Mines Professor Awarded Career Development Grant to Advance the Future of Mining Industry

Rudrajit Mitra, Ph.D., envisions shaping the future of mining by fostering the next generation of researchers and driving technological advancements in the industry through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Mitra, a South Dakota Mines associate professor of mining engineering and management and Syd & Felicia Peng professor, is advancing this goal after receiving the 2024 Career Development Grant through the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME).

This is the ninth year SME has awarded grants to assist tenure-track professors. Mitra’s grant is $100,000 a year for three years. The organization also grants fellowships to doctorate students needing financial support to earn their Ph.D. and begin a career in academia.

According to SME, these programs, funded through the society’s foundation, aim to tackle long-term challenges threatening the sustainability of U.S. mining academic programs and to address future labor shortages caused by an aging workforce.

“The SME Foundation remains committed to investing in the future of mining and minerals education, having funded 40 students and faculty with $7.7 million to date,” said Thomas C. Rauch, SME Foundation president. “This year’s outstanding class of recipients, like those before them, are cultivating a robust talent pipeline to meet the many resource demands of tomorrow.”

Mitra specializes in rock mechanics and mining systems engineering, with a focus on enhancing resource efficiency through digitalization, virtual reality applications in mining, and innovative approaches to learning and teaching.

“My vision is to try and get the expertise from other fields and bring it to mining,” Mitra said. “I have my own expertise, but I am not an AI or sensor expert. There is still a long journey ahead to effectively apply these interdisciplinary technologies to mining and rock mechanics, but support like this helps us progress."

Another challenge for Mitra is funding for graduate students. “My immediate priority is to nurture the next generations of researchers. I want to invest a significant portion of this grant in graduate student support to foster academic growth and productivity,” he said.

Mitra aims to secure research grants, attract talented graduate students, and build partnerships with public and private funding institutions to advance digitalization in rock mechanics. He also envisions establishing the South Dakota Center for Digital Mines – a hub for cutting-edge rock mechanics research and practical applications in the field. 

“Achieving these goals will make a significant impact to the U.S. mining industry and make South Dakota Mines a leading center for innovative mining technology,” Mitra said.