The Engineering and Mining Experiment Station (EMES) at South Dakota Mines has begun overseeing the operation and maintenance of instrumentation within the Shimadzu Environmental Research Laboratory (SERL).

The EMES was founded on the Mines campus in 1903 with a mission to serve mining industry research. Today the mission has expanded to include a much broader range of academic and industry needs with a wide array of scientific equipment that is utilized by industry professionals and university researchers across the region. The EMES has seen equipment investments by the South Dakota Board of Regents and the National Science Foundation totaling more than $2.8 million since 2011. The EMES website lists the range of scientific equipment available for academic research and industry use including the Shimadzu instrumentation.

The SERL was established in 2015 in partnership with Shimadzu Scientific Instruments by Lisa Kunza. Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Chemistry Biology and Health Sciences at Mines. The SERL is a multidisciplinary research facility that contains a suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation with a focus on environmental applications. SERL instruments enable the chemi...

As a mechanical engineering graduate from South Dakota Mines, Joree Sandin never expected to do medical research, but the 2018 graduate has spent the past two years focused on antibiotic resistant infections. 

“Three or four years ago, as a mechanical engineering major at Mines, I would never have imagined that I would have gained this experience … my car took a random exit toward this bio world and I’m so glad it did,” she says. 

Sandin recently completed her master’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Kentucky College of Engineering. She returned to Mines in October to co-present the research seminar, “A Mechanical Engineer’s Approach to Bacterial Infections,” alongside Dr. Martha E. Grady, assistant professor in mechanical engineering at UK and lead researcher on the work. 

The UK research Sandin has been a part of focuses on biofilm formations, specifically in dental care.  

Biofilms are a collection of microorganisms that grow on surfaces. The microorganisms that make up biofilms can include bacteria, protists and fungi. “Biofilms are really everywhere,” Sandin say...

Ankit Jha, Ph.D., is the first graduate of South Dakota Mines’ new doctoral program in Mining Engineering. 

Dr. Jha’s research, conducted under Associate Professor Purushotham Tukkaraja, Ph.D., included a new computer system that integrates and enhances underground mine ventilation, safety, communication and rescue operations. The concept involves developing a command center with software that allows for real-time tracking of individuals on digital maps inside a mine. It also records real-time sensor data from the atmospheric monitoring system within the mine. The data collected with specific algorithms from mine ventilation engineering and computer science were utilized in developing the software. 

When the system alerts operators of danger, it highlights the fastest and safest path for a mine rescue and recovery operation. Jha’s research also examined the flammability of ventilation ducts in underground mines and made recommendations for improvements.  Furthermore, Jha investigated efficient ventilation designs to mitigate radon emission in underground metal mines by using experiments and computational fluid dynamics simulations. 

In his dissertation, Jha writes, “As mine rescue operations are stressful because human lives are at stake, it is not surprising that pertinent information could be missed, which could adversely affect the rescue operati...