Two faculty members in the Department of Mining Engineering at the University of Kentucky will be honored with awards at the SME 2019 Annual Conference & Expo and CMA 121st National Western Mining Conference in Denver, Colorado, February 24-27, 2019.
Thomas Novak, Professor, Alliance Coal Academic Chair and chair of the Department of Mining Engineering, will receive the 2018 Coal & Energy Division Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes achievements in the coal mining industry.
Novak will be honored for "His distinguished contributions to the advancement of coal mine health and safety."
Zach Agioutantis, Mining Engineering Foundation Professor, will be the 2018 recipient of the Syd. S. and Felicia F. Peng Ground Control in Mining Award. The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated technical and scientific excellence in advancing the understanding of ground control technologies or approaches by publication or direct applications in the mining industry.
Agioutantis will be honored, "For his ability, integrity, passion, and perseverance toward the integration of software and ground control methodologies, especially SDPS, a subsidence prediction-engineering tool, and software for NIOSH-developed ground stability design analyses."
