Huang named to distinguished professorship

Qingqing Huang, Associate Professor of Mining Engineering

Associate professor, Qingqing Huang with the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University has been named to a distinguished professorship, effective July 1.

Story by Paige Nesbit, Director of Marketing and Communications
Photos by Paige Nesbit

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Huang has been named the Syd and Felicia Peng Professor of Mining Engineering.

For more than 40 years, the Pengs have been important contributors to the educational futures of countless mining engineering students at WVU. The award, created in 2014, is available to specialists in the areas of ground control and mineral processing.

“I am truly honored to be named the prestigious Syd and Felicia Professor of Mining Engineering,” Huang said. “This endowed professorship will provide me with significant resources and financial support to advance my research in critical mineral recovery and extraction, hire quality graduate students and present our research findings on national and international platforms.”

After earning her doctorate in mining engineering from University of Kentucky in 2016, Huang joined WVU in 2017 as an assistant professor in mining engineering. Huang’s research expertise focuses on mineral processing, coal preparation, extractive metallurgy for metal recovery from primary and secondary sources.

“Dr. Huang is a talented young faculty member in the College who has established a global reputation for her outstanding scholarly contributions,” said Pedro Mago, Glen H. Hiner Dean of the Statler College. “She is an excellent role model for our students and very deserving of this prestigious professorship, possible by the generous contributions of Syd and Felicia Peng. I am proud of her accomplishments, and we look forward to her significant contributions in developing technology that will advance the recovery of rare earth elements and critical minerals strategic to the economic development of the state and nation."

Huang has been leading and collaborating on multiple research projects to recover rare earth elements and critical minerals from various resources, including coarse coal refuse, acid mine drainage, and its treatment byproducts, non-coal lithologies and phosphate processing waste clay.

Huang was named a 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 distinguished Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Henry Krumb Lecturer and selected as the 2018 SME Mineral & Metallurgical Processing Division Outstanding Young Engineer Award for her significant contribution to the mineral processing field. Huang is also a recipient of the 2020 Statler Outstanding Researcher/Junior, 2022 Statler College Dean’s Leadership Fellows for Engagement and a licensed Professional Engineer in the Mining Engineering field.

“I appreciate the continuous support from the Department of Mining Engineering and the Statler College,” Huang said. “I also deeply appreciate the generosity of the Pengs, who have been long-standing contributors and supporters of mining education, research and the industry.”

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