Doe Run Donates $40,000 to Missouri S&T for New Spectrometer
St. Louis, Missouri (PRWEB) December 21, 2016 -- With 50,000 new employees needed in the mining industry by 2019, and 3.5 million manufacturing jobs expected over the next decade, The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) understands the importance of educating the next generation of the workforce. The company recently donated $40,000 to Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) toward the purchase of an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) Spectrometer for its geology, mining and metallurgical engineering programs.
This piece of highly specialized laboratory equipment will assist students in measuring and analyzing the chemical makeup of solids, liquids, alloys, powders and thin films. It will also be used to enhance and expand the hands-on education of future scientists and engineers in the processing of complex mineral sources and toward research on bioactive glasses and sustainable steelmaking technology.
“Missouri S&T has needed an XRF for more than 15 years, but the equipment requires a significant investment,” said Dr. Michael Moats, Dean’s Scholar in the College of Engineering and Computer at Missouri S&T. “Through Doe Run’s generous gift, and the support of other funders, Missouri S&T will be able to fill this need for our undergraduate and graduate students.”
“The Missouri mining and manufacturing industries employ more than 270,000 people,” said Mark Coomes, vice president of human resources and community relations at Doe Run. “It’s critical that the individuals who will fill these jobs have access to state-of-the-art equipment in college to learn now how to apply innovations that can help us advance and improve the industry.”
Missouri S&T’s mining engineering department includes around 200 undergraduate and graduate students and is one of only 14 mining engineering degree programs in the United States. The university’s metallurgical engineering program includes around 100 undergraduate and graduate students and is one of only eight metallurgical engineering degree programs in the U.S.
In addition to projected job expansion, the U.S. mining industry will require an additional 78,000 replacement employees due to retirement, according to the National Mining Association. Likewise, the manufacturing industry is facing the possibility of more than 2 million jobs that will go unfilled over the next decade due to a skills gap, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. Missouri S&T offers an undergraduate program in manufacturing engineering to help fill that gap, and has developed an online master’s degree program in manufacturing engineering – the only program of its kind in Missouri and one of the first in the country.
Missouri S&T’s College of Engineering and Computing, the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Center and Dr. Richard Brow, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of ceramic engineering, also contributed to the purchase of the new spectrometer.
About The Doe Run Company
Based in St. Louis, The Doe Run Company is a privately held natural resources company and a global provider of lead, copper and zinc concentrates. Dedicated to environmentally responsible mineral and metal production, Doe Run operates one of the world’s largest, single-site lead recycling centers, located in Boss, Mo. The Doe Run Company and its subsidiaries deliver products and services necessary to provide power, protection and convenience. Doe Run has operations in Missouri, Washington and Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.doerun.com and sustainability.doerun.com.
About Missouri S&T
Founded in 1870 as the University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a research university of more than 8,800 students and part of the four-campus University of Missouri System. Located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 97 degree programs in 39 areas of study and awards bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in engineering, the sciences, business and information technology, the humanities, and the liberal arts. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit http://www.mst.edu.
Tyler Sanft, Standing Partnership, +1 3142876339, [email protected]
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