FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications (304) 696-7153
Grant to support mine safety research at Marshall University
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. –
Researchers at CEGAS will use the grant funds over the next year
to develop a computer program to perform mine ventilation network planning
calculations. The program will simulate a mine’s
ventilation system and its response to altered
conditions, including external influences such as temperatures and internal
influences such as mine fires.
The CEGAS researchers plan to incorporate the program into a
virtual mine safety training academy to produce realistic mine emergency
response exercises.
Dr. Tony Szwilski, director of CEGAS, will serve as the principal
investigator on the grant. He will be supported by research associates Dr. Jack
Smith,
who also serves as co-principal investigator, and
Justin Chapman, as well as IT services manager
Mark Lewis.
“This program, which we call VFIRE, will be a unique
educational and training tool,” Szwilski said. “Using the Internet, students
and trainees will be able to log into a virtual underground mine from anywhere.
They will be able to perform realistic mine emergency response exercises in
collaboration with other participants, while interacting with a simulated
ventilation system. We are confident VFIRE will be an innovative product that
will have numerous applications including mine safety and training.”
The grant is being awarded through the Brookwood-Sago program,
which provides education and training within the mining industry. The funding
is used to develop and implement training and related materials for mine
emergency preparedness, as well as for the prevention of accidents in
underground mines.
“We can never over-emphasize the importance of training,
especially in the area of mine emergency response,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine
safety and health, when the awards were made last month. “These grants enable organizations that are dedicated to
mine safety to develop programs that may one day save miners’ lives.”
The Brookwood-Sago program was established through a provision in
the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. The grants were
named in remembrance of 13 men who died in two explosions at the Jim Walter
Resources Inc. No. 5 Mine in Brookwood, Ala., in 2001, and 12 men who died in
an explosion at the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, W.Va., in 2006.
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For further information, contact: Office of University Communications Marshall University 213 Old Main | Huntington, WV 25755-1090 Fax: (304) 696-3197 |
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