Missouri S&T Mining & Explosives

07/15/2026

Congrats to Dr. Lana Alagha and co-PIs for leading S&T's portion of the NSF Engines grant that could provide up to $160 million to the consortium.

Missouri S&T will serve as a core partner in the Critical Materials Crossroads Engine, an initiative selected today for up to $160 million through the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines program.

07/07/2026

Intern update: Allie Ackmann is a mining and explosives engineering student going into her senior year. She is doing an internship with Austin Powder Company this summer. Her daily activities include going on shots, laying out shots, and making sales. In school, Allie is currently the president of Women in Mining and the Treasurer of the International Society of Explosive Engineering. She is also involved in mucking, SME and NSSGA.

07/07/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Catherine Johnson on her promotion to full professor.

Twelve faculty members at Missouri S&T received promotions and/or tenure, effective Tuesday, Sept. 1. Those faculty members are:

06/22/2026

Intern update: Adam Ashworth, is an incoming mining engineering sophomore. Adam was involved in SME and Mucking in the past year, and I am currently interning with Buckley Powder Co, where he gets to visit many mines in Missouri, drill holes for the blasters, and obtain a basic understanding of shot layout and overall design of mines.

06/19/2026

An update from one of our students, Kellan Ast. Kellen is from Nevada, Missouri. He has played with the rugby club and is looking to join SME and mucking in the 2026-27 school year. He is currently interning at Rogers Group Inc. in the Huntsville, AL, region. While there, he is learning about limestone quarry operations.

06/10/2026

Thanks to Dr. Xu, Ryan Sibley, Jerry Vail and all those who helped to make this possible.

30 high school students visited our Mining Engineering summer camp and toured our experimental mine. Each year, when I see these young faces, I feel the energy of youth, and the unlimited possibilities ahead of them. Perhaps one of these students came today simply out of curiosity, but a few years f...

05/28/2026

We are very excited to take delivery of a new skid steer for the Experimental Mine! We just leveled up on our ability to train industry-ready .

01/14/2026

An interesting read, especially for prospective college students. Quote -- "But consider that in 2023, only 312 mining engineering degrees were awarded by U.S. universities. That means it’s a seller’s market for new mining grads—a stark contrast to the outlook for computer science graduates and computer engineering majors, who faced 6.1% and 7.5% rates of unemployment, respectively, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."

Amid surging demand for critical materials, university programs are roaring back to life. The industry now prioritizes tech and sustainability, and a job after graduation is almost guaranteed.