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Release Date Thursday, June 10, 2021

South Dakota Mines Hosts North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

A group of Mines engineers, Dr. Purushotham Tukkaraja, Akash Adhikari, and Srivatsan Jayaraman Sridharan, gathered in the Sanford Underground Research Facility in the Black Hills. Proper airflow and ventilation is critical for operation and safety in underground mines and places like the Sanford Lab.

South Dakota Mines will host the 18th North American Mine Ventilation Symposium (NAMVS 2021) from June 12 - 17, 2021.

A live streamed virtual event is taking place as a collaboration between the university and the Underground Ventilation Committee (UVC) of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME).

“The North American Mine Ventilation Symposium, held every two to three years since 1982, provides a forum for ventilation experts, practitioners, educators, students, researchers, regulators, and manufacturers from around the world to exchange the knowledge, ideas, and opinions in the ventilation of mines, tunnels, and other underground facilities such as the Sanford Underground Research Facility in the Black Hills,” says Purushotham Tukkaraja, Ph.D., the NAMVS 2021 symposium chair and an associate professor in the Department of Mining Engineering and Management at South Dakota Mines.

“It is exciting to host this international symposium with researchers and industry coming together from around the world to share best practices in mine ventilation and health and safety,” says Robert Hall, Ph.D., head of the Department of Mining Engineering and Management at South Dakota Mines.

Proper airflow and ventilation is critical for safety and operational activities and the symposium promotes the exchange of ideas and research in a wide variety of ventilation topics including atmospheric gas and dust monitoring and control, primary and auxiliary ventilation planning and design, system modeling and simulation, diesel and electric machinery, temperature control and refrigeration, fire and explosion prevention, ventilation automation and control, occupational health and safety, mine emergency response, and energy cost and efficiency.

The NAMVS 2021 is a peer-reviewed symposium with full-day parallel technical streams, including keynote sessions, panel discussions, workshops, exhibit booths, virtual mine tours, poster presentations, and networking activities, and is expected to attract approximately 300 delegates.

“This symposium shows the role Mines plays as a global leader in mining engineering and technology. We’re pleased to have so many top experts in this field represented at this prestigious conference,” says Mines President Jim Rankin.

“I am grateful to all members of the symposium organizing committee for their help with peer-reviewing papers and chairing technical sessions; and a special thanks to our sponsors and exhibitors for their support and for helping make the symposium possible; thanks to the Center for Alumni Relations and Advancement (CARA) and the Office of Marketing and Communications at South Dakota Mines for assisting with the symposium registration, advertisement, and website services,” says Dr. Tukkaraja.

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About South Dakota Mines

Founded in 1885, South Dakota Mines is one of the nation’s leading engineering, science and technology universities. South Dakota Mines offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees and a best-in-class education at an affordable price. The university enrolls 2,493 students with an average class size of 24. The South Dakota Mines placement rate for graduates is 98 percent, with an average starting salary of more than $70,036. For these reasons South Dakota Mines is ranked among the best engineering schools in the country for return on investment. Find us online at www.sdsmt.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Contact: Mike Ray, 605-394-6082, mike.ray@sdsmt.edu