and the process would not be as effective since water would continue to occupy a significant amount of pore space. However, if the water and oil can be effectively drained like they are when using our approach, then there is significantly more room for storage of carbon dioxide."

"In any given reservoir, the properties change spatially based on the depth, chemistry, physical composition and other factors," said Liwei Li, graduate student in energy and mineral engineering, petroleum and natural gas engineering option, who was lead author on the paper published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. "In our model, we used geostatistical and petrophysical techniques that would allow us to account for those variations," The team's research suggests that this novel method of carbon sequestration would be much more effective and reliable than sequestration techniques currently being investigated, such as sequestration into deep saline reservoirs or water-alternating gas. "If you were to inject carbon dioxide into saline deposits underground, you would need to drill wells and install pipelines to transport it to the site," said Saeid Khorsandi, an EME graduate student in the PNGE option who was a member of the research team. 'This creates

The only limitation of the model is that it requires a closed environmental system, in which carbon dioxide cannot escape from the reservoir and water and oil is drained from below.

Whether or not oil and natural gas companies will use the model depends on a number of factors, including the price of oil, the location of existing wells, the source and cost of carbon dioxide and the amount of oil predicted to be within reservoirs, the team said. This approach gives the best possible scenario of how recovery could be enhanced, while simultaneously storing carbon dioxide. Robert Dilmore, Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory, collaborated on the research. The U.S. Department of Energy and Penn State's EMS Energy Institute funded this work. Connection

MINING ANNIVERSARY

MINING ENGINEERING PROGRAM CELEBRATES 125 YEARS OF SUCCESS

By Liam Jackson

On Oct. 4, 1890, Penn State’s Board of Trustees approved the establishment of a mining engineering degree program. In the 125 years since then, Penn State’s mining engineering program has become one of the most influential in the country, helping to educate future engineers and providing leadership and ideas to help shape the industry.

EVOLUTION OF THE INDUSTRY: FROM MULES TO MACHINES Penn State’s mining engineering program played a major role in helping the mining industry transition and progress into how it operates today. In the 1880s, it was common practice for mules (such as Penn State’s Old Coaly) to carry materials out of mines. As demand increased, mining companies sought ways to improve efficiency, and one way to accomplish this was mechanization, or the use of technology such as electric-powered conveyor belts and elevators to accomplish task previously done manually. One of the first graduates of Penn State’s mining engineering program, Lewis Young (who received his bachelor of science degree in 1900), was renowned for his expertise in mine mechanization. He advised mines worldwide on how to implement new technologies and was responsible for the first complete mechanization of a coal mine in Illinois. In 1960, he was named a Penn State Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus in honor of his achievements. Technological innovation evolved from mechanization to computerization — initially using computers in the planning and design 14

process. Operating a mine with and without computers was like “night and day,” said Tom Falkie, who served as head of the Department of Mineral Engineering (the predecessor to the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering) from 1969 to 1973. “In the 1950s, Penn State and two mining companies were the leaders in computerized mine planning and mine operations. We would develop applications to simulate different mine plans, and then put the plan that had the best potential into operation. Without a doubt, it increased efficiency of mines tremendously. Eventually, everyone across the world got involved, and today the use of computers in mine operations has become much more advanced,” said Falkie, who later served as president of Berwind Natural Resources Company. Falkie and other Penn State mining engineering faculty such as Howard Hartman, Robert Stefanko, Charles Manula, Frank Aplan, Reginald Hardy, Stan Suboleski, and Raja Ramani were instrumental in both conducting groundbreaking mining research and educating future mining engineering faculty members. “Penn State’s mining engineering program has produced some of the best and most original thinkers in the mining industry. At one point, around 25 percent of the mining engineering faculty across the United States had received a mining engineering degree from Penn State,” said Ramani, an alumnus, professor emeritus of mining engineering and geo-environmental engineering, and head of the Department of Mineral Engineering from 1987 through 1998. “I studied under Charles Manula, and seven of the eight Ph.D. students studying with me at the time went on to become faculty members at colleges across the United States. He was a beacon of light when

it came to operations research and computers. Almost anyone who wanted to do work in this area was attracted to Penn State because of him.” As a testament to the expertise of Stefanko and other Penn State mining engineering faculty, several books used in mining engineering curricula worldwide were authored by former Penn State mining engineering faculty: Howard Hartman, who was head of the Department of Mineral Engineering from 1957 to 1963, wrote Mine Ventilation and Air Conditioning and Stefanko’s Coal Mining Technology: Theory and Practice, now in its fourth edition, can still be found in classrooms today. Hartman was also called upon to serve as senior editor for one of the largest manuals used by the industry — the 2,453-page Mining Engineering Handbook produced by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME).

PIONEERS IN SAFETY Safety in the mining industry is equally, if not more, important than efficiency. Two Penn State alumni paved the way for improving mine safety. George Deike Sr. and John Ryan Sr., who both received bachelor of science degrees in mining engineering from Penn State in 1903 and 1908, respectively, started the Mine Safety Appliances (MSA) company in 1914 to develop new equipment to improve safety. The company collaborated with Thomas Edison to develop the first-ever electric cap lamp, which cut fatalities by nearly 75 percent, according to the MSA. The names Ryan and Deike may be familiar to Penn State visitors; each have facilities named in their family’s honor on the University Park campus — the Deike Building and the Ryan Family Student Center, the college’s advising, tutoring and social hub.

Ryan and Deike each had sons — John Ryan Jr. and George Deike Jr. — who would go on to get their mining engineering degrees from Penn State and continue in their fathers’ footsteps by focusing on improving mine safety. Deike Jr. and Sr. also played a strong role in Penn State’s development by serving on the Board of Trustees; together, the two served for 51 years total. George Deike Jr. and Sr. and John Ryan Jr. received the Penn State Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni award in recognition of their accomplishments. George Deike Jr.’s wife, Anne B. Deike, endowed the first professorship in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences in 1998. “The University is always proud of endowed chairs, and they’re really a testament to relationships between industry and education,” said Ramani, who was the inaugural holder of the George H. Jr. and Anne B. Deike Endowed Chair in Mining Engineering. Today, the chair is held by Jeff Kohler, who previously served as director of the Office of Mine Safety and Health Research at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Over the years, Penn State faculty and graduate students have been responsible for numerous advances in ground control, ventilation, electrical systems, systems engineering and other topics, and these advances have led to significant gains in safety as well as productivity.

STRONG INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP Since 1894, the mining engineering program has coordinated efforts to promote and publicize new knowledge and has provided outreach to the larger mining community. The Mining Bulletin, first created in 1894, was published to the benefit of the mining industry, and former Penn State President George Atherton served on the publication’s board of managers. The bulletin comprised articles on technology written by members of the community, and it was distributed free of charge to anyone interested. In the mid-20th century, several other programs were created at Penn State to promote best practices and keep professionals up-to-date with new mining techniques. A series of short courses were made available in the 1970s through the 1990s for miners across the country. Additionally, through the Miner Training Program, established in the 1970s, Penn State assists mining companies across Pennsylvania by providing training in areas such as ground control, ventilation and safe work practices to mine employees. The Miner Training Program is supported by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Mine Safety, a division of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The mining engineering program’s leadership extended to professional organizations. Multiple Penn State faculty — Stefanko, Falkie and Ramani — have been presidents of SME, which is the

“PENN STATE’S MINING ENGINEERING PROGRAM HAS PRODUCED SOME OF THE BEST AND MOST ORIGINAL THINKERS IN THE MINING INDUSTRY.” largest professional organization for mining engineers with 15,500 members worldwide. Several others have served as president of the American Institute of Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), which represents over 150,000 professionals worldwide in the areas of mining, materials research, iron and steel, and petroleum engineering. Government also sought the expertise of many Penn State mining engineering faculty. Falkie left Penn State in 1974 to serve as director of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Mines. Edward Steidle, who served as dean of EMS from 1928 through 1953, was appointed on separate occasions by both President Dwight Eisenhower and President John Kennedy to serve as chairman of the Federal Coal Mine Safety Board of Review. Steidle, Mitchell, and Hartman received Presidential appointments to serve as chair of the Federal Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Board, and Kohler was appointed to head the government’s Mining Safety and Health Research Program at NIOSH. Several mining engineering faculty and alumni were elected fellows of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the highest honor for engineers in the United States. Twenty-three researchers have been elected to the NAE for their contributions to the mining industry, and seven of these are current or former Penn State Energy and Mineral Engineering professors: Falkie, Ramani, Suboleski, Aplan, Ramani, Richard Hogg, and Derek Elsworth. Penn State alumni have also been leaders within the industry — more than 70 alumni have risen to the rank of president or CEO of their company. Students and faculty have the opportunity to tap into this industry expertise through the G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture in Mineral Engineering series. The series was established in 1992 by Mercedes G. Shoemaker to honor her husband, a Penn State mechanical engineering alumnus who was president of CONSOL Energy and served as a Penn State trustee for more than 20 years. The series has brought presidents, vice presidents, and CEOs of major energy companies and governmental organizations (MSHA, NIOSH and the United States Geological Survey) to the University Park campus to speak on critical topics in the mining industry, such as safety and energy security.

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES THROUGH INDUSTRY TIES Practicums, internships and co-op experiences have been part of the mining engineering curriculum since the first courses were offered in the 1890s. According to the 1893-94 course catalog that is available in the Eberly Family Special Collections Library, two weeks at the end of every year were devoted to “practice in the field or in machine shops,” where students got experience with underground and above-ground surveying techniques, and mine inspection. By the 1920s, travel to local mines had become an integral part of the curriculum: “Visits of Inspection to Mines, Furnaces, Etc.” was a required course to complete the mining engineering program during the 1920-21 school year. By the 1960s, a “student trainee” program was initiated by Howard Hartman. In this program, students completed the degree in five years by alternating periods of employment in industry and course work at Penn State. According to the 1960-61 course catalog, “numerous mining and manufacturing companies as well as governmental agencies [were] co-operating with the University” to provide employment to students. Those industry ties have strengthened over the years, as practical experience is common through internships and co-ops. In 2015, 80 percent of undergraduate students had an internship or co-op, and job placement is close to 100 percent, said Kohler. “We are fortunate to have a very strong collaboration with mining companies, manufacturers and government agencies, as well as a large and very much engaged group of alumni who work with our students and provide internships as well as full-time employment opportunities,” said Kohler. Those internships and co-ops expose students to a wide range of assignments they may complete as a mining engineer, working in a variety of locations and with numerous commodities. There are nearly 14,000 mines in the USA extracting more than 75 different commodities. Worldwide, those numbers increase to nearly 200 commodities being mined at tens of thousands of facilities. Mining contributes nearly 15 percent to the domestic and 25 percent to the global economies, and mined products are ubiquitous in society — from their use in agriculture, manufacturing and construction, to pharmaceuticals, solar cells and electric cars. “The demand for mined products, and at the same time, the challenges to mine in a profitable, safe and environmentally responsible way have never been greater. Graduates from our program will continue a 125-year tradition of excellence and technological innovation that will put them and the U.S. industry second to none,” said Kohler. Connection

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John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering College of Earth and Mineral Sciences The Pennsylvania State University 110 Hosler Building University Park, PA 16802 Phone: (814-865-3437