More than 1,400 people from around the world met Feb. 1-4, 2015, in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the 41st Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique, the world’s largest conference on explosives engineering.

And for the third consecutive year, the SEE Education Foundation live auction on Tuesday, Feb. 3 raised more than $17,000. Big-ticket items included a one-of-a-kind, handmade Education Foundation quilt; a lifetime membership to ISEE; and a helicopter ride for two at the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. 

The money raised through the auction will go to the Education Foundation ISEE Scholarship Fund, which awards scholarships to college students from across the globe who are pursuing a career in the blasting industry. 

Awards Banquet

The annual awards banquet, also on Tuesday, honored people who made outstanding contributions to the explosives engineering industry.

William A. Hustrulid, Ph.D., was honored with the Distinguished Service Award for his more than 35 years of work with the ISEE and in the mining industry. Hustrulid was instrumental in the review of the 17th and 18th editions of the Blaster’s Handbook, and he has been an indispensable resource to the mining industry.

Ron Mask was this year’s Industry Service Award winner, whose personality, background and work ethic helped develop Instantel into a worldwide leader in monitoring instrumentation. He has always been a support of ISEE, local ISEE chapters and industry conferences. 

The ISEE President’s Award, which is given to those who have unselfishly given their time and talents to the society, was awarded to Brad Brown, Cloud Peak Energy Resources LLC; Lawrence Mirabelli, Buckley Powder; and Enrique Munaretti, Ph.D., Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.

William Hissem, Sandvik Construction, was awarded the ISEE Driller’s Leadership Award for the extraordinary amount of time and knowledge he has given to help drillers. And James H. Redyke, Dykon Explosive Demolition Corp., was honored with the Blaster’s Leadership Award. Mary Spena-Bosch, ISEE, was also recognized for her 10 years of service with ISEE.

Moving Forward

The next Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique will be from Jan. 31 – Feb. 3, 2016, at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stay tuned for more information.