Alumni

Mike Lefler is a Global Product Director for FLSmidth who works with sales, R&D, engineering, and project teams to provide equipment, engineering, and support to gold and silver miners around the world. He believes that with innovative products, great service and constant support customers can maximize their success. Mike has worked for FLSmidth for 7 years in engineering, project management, and product management on dozens of projects around the world. He holds a Metallurgical Engineering degree from the University of Utah and a Masters of Engineering Management degree from Ohio University.

Ronel Kappes is a Process Manager with Newmont’s Processing and Metallurgy Technical Services team, where she uses her technical skills to generate positive business opportunities for early stage exploration and development projects. She has metallurgical development experience in a wide-range of commodities, including gold, copper, lead, zinc and platinum group metals and is passionate about flotation, gold hydrometallurgy and mineral processing in general. Dr. Kappes’ background includes fifteen years as a metallurgical technical expert with Newmont Mining USA Ltd. with international experience through her time working on a variety of projects including operations and projects located in Ghana, Australia, Peru and Indonesia. Dr. Kappes also serves as Newmont USA Ltd’s Executive Sponsor and liaison with the University of Utah.

Alex Moyes is the Manager of Geoscience and Engineering at Dominion Energy Wexpro where he is responsible for upstream activity in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. Alex joined Wexpro in 2011 and has since held various positions in operations, development, and new ventures. Prior to joining Wexpro, Alex held positions with the U.S. Geological Survey, Petroleum Systems International, Schlumberger, and Exxon Mobil. Alex holds a BS in geoscience, an MS in Geology, and an MBA, all from the University of Utah. Alex is an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Andrew Carey is a Mining Engineer at Rio Tinto Kennecott Utah Copper. He is currently the Director of Drone Operations at Rio Tinto Kennecott. He has worked at Kennecott for 6 years in various roles in Short and Medium Range Mine Planning, Surveying and Mine Operations. Prior to working at Kennecott, Andrew worked in the underground coal industry as well as the mineral processing industry. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Andrew began his mining career with a bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Utah. Andrew enjoys the sport of kiteboarding as well as attending University of Utah sporting events with his wife Jessica.

Laura Kowal is a Software Tester who verifies data and tests software for the National Weather Service’s (NWS) meteorological software known as AWIPS (Advanced Interactive Processing Service). Laura knows that her work helps meteorologists at the NWS provide accurate and timely forecasts upon which the entire United States depends. The system provides warnings and a network between forecast offices allowing offices to communicate and coordinate their forecasts. Laura’s meteorological expertise allows her the catch software problems and glitches while ensuring that the software meets the functional needs of the eventual users. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from the University of Utah and is currently in her second year at the University of Maryland pursuing her Masters’ degree in Atmospheric Science.

Hyrum D. Lefler is a Senior Metallurgist in R&D with Carpenter Technology Corporation. He works primarily on developing low-cost production methods for making high-quality titanium alloy powders. Hyrum is passionate about transforming titanium metal from an exotic and little-used metal to a mainstream metal—unlocking humanity’s access to its incredible properties. Along with Hyrum’s commitment to life-improving innovations, he is service & community minded. At the age of 27 he served as Mayor of the Town of Leeds, Utah, and he has worked as a volunteer leader in the BSA for over 10 years. Hyrum successfully defended his PhD Dissertation in Metallurgical Engineering in March of 2018 here at the University of Utah.

Steven A Root is chief analytics officer, and senior vp of strategic initiatives, of accuweather, inc., the fastest growing private weather consulting company in the world. He resides in edmond, oklahoma. For more than 40-years, steven root, applying leadership and vision, has pioneered numerous applications of meteorology that have enhanced awareness, application, and demand for all types of weather information by both business and general consumers. Following his primary passion, steve has always sought to clarify meteorology for end-users, resulting in benefits for business, government and the public. His clarifications in turn resulted in greater demand for solutions through the application of meteorology, and there have been many noteworthy accomplishments.

John Willing earned a BS in Meteorology from the University of Utah in 1977 and enjoyed a very successful career as a broadcast meteorologist. After graduation, John worked as a weekend TV/radio meteorologist at KUTV where he anchored the on-air daily weather reports and provided detailed weather conditions for utility companies and on-location movie and television production companies.

Keith D. Hutchison is the President of Cloud Systems Research, LLC an organization conducting studies to improve cloud predictions in NWP and global climate models. He is also a Senior Research Fellow and Principal Investigator (PI) in the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas. He graduated from the University of Utah with a PhD in Meteorology in 1982 and is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the USAF.

Rex Plaizier is President & CEO of WesTech Engineering, Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, with operations across the globe. WesTech is an internationally recognized company for the design and manufacture of process equipment for minerals, petrochemical, potable water, wastewater, and other related industries.

David Hammond is a geologist, engineer and mineral economist with over 45 years of experience in the natural resource industries. He has been involved at one time or another with almost every energy and mineral commodity, including coal, uranium, base and precious metals, iron ore, oil & gas and most of the industrial minerals. In the course of his career he has held positions in exploration, engineering, financial analysis, marketing, planning, and business development, involving a wide range of staff and management responsibilities with Anaconda Minerals, ARCO Coal, Shell Oil and General Electric's Ladd Petroleum affiliate.