Points of Pride

The School of Mines is ranked one of America's 100 Best College Buys for the 12th consecutive year.

The School of Mines may be the best college investment in the nation based on the comparison of total costs and average starting salaries of graduates. More importantly, based on data analysis, it appears that the School of Mines may well be the only university in the nation where starting salaries for graduates are equivalent to the total cost of a four-year degree.

School of Mines graduates have some of the highest starting salaries in the Midwest and are among the best-paid in the nation, according to a recent report by Payscale Inc., a Seattle-based research firm. The PayScale 2009 Education and Salary Report puts the School of Mines 11th among Midwestern universities in terms of salary potential and 15th in the nation for Best Engineering Colleges by Salary Potential.

Ninety-eight percent of our graduates report that they have already embarked on a career or been admitted to a professional program within one year of graduation.

The average annual starting salary of our graduates is approximately $56,000.

Officials from the School of Mines and Halliburton have announced a generous gift of $30,000. Halliburton’s gift – which was donated to the geology and geological engineering department – will go towards developing scholarships for students and faculty support to develop curriculum.

The School of Mines was named the 2008 Bronze Award winner in the Student Recruitment Series category for the “Invent Tomorrow” series by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) during the council’s District VI convention.

For the fourth straight year, the School of Mines is the recipient of the Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) Scholars Award. The award is presented annually to the school with the highest percentage of student-athletes honored as DAC Scholar-Athletes. Forty-eight percent of Hardrocker athletes earned recognition for their academic achievements.

The School of Mines recruitment website, www.GoToMines.com, was recognized as one of the best admissions websites in the country by the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA).

The School of Mines awards more than $11 million in scholarships and financial aid annually, which is disbursed to more than 80 percent of our students.

Dr. Jennifer Karlin, associate professor, industrial engineering, joined 48 of the nation's brightest young engineering researchers and educators selected to take part in the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) first Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE) symposium held November 15-18 in Herndon, Virginia. The program focused on effective ways to ensure that students learn the engineering fundamentals, the expanding knowledge base of new technology, and the skills necessary to be an effective engineer or engineering researcher.

Dr. Dan Dolan, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing and Production (CAMP), was named the 2009 South Dakota Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Dr. Jon Kellar, chair and D. Fuerstenau professor of materials and metallurgical engineering, has been named the 2008 South Dakota Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Kellar was selected from nearly 300 top professors in the United States.

Dr. Gerald Grellet-Tinner, assistant professor, geology and geological engineering, and assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology, has been featured in a recent article by the prestigious journal Nature. The article focuses on the presumed first paleontological field school conducted by a tribe in the nation.

Dr. Vojislav Kalanovic, professor, mechanical engineering, has been officially been awarded Patent No. 7,431,632 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The issued patent relates to the Flexible Robot Environment (FRE®), a robotic solution that combines linear mechanical and motor/drive components with proprietary hardware, software and controls from Control Systems Technologies, LLC, a company owned and operated by Kalanovic.

Dr. Stan Howard, professor, materials and metallurgical engineering, has been named to the board of directors for the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). Howard will serve for three years as the financial planning officer.

Dr. Andrea Surovek, associate professor, civil and environmental engineering, has been named to the editorial board of the American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Structural Engineering. The Journal of Structural Engineering is a peer-reviewed academic journal and one of the top journals in the field of structural engineering.

Dr. Dana Medlin, materials and metallurgical engineering, has been selected for the Nucor Endowed Professorship for Metallurgical and Steelmaking Technologies. The endowed professorship is the result of a $1 million gift from Nucor to the materials and metallurgical engineering department at the School of Mines.

President Robert A. Wharton, Ph.D., has been named to the National Coal Council, the chief advisory panel on federal coal policy. Wharton has been appointed to represent the viewpoint of academic institutions with a curriculum concentrating in mining and technology research.

Dr. Karen Whitehead, provost and vice president for academic affairs, has been named the recipient of the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce's ATHENA Award. The award honors individuals who strive toward the highest levels of personal and professional accomplishment, who excel in their chosen field, devote time and energy to their community in a meaningful way, and forge paths of leadership for other women to follow.

Officials from the School of Mines and Black Hills Power have unveiled the Renewable Energy Research Facility, the product of an exciting partnership established to address tomorrow's energy needs.  The facility, funded through a $90,000 donation from Black Hills Power, consists of one 20 kW ReDriven wind turbine, one 2.4 kW Skystream 3.7 wind turbine, and three EnPhase photovoltaic panels, providing modern technology for researching wind and solar energy opportunities.

The School of Mines is an active participant in the effort, led by Black Hills Vision, to create a technology-based economic development corridor in western South Dakota.

Through its research and development projects in areas such as nanotechnology, carbon sequestration, advanced materials development, and geology, the School of Mines continues to assist the military, the State of South Dakota, regional and national industrial firms, farmers, and ranchers.

In Fiscal Year 2009, School of Mines researchers were awarded nearly $21 million in research and development funding, the highest amount in the history of the university and more than double the $10.1 million received in Fiscal Year 2008. During the 2009 fiscal year, researchers received 92 awards averaging approximately $227,000 from federal and state agencies, corporations, and direct Congressional appropriations. The awards represent 23 departments, centers, or labs and have been awarded to 42 principal investigators. The funding came from many different agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the State of South Dakota, NASA, the Department of Transportation, Army Research Laboratory, Air Force Research Laboratory, and many more.

The School of Mines is the site of a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/ University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) in the area of bioenergy. The new I/UCRC, the Center for Bioenergy Research and Development, will receive substantial funding at the multimillion dollar level from both the National Science Foundation and sponsoring industries. The School of Mines is one of only eight universities to have two or more I/UCRCs and has already seen considerable opportunities created from its Friction Stir Processing I/UCRC, which was started in October 2004.

In 2009, the School of Mines hosted a university round table discussion on DUSEL research, collaboration and education in conjunction with representatives from the University of California Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, South Dakota EPSCOR, South Dakota Science and Technology Authority, Sanford Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, and a number of South Dakota colleges and universities. The event culminated with a discussion of alternative energy and environmental studies, led by Dr. Steven Chu, former director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and current U.S. Energy Secretary. Dr. Chu's study of fundamental phenomena and in measuring important physical quantities with unprecedented precision led to the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997.

Anastasia Baker (metallurgical engineering, Rapid City) has been awarded the George A. Roberts Scholarship from the ASM Materials Education Foundation. ASM International is a society dedicated to serving the materials science and engineering profession Baker is one of seven students nationwide chosen for the award and will receive a $6,000 scholarship.

Scott Eddie (chemical engineering, Winner) has been awarded a Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer National Scholarship Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Eddie is one of 15 AIChE student members nationwide chosen for the award and will received a $1,000 scholarship. Awards are presented on the basis of academic achievement and involvement in student chapter activities.

A team of students representing the university's chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) recently received recognition at the organization's national conference. The chapter received both the Recruitment and Retention Chapter Award and the Distinguished Chapter of the Year Award.

The student chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has received a Commendable Award from the national organization for 2008-09 academic year chapter activities. The recognition is awarded based on the chapter's activity in community, campus, and national-level events.

Melanie Vedvei, a 2008 industrial engineering graduate of the School of Mines, has been named a Laureate by Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. The annual program recognizes gifted engineering students who have excelled in areas beyond their technical majors.

More than half of the winners at the 2008 Governor's Giant Vision Business Plan awards competition have ties to the School of Mines. Two teams each earned second place awards and $2,500 cash prizes in the Student Division: DJ Kjar (M.S. TM07) and Jason Howe (EE07) for Valde Robotics, which specializes in designing and manufacturing urban environment unmanned aerial vehicles; and Chris Flack (ME, Rapid City) and Jordan Johnson (ME, Rapid City) for Krystal Klear Kart Bodies, with an innovative design for clear go-kart bodies. Placing second in the Business Competition was Jody Sperlich of Dakota Fire Systems, Inc. with its design and manufacture of fire suppression and protection gel delivery systems, which received a $10,000 prize. Mechanical engineering students Treavor Hendrickson (ME, Rapid City) and Jeff Schnabel (ME, Emery) supported this project through a senior design project. Also of note, is the third place finish in the Business Division by Jordan Krell (ME, Plankinton) and Krell Safety Products (KSP) for Smart Swim, a patent-pending drowning alert system. Krell entered the competition as a high school senior.

Eleven South Dakota School of Mines and Technology students have been named Tau Beta Pi Scholars for the 2008-09 academic year. The chapter with the next highest numbers of scholars has five. In addition, Travis Walker (ChE/Math08) has been named a Tau Beta Pi Fellow for 2008-09. The students: Benjamin Bangasser (ChE, New Hope, Minn.), Andrew Brosnahan (ME, Lead), Cody Fredricksen (ChE, Rock Springs, Wyo.), Tom Fryslie (EE/Phys, Rapid City), Joshua Hammell (ME, Evansville, Wyo.), Shane Heier (EE, Sioux Falls), Amery Kuhl (ME/Phys, Worthington, Minn.), Lisa Rebenitsch (CSc, Bismarck, N.D.), Alexander Schmidt (EE, Mandan, N.D.), Kajda Stevens (ChE, Benson, Minn.), and Brady Wiesner (CE, Watertown).

The School of Mines had seven Hardrocker student-athletes earn NAIA Scholar Athlete honors for the 2007-08 year. For cross country Kyle Kattke (ME07); for indoor/outdoor track Matt Deardoff (CE, Brandon) and Tyler Flattum (IE, Bristol); for men's basketball Brandon Smith (ME, Amenia, N.D.); for women's basketball Melanie Vedvei (IE08) and Amber Deweerd (Chem08); for women's golf Kjada Stevens (ChE, Rapid City); for football Lukas Munsell (EE, Mills, Wyo.), Matt Deardoff (CE, Brandon) Mike deStigter (CE, Sioux Falls), and Chad Westendorf (ME, Geddes).

Six South Dakota School of Mines and Technology students have received nearly $15,000 in scholarship funds from the Women's Auxiliary to the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, Inc. (WAAIME). The students: Robbie Hahn (MetE08), Collin Rogers (MinE08), Stephanie Pashina (MEM08), Andrew Johnson (MinE08), Jordan Hoff (MinE08), and Brandon Fredrickson (MinE08).

Katherine Aurand (EnvE, Rapid City) has been named a United States Presidential Scholar. Aurand is one of approximately 141 students chosen for what is one of the nation's highest honors for graduating high school students.

2009 Aero Design West Competition: The School of Mines team captured fourth place overall at the competition. They also took first place in the design presentation and second place with their report.

2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) ChE Car Competition: The School of Mines' ChE car finished in third place at regionals, qualifying the team for the national competition in November 2009.

2009 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Conference: The School of Mines chapter finished first of 15 schools at the regional conference. The steel bridge team finished in second place overall, which qualified them for the ASCE national competition. The team also placed first in construction speed and first in economy. The concrete canoe team placed first in finished product and fourth overall. In additional ASCE competitions, Teresa Serie (CE, Mitchell) received second place for her non-technical paper and presentation, and James Kliewer (CE, Mountain View, Okla.) tied for fifth place for his technical paper and presentation.

2009 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Human Powered Vehicle Challenge: The School of Mines placed third in the utility race event. This was the team's first attempt at this event. They also placed 13th in sprint and 16th in endurance and design.

2009 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Student Competition: The School of Mines' rock retriever team placed second out of 28 registered teams during the competition.

2009 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Competition: Four teams of School of Mines students competed against more than 200 teams in the competition, taking 17th, 22nd, 28th, and 54th places.

2009 Baja SAE Oregon Competition: The School of Mines' vehicles took fourth and 11th places overall, against nearly 100 registered cars. The underclass team also place second in design report and fourth in cost, and the senior team took fourth in design report, fifth in overall design, sixth in cost, seventh in acceleration, eighth in endurance, and ninth in presentation.

2009 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Region 5 Competition: The School of Mines team entered two robots, eventually capturing sixth place overall out of nearly 30 teams.

2009 Mathematical Contest in Modeling: The School of Mines team led South Dakota in the competition, receiving an honorable mention. More than 1,000 teams from more than 14 countries participated in the competition.

2009 International Aerial Robotics Competition: The School of Mines' unmanned aerial vehicle team finished in fourth place overall at the competition. They also received an award for best presentation and took second place in the journal paper and T-shirt design competitions.