Mining Feature: Ground Control Researcher Honored with Achievement Award
Monday, July 1, 2019
Jack Trackemas
The NIOSH Mining Program's ground control branch chief was honored with the 2019 Robert Stefanko Distinguished Achievement Award.
Jack Trackemas, chief of the NIOSH Mining Program's ground control branch, was named the 2019 Robert Stefanko Distinguished Achievement Award in Mineral Engineering by the faculty of Penn State University's mining engineering program. He received his award at an April luncheon at the university.
The award was established in 1992 to honor the memory of Robert Stefanko, a professor held in high regard who was also an alumnus of the university. He was chair of the mining engineering program in the 1960s and conducted research into mining engineering safety—an academic path he never intended to take, but changed to after a devastating ground fall accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Stefanko initially conducted research on ground control and developing instrumentation to detect underground stresses, but he also explored ventilation, electrical systems, diesel exhaust issues, pillar and span design, and numerous other aspects of underground mining.
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