2020 Distinguished Alumni

The department is honored to welcome three new members to its ranks of Distinguished Alumni for 2020: Matt Schiefer, Class ’85; Phillip Saunders, Class of ’94; and Mark Bartkoski,  Class of ‘83. The three inductees were recognized at the department’s annual Alumni Reception, which was held this past February at the SME Conference and Expo in Phoenix.

Mark Bartkoski, Class of 1983

After graduating with a BS and Masters in Mining Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1983, Mark solidified his foundation with ten years of underground experience with Costain Coal in the mid-west. His strong operational background, drive for high efficiency, and employee engagement has set-up his career to be one of a “builder.” His next thirty years of executive management positions spanned four major US coal fields, nine states, and a number of international projects. Some of these included three greenfield start-ups and a dozen turn-arounds or brownfields. As a Professional Engineer, Mark is calculated and methodical, but his operating style is hands-on, engaging, and process-driven. His signature has been to develop companies and people through a loss prevention vision statement and a development plan that he calls the “Integrity Process.” To fully delineate the system, Mark has written a three-book series on this topic: Building Integrity, Inspirational Integrity, and Refining Integrity. Helping build security in people’s lives has been his quest.

Currently Mark is working through his consulting company, Integrity Development Consultants. He is a past Chairman of the Board for the Coal Association of Canada, and was recognized as the 2019 Distinguished Miner in Canada. He has received numerous community service awards and has been very progressive in leading pay-it-forward projects from local schools to foreign orphanages. For Mark, operating a community and environmentally responsible company is the mandate.

On the family front, Mark and his wife Margie have been married 40 years, raised six children, and are now blessed with nine grandchildren. He is very involved with church ministry and is an avid outdoorsman.

Matt Schiefer, Class of 1985

Matt Schiefer’s career reflects  over 34 years of innovative experience in all aspects of the Aggregates business.  He graduated from Virginia Tech’s mining and minerals engineering department with the Class of 1985, after which he began his career at Luck Stone as a Management Trainee.  After several years in design engineering, Matt took a lead role in corporate development during a period of rapid growth from 1995 to 2010. In 2010, he returned to his original passion for operations as General Manager and currently serves as Vice President of Luck Stone’s Eastern Region.

Matt serves the aggregates and construction industries through various State and National BOD positions and is active in his community through board service and other volunteer activities. And, he is a HUGE Virginia Tech Athletics fan!

Phillip Saunders, Class of 1994

With over 25 years in the mining industry, Philip Saunders has held positions in engineering, operations, and various levels of senior management in the coal industry. He graduated from Virginia Tech’s mining and minerals engineering department in 1994, and later received an MBA with a focus in International Business. His experience has created a diverse skillset that has focused on a wide range of key elements of the mining industry, to include operations, safety, engineering, maintenance, preparations plants, asset management, land management, and continuous improvement.  Foremost however, he has been heavily involved in projects that simultaneously have pushed safety and productivity improvements. 

Phillip’s mining career started as an undergraduate, while working for Massey Energy during his summers, winters, and other breaks.  His early career gave him a wide range of experience in different mining processes and mining techniques, both underground and surface.  As a result, much of his career has been involved with wide-ranging styles in mining operations, from the Powder River Basin, with over 90-foot coal seams, to his current position at Warrior Met Coal, where he focuses on productive longwall mining at depths of 1,700-2,200 feet underground.

Philip’s career of driving changes to improve mine performance has continued in his current role as Vice President, Engineering with Warrior Met Coal. Since arriving in Alabama in early 2017, his team has played key roles in increasing production from 2.6M tons in 2016 to 8.5M tons in 2019, while simultaneously decreasing incident rates, lowering citation rates, and improving mine recovery.