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Alumni Series Where are they now?: Mining Engineering alumnus Kevin Dickey

Alumni Series Where are they now?: Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering alumnus Bevin VanGilder

An honor presented to only the best in the profession, Vladislav Kecojevic, the Robert E. Murray Chair and Professor of mining engineering in the Statler College, has received the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration’s prestigious Fellow Award.

Four West Virginia University alumni with successful careers in management, entrepreneurship and consulting were elected to the WVU Foundation Board of Directors at its annual meeting held recently.

In 2014, around 10,000 gallons of a coal-washing chemical called MCHM spilled into the Elk River near Charleston, affecting 30,000 residents in nine counties.

Under the scorching sun on a May afternoon, workers wipe the sweat from their brows between pounding 10-inch greenish-yellow stems into the soil on a patch of land at the West Virginia University Agronomy Farm. It’s one of many sites – not just in West Virginia but surrounding states – where visions of a future fueled by biomass are engrained into mainly forgotten lands. It’s a vision of alternative fuels and safer, sustainable products, all at an economical price-point. In the Mid-Atlantic region alone, more than 8.5 million acres of mined and marginal agricultural property are primed for reclamation, said Jingxin Wang, professor of wood science and technology. Left alone, it’ll remain vast, empty space.

After West Virginia University student Anthony Garber’s friend’s dog accidentally received a hard pull on the neck from a retractable leash, Garber began searching the dog leash market for a product that wouldn’t yank so harshly on the dog’s neck. When he couldn’t find a leash that fit his idea, he began brainstorming. 

A one-of-a-kind mentoring program at West Virginia University that supports high school students who face social and financial challenges and connects them to STEM-based undergraduate and graduate degree programs will be replicated at The University of Alabama’s Capstone College of Nursing over the next five years.

Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, has selected 28 engineering students for graduate fellowships for the 2021-2022 academic year. West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources student Wilson “Will” McNeil was selected as one of the recipients.