Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources A State of Minds

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A STATE OF MINDS{ }

No state means more to its university ...and no university means more to its state.

Home to some of the most innovative and

forward-thinking minds in the country, West

Virginia University serves the world by first

serving its state. And no where is that more

evident than in the Benjamin M. Statler College

of Engineering and Mineral Resources. Alumni,

students, and faculty from every discipline in

the College have marshaled their research and

intellectual capital—their “State of Minds”—to

serve the people and industries of West Virginia.

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Director, Mining and Industrial Extension, West Virginia University

M.S., West Virginia University, 1990B.S., Fairmont State College, 1987

James Dean{

Dean was one of nine people selected to participate on an ad-hoc committee appointed to study components related to “self-escape” in the mining industry, by the National Research Council. Dean served as acting director of the state’s Office of Miners’ Health, Safety, and Training at the request of then-Governor Joe Manchin following the Sago and Aracoma disasters in West Virginia. He continues to serve on the state’s Mine Safety Technology Task Force.

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Hess has served as president of WVU’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The Hedgesville, W.Va., native interned with SR Platinum Solutions, a company that develops software solutions for clients in the national security sector.

B.S. computer engineeringWest Virginia University, 2012

Samantha Hess{

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Professor, Department of Mining Engineering

Ph.D., Colorado School of Mines, 1998M.S., Penn State University, 1987B.S., Penn State University, 1981

Keith Heasley{

Heasley has developed a seismic system for locating trapped miners. The system, which is portable and can be set up within minutes of arriving at the accident site, has successfully detected the location of individuals pounding with sledgehammers 800 feet below ground. Heasley is collaborating with SureWave Technology, a United Kingdom-based company, to further develop the system.

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Freshwater is the president of Contractor Services, Inc., and vice president of Reserve Oil & Gas, Inc. of Spencer, W.Va. He was selected for the 2008 edition of “Generation Next: 40 under 40” by The State Journal, which recognizes young business leaders in the state, and became a member of the Mountain State Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization in 2009. He is also a member of the Daniel Boone Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the board of directors of First Neighborhood Bank, and the board of directors of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia. He is president of the Allohak Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

M.S., civil engineering, West Virginia University, 1997 B.S., civil engineering, West Virginia University, 1994

J. Scott Freshwater{

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Ph.D. candidate, mining engineering, West Virginia UniversityB.S., mining engineering, West Virginia University, 2007

Morgan Sears{

Sears, from Summersville, W.Va., has been working to develop a database of pillar designs for improving the safety of shallow mines. He has worked closely with MEPCO, a privately owned coal company located in Morgantown, W.Va., and Patriot Coal Co. in the Beckley and Charleston, W.Va., areas. His research is being funded as part of a $1.1 million grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

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Ph.D., chemical engineering, West Virginia University, 2008B.S., chemical engineering, West Virginia University Institute of Technology, 2003

David Statler, Jr.{Statler is a research chemical engineer at Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research, and Innovation Center (MATRIC) headquartered in Charleston, W.Va. MATRIC is non-profit research and development corporation that conducts scientific research and development for state and federal governments, private foundations, and commercial customers in the areas of chemical and environmental technologies and advanced software systems.

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Hota GangaRao{Wadsworth Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering

Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 1969M.S., North Carolina State University, 1967 B.S., Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, 1965

GangaRao serves as director of WVU’s Constructed Facilities Center. Established in 1988, the Center serves a number of federal and state agencies, conducting interdisciplinary research in the areas of composite materials, diagnostic tools, design procedures, and structural components. GangaRao also directs the Center for the Integration of Composites into Infrastructure (CICI), a National Science Foundation industry/university cooperative research center, founded in 2009. The mission of CICI is to accelerate the adoption of polymer composites and innovated construction material into infrastructure and transportation applications through collaborative research.

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M.S. candidate, electrical engineering, West Virginia UniversityB.S., electrical engineering, West Virginia University, 2011

Kenneth Hite{

Hite, of Summit Point, W.Va., is president of West Virginia University’s PEAK Project Team. The team is one of only 20 teams worldwide to be selected to participate in the 2013 Solar Decathlon, hosted by the United States Department of Energy. The team from WVU was selected in its first attempt to participate in the competition.

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Professor, Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1982M.S.E., University of Michigan, 1978B.S., University of Tehran, Iran, 1976

Khashayar Aminian{

Using the Department’s newly established Marcellus shale laboratory, Aminian is working to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of shale.

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B.S., petroleum and natural gas engineering, West Virginia University, 1981

Michael John{

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John is president of Northeast Natural Energy, an oil and gas company headquartered in Charleston, W.Va., and focused on drilling, production, acquisition, and joint-venture opportunities in the Appalachian Basin, particularly in the Marcellus shale formation.

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Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Ph.D., Oklahoma State University, 1989M.S., University of Naples, Italy, 1985

Marcello R. Napolitano{

Napolitano was named 2011 Professor of the Year by the West Virginia Faculty Merit Foundation. He developed, along with his colleague Dr. Mario Perhinschi, the MAE Flight Simulation Laboratory at WVU, making the University one of only a handful of institutions internationally to feature such a state-of-the-art educational and research laboratory.

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Roy S. Nutter, Jr.{Professor, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Nutter leads the digital forensics research group in the West Virginia Cyber Crime Cooperative. The cooperative researches digital forensics and electronic crimes, such as hacking, fraud, and child pornography.

Ph.D., West Virginia University, 1971M.S., West Virginia University, 1968B.S., West Virginia University, 1966

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J.D., Duquesne University, 1991B.S., petroleum and natural gas engineering, West Virginia University, 1978

Sharon Flanery{

Flanery leads the energy team at Steptoe & Johnson PLLC in Charleston, W.Va. The team is responsible for numerous asset and stock transactions, lease transactions, and land and legal due diligence for acquisitions involving more than 120,000 acres of Marcellus shale properties throughout the Appalachian region.

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B.S., civil and environmental engineering, West Virginia University, 1977

H. Wood “Woody” Thrasher{Thrasher and his father, Henry, formed Thrasher Engineering, based in Clarksburg, W.Va., in 1983, with only three employees. Today, Thrasher Engineering is the state’s largest civil and consulting engineering firm, with a combined employee base of nearly 300 in the Clarksburg home office, with branch offices in Charleston and Martinsburg, W.Va., along with offices in Oakland, Md., Canton, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pa. Thrasher is also president of the Resource Engineering Group, Inc., a holding company comprised of civil and environmental engineering and architectural firms.

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Darryl Duncan{M.H.A., Xavier University, 1989 M.S., industrial engineering, West Virginia University, 1986B.S., industrial engineering, West Virginia University, 1985

Duncan is president and CEO for Mon Health System. The integrated health care delivery system provides a full range of family-centered care to residents of north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. The cornerstone of the system is Mon General Hospital, a 189-bed community hospital located in Morgantown, W.Va.

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Ph.D. candidate, chemical engineering, West Virginia UniversityB.S., chemical engineering, West Virginia University, 2008

Elliot Roth {

Roth has been doing research in the area of carbon capture and sequestration. A provisional patent application was filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 11/04/2011. Roth, a native of Beverly, W.Va., is a Bayer Scholar. The Scholars are members of WVU’s Center for Extrusion-Compounding of Additives for Superior Plastics Performance, a state-of-the-art polymer engineering facility in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

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Ronald G. Pearson{J.D., West Virginia University, 1968 B.S., industrial engineering, West Virginia University, 1965

Pearson is the chief bankruptcy court judge for the southern district of West Virginia. He was appointed to his position in 1985, by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. He served as treasurer of the state of West Virginia from 1975-1977.

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M.S. candidate, mechanical and aerospace engineering, West Virginia UniversityB.S., mechanical and aerospace engineering, West Virginia University, 2011

Edward Chambers{

Chambers was named a National Science Foundation Research Fellow in 2012. The Morgantown, W.Va., native is working on surface properties of light-emitting diodes for advanced manufacturing. In his “spare” time, Chambers spent the 2011-2012 school year teaching an early morning engineering class at Fairmont Senior High School.

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DiGregorio serves as executive director for the Chemical Alliance Zone, an economic development organization that promotes the chemical industry in West Virginia and serves to attract chemical industry and technology investments and jobs throughout the state. The industry, the state’s largest manufacturing employer, is responsible for more than 10,000 direct jobs and nearly 45,500 indirect jobs in West Virginia.

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Kevin DiGregorio{Ph.D., chemical engineering, West Virginia University, 1988M.S., chemical engineering, West Virginia University, 1985B.S., chemical engineering, West Virginia University, 1983

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President and CEO, KeyLogic Systems

Jon Hammock{

KeyLogic Systems is a technology management firm headquartered in Morgantown, W.Va., with employees in 11 states. Hammock has led KeyLogic to five years on the Inc. 500/5000 list, the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and 2005 West Virginia Small Business of the Year, while maintaining 12 years of growth, with a compound annual growth rate of 40 percent.

B.S., computer science, West Virginia University, 1988

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Professor, Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering

Ph.D., Virginia Tech, 1988M.S., Southern Methodist University, 1985B.E., University of Madras, India, 1983

Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan{

Gopalakrishnan serves as director of the Industrial Assessment Center at West Virginia University. The Center provides no-cost energy assessments to small and mid-sized manufacturers in the state.

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B.S., civil engineering, West Virginia University, 1972

Robert O. Orders, Jr.{

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Orders is chief executive officer of Orders Construction Co., Inc., a highway, utility, and industrial constructions company with operations is West Virginia and Virginia. The company employs more than 100 people.

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Kimberly Ayers{M.S., petroleum and natural gas engineering, West Virginia University, 2012B.S., B.A., West Virginia Wesleyan College, 2010

The research of Cross Lanes, W.Va., native Ayers looks at trends in the way hydraulic fracturing was conducted by using actual well completion data from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Her research aims to refine and define fracture parameters that affect the lifetime production of Marcellus shale wells.

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M.S., mechanical engineering, West Virginia University, 1972B.S., mechanical engineering, West Virginia University, 1971

Thomas J. DeWitt{

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DeWitt is president and chief executive officer of the Swanson Industries Group. Headquartered in Morgantown, W.Va., the group comprises 11 different companies doing business around the world for several industries, including fluid power, mining, and construction, employing nearly 800 people.

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Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Ph.D.,West Virginia University, 1973 M.S., Drexel University, 1967B.S., West Virginia University, 1964

Kenneth H. Means{

The Department’s senior design program, Projects with Industry and Building Energy Use, was selected for inclusion in the National Academy of Engineering’s Real World Engineering Education publication. It was one of only 29 programs selected nationwide.

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Casey is the founder and owner of FOX Engineering, a 75-person firm with offices in Ripley and Fairmont, W.Va., and Cincinnati, Ohio. Fox provides surveying, civil engineering, construction inspection, contractor services, and structural inspections as a consultant to their clients. FOX Construction, a sister company started more than seven years ago, performs heavy highway construction and general commercial construction.

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B.S., civil engineering, West Virginia University, 1994

Jennifer W. Casey{

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B.S., chemical engineering, West Virginia University, 1981

Vincent Stricker{Stricker is a senior process engineering specialist and corporate recruiter with Dow Technology Licensing in South Charleston, W.Va. He and his fellow Mountaineers working at Dow are familiar faces at Statler College career fairs, working to recruit future graduates into the company. He is also a member of the Department of Chemical Engineering’s visiting committee.

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Ramsey is vice president of the North America Supply Chain for Mylan Pharmaceuticals. Based in Morgantown, W.Va., the subsidiary of Mylan, Inc., is a market leader in researching, developing, manufacturing, marketing, and distributing generic pharmaceutical products in a variety of sophisticated dosage forms.

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T. Mark Ramsey{M.B.A., East Carolina University, 1997 B.S., industrial engineering, West Virginia University, 1984

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Statler is co-founder and chief executive officer of Gulf Coast Capital Partners, a private investment firm founded in 2008 that is focused on acquiring and providing capital to middle market companies in special situations. He spent more than 30 years at CONSOL Energy before starting his own mining company, PinnOak Resources LLC. In 2012, Statler and his wife, Jo, made the largest gift in West Virginia University’s history when they pledged $34 million to the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. The College now bears his name.

Sc.D., West Virginia University, 2009 B.S., mining engineering, West Virginia University, 1973

Benjamin M. Statler{

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OUR LEGACY{The people and industries of West Virginia

expect much from us: knowledge, research, boldness, bright ideas, and bright graduates. We can and will exceed those expectations.

We have emerged as a leader in solving today’s most complex problems, and we are ready to

share our “State of Minds” with the world.{

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concept mary dillondesign halley kurtz / paige nesbit