Students Win 3rd Place in Annual Design Competition
A team of mining and minerals engineering department undergraduates took third place in the 2021 SME/NSSGA Student Design Competition. The annual design competition is an opportunity for students to challenge themselves, develop their engineering skills, and connect with the aggregate mining industry.
Held in two phases, student teams were presented an aggregate industry design problem and were tasked with preparing a technical design and oral presentation for a panel of industry judges.
This year’s Hokie team, Checkmate Consultants, were asked to examine and compare the economic benefits of mining out a pre-existing surface limestone mine in Tennessee versus opening a new one. Their efforts resulted in a combination solution that allowed for a maximum benefit in pursuing both options. The team consisted of seniors Thomas Huddleston, Ally McFarland, David Kelley, and Sarah Price, and juniors Justin Hartman and Baxter Jones.
Initially twelve teams competed in Phase 1 of the competition which took place in the Fall of 2020. Five of those teams were selected to compete in Phase 2 of the virtual SME/NSSGA Student Design Competition in February 2021, where they presented their mine design and operating plans for a surface quarry in Tennessee to a panel of six judges from the mining industry.