39th Annual Kentucky Professional Engineers in Mining Seminar

Aug 7, 2026, 8:00 AM – 4:15 PM

Hyatt Regency Hotel (Downtown): - Details

The Kentucky Professional Engineers in Mining (KY-PEM) is a non-profit membership society for registered professional engineers, and other professionals that specialize in the mining, metallurgy, and exploration industries in Kentucky.

Learn more about the seminar

In-Person & Virtual	Sponsored by
Friday, August 7, 2026 Hyatt Regency Hotel (Downtown) Lexington, Kentucky	KY Professional Engineers in Mining (PEM) UK Department of Mining Engineering SME-Central Appalachian Section (SME/CAS) *8 Professional Development Hours

In-Person & Virtual

Sponsored by

Friday, August 7, 2026
Hyatt Regency Hotel (Downtown)
Lexington, Kentucky

KY Professional Engineers in Mining (PEM)
UK Department of Mining Engineering
SME-Central Appalachian Section (SME/CAS)

*8 Professional Development Hours

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Kentucky Professional Engineers in Mining Seminar

Registration

Registration for the PEM Seminar scheduled for Friday, August 7 at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington is now open, and the agenda is attached. You can register to attend in-person or by Zoom.

Online registration: https://www.jotform.com/form/261404583469160

Please note: If you need to register multiple people with the same credit card, please fill out individual registration forms for each individual. (Credit cards can only be used by registering online, so DO NOT send us credit card numbers via email or written correspondence.)

If you would rather send a check, the address where your check should be mailed will appear after you click the appropriate button. Please include the names of attendees with your check.

Schedule

8:00 am	Seminar Introduction Karen Rose, PEM Chair, SynTerra Corp Zach Agioutantis, Chair, UK Department of Mining Engineering
8:15 am	Kentucky Regulatory Environmental Roundtable Jim Cable, Commissioner, Department for Natural Resources Wes Jones, Director, Division of Mine Permits Jay Cunningham, Acting Director, Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement Courtney Burgan, Environmental Consultant, Department for Natural Resources Samantha Johnson, Director, Division of Abandoned Mine Lands Morgan Freeman, Director, KY Reclamation Guaranty Fund Tim Fugate, Director, Division of Mine Safety Dennis Hatfield, Director, Division of Oil and Gas
10:15 am	Networking Break (15 minutes) Alumni picture-meet in the front of the room
10:30 am	Case Study on CBM Degasification for a CM Section Josh Lord, MSHA Technical Support
10:55 am	Geotechnical Considerations for Converting Underground Stone Mines into Data Centers Mark Haddock, Principal Engineer, Rocksmith Geoengineering
11:20 am	Borehole Geophysics for Mining Conditions Characterization and Rare Earth Element/Critical Mineral Exploration Kevin Andrews, Vice President/Principal Geologist, Marshall Miller & Associates
11:45 am	Aggregates: The Bedrock of Kentucky’s Economy Nick Rodgers, Executive Director, Kentucky Crushed Stone Association
12:10 pm	Lunch (50 minutes)
1:00 pm	Practical, Rapid Short-Term Mine Planning Using Carlson Software Sarah Fay, Engineer, RESPEC
1:25 pm	Developing The Next Generation of Engineers Kristin Floyd, Manager of UG Mine Planning, Rogers Group
1:50 pm	Engineering & Rock Mechanics Considerations for Undermining Large Bodies of Water Chris Newman, Geomechanical Engineer, Appalachian Mining & Engineering
2:15 pm	Coal in Kentucky: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Road Ahead Sam McKown, President, Kentucky Coal Association
2:40 pm	Networking Break
3:00 pm	TBA
3:25 pm	Development of a Groundwater Numerical Model for Estimating Groundwater Inflow in Multiple Seam Mining Zach Wedding, PhD, Groff Engineering
3:50 pm	Predicting Ground Vibrations from Blasting Using Geophysics Methods and Models Daykin Schnell, PE, PhD Candidate, University of Kentucky
4:15 pm	Adjournment

Previous PEM Seminars

PEM Scholarships awarded

Since its inception, the proceeds obtained from the annual seminar are used to support mining engineering student activities at UK. Since 2010, KY-PEM used its funds to establish a ‘Professional Engineers in Mining’ account at the University of Kentucky – College of Engineering for scholarships to be awarded to undergraduate students in the Department of Mining Engineering at the Chair’s discretion.

Year	KY-PEM Scholarship Contributions
2011	$3,000
2012	$9,000
2013	$7,000
2014	$7,000
2015	$7,000
2016	$5,000
2017	$4,000
2018	$4,500
2019	$4,500
2020	$6,300
2021	$7,000
2022	$7,000
2023	$11,000
2024	$9,000
2025	$9,000
2026	$11,000

KY-PEM also sponsors an annual award to a graduating senior who exhibits a ‘Commitment to Professional Practice’. The graduating senior listed in the table below received a $650 check and a framed print from Agricola’s ‘De Re Metallica’ as an award.

	Commitment to Professional Practice Award Recipient
2011	MALLORY ANNE MILLER
2012	AUSTIN BROCK
2013	ADAM G. BRYANT
2014	W. TYLER MEADOWS
2015	ALEX B. JOLLY
2016	MORGAN T. LANE
2017	COLTON GRANT
2018	M. VICTORIA KAREM
2019	LUCAS THAXTON
2020	CAITLIN STRONG
2021	KYLE DESNOYER
2022	CHRIS DAWALT
2023	HANNAH HEADY
2024	AMELIA FAUST
2025	WAYLON MARTIN

Distinguished Alumni

Graduate Programs

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39th Annual Kentucky Professional Engineers in Mining Seminar

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Registration

Schedule

PEM Scholarships awarded

KY-PEM Scholarship Contributions

Commitment to Professional Practice Award Recipient

Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering