Exciting headlines today! The team has been featured in a Penn State news article about the upcoming contest to be held in the Ag Arena. You can check out the article here:
This past week a few members of the team worked with Willie Barker from Drager to repair the team’s breathing apparatuses and update all the gaskets and seals before the big spring contest in a few weeks! Willie spent several hours with Vanilo Antonio and TJ Greene to take apart the machines and replace all the old and worn out parts.
Special thanks to Willie and the rest of Drager for helping us out!
At last night’s practice, the team elected junior Brandon Matejik to become the team’s new secretary after the departure of the previous one. Brandon has been active in the team since January 2019 and wants to help lead the team into the future. His responsibilities include keeping the practice minutes and attendance, and team communications.
Because his election was in the middle of the semester, he will be the secretary during the 2019-2020 school year as well. Officer elections for president, vice president, treasurer, and webmaster will be held in the beginning of April.
Last night’s practice went really well! The team picked up from where they it left off from Thursday after having solved half of a problem. Last night, the began solving the other half and successfully ventilated the mine, saving all survivors underground.
Captain Kevin Toe and tail captain Vanilo Antonio explain a key point in the problem
New gas man Brandon Matejik is quickly learning the extent of gases and what makes a gas dangerous in mine rescue. He will be a great addition to the team. Kiazoa Joao spent the night learning the fresh air base position while working with TJ Greene to communicate with the team and solve the ventilation. With TJ’s help, Kiazoa figured out a ventilation strategy that would save the miners, and she knew when to implement it. The entire team is showing a high level of skill and will only improve as the semester goes on.
Based on the results of the poll in one of the previous posts, practices will be at 6pm on Thursday nights during the week! This is in addition to Sunday nights at 6pm, as well. Practices will almost always be in 15 Hosler, the best way to stay up to date with possible changes is by joining our GroupMe or following us on Twitter!
Tonight marked the team’s first attempt to solve a problem in the spring semester! Club president Vanilo Antonio chose a difficult problem with five crosscuts and a split ventilation shaft in the middle. The team correctly explored half the problem before practice ended, next week they will finish the problem and rescue the five survivors. Tonight was Joelson Alves’ first time trying the fresh air base position and he did very well in this new role. We’ll see how he picks it up in the coming practices!
The team preparing to start the problem
Captain Kevin Toe leading the team
Team members mapping the mine
Fresh air base Joelson Alves getting directions from the team
Hello everyone! We hope you’ve enjoyed your break! It’s time to schedule practices for the spring semester. We will be keeping the Sunday night practice at 6-7:30pm, but we want to try to accommodate as many people as possible for our weekday practice. It will be 1.5 hours long in either Hosler or Deike building. If you’re interested in participating in mine rescue this semester, please take a minute to fill out the poll below! Thank you and we look forward to seeing you!
Practice Schedule Poll: https://doodle.com/poll/ptzmvzw9795sncyt
The next mine rescue meeting will be this Thursday night at 6pm in 2 Deike! After our contest, we are hoping to begin training new students to develop a new team for the future of the club. The next contest will be held in State College, making it the perfect opportunity to form a second team and get more students interested and involved in mine rescue and the mining major as a whole. The team is a great way to meet students, become an active member of the overall mining society, have a great time, and compete against other schools. If you’re new to mine rescue, you were on the team in the past but couldn’t make it this semester, or if you’re just looking for ways to become more involved in the major, come check out mine rescue! We will be having an introductory meeting on Thursday to provide a full explanation and details about what mine rescue is and what to expect on the team. Thursday at 6pm in 2 Deike. We hope to see you there!
The team has been very busy over the past several weeks preparing for the contest. Everyone had been working hard and diligently to make sure they were ready to compete in the ECMRO contest on November 3rd in Oakwood, VA. The team traveled to the Buchanan Mine emergency response facility, operated by Coronado Coal, to compete against Kentucky, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia in mine rescue field and smoke problems.
The team performed very well during the field problem. It explored the entire mine correctly, ventilated the mine without causing any further disasters, and saved everyone trapped underground. Unfortunately, little mistakes cost the team a few points here and there, and problem solving speed added another ten points. Despite an overall strong showing, the team finished in fourth place out of six with 50 points.
The judges explaining the problem to the team
Captain Kevin Toe briefing the team
The team preparing to enter the mine
Map man Mark Lawrence mapping conditions found; Gas man Vanilo Antonio managing team supplies
Tail captain Eurico Madureira calling conditions to the fresh air base
Briefing officer TJ Greene relaying ventilation plans to the team
Captain Kevin Toe leading the team in constructing ventilation control structures
The team discussing exploration strategy
Map man Mark Lawrence developing ventilation plan
The team believes that they are in a good position for the next contest. Everyone knows what they’re doing, and the team performed as a unit together during the entire contest. By cleaning up and fine tuning minor mistakes, the team can be poised to win the spring ECMRO event.
The Mine Rescue Team at Penn State would like to extend their thanks to the contest organizers, Coronado Coal, and to each of the schools that competed. Congratulations to contest winner West Virginia!
