July 17, 2006 - Geneva College
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July 17, 2006

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BEAVER FALLS, Pa.- R&D Magazine selected the Coal Dust Explosibility Meter, developed through a partnership between Geneva College and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, as one of the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace this year.

In 2006 the Mine Safety and Health Administration reiterated the importance of rock dusting to reduce the risk of coal dust explosions. To prevent such explosions, miners spray rock dust to cover the mine floor, walls and roof surfaces with a sufficient quantity of inert limestone dust to render the coal dust non-explosive. The meter was developed to measure the explosibility of the mixture of coal and rock dust, rapidly gauging the level of explosion protection throughout active mine areas.

Dr. Jack Pinkerton; professor of engineering; David Clark, engineer; Henry Perlee, CEO of H&P Prototyping Inc.; J. Edmund Hay, senior researcher for Geneva College Center for Technology Development; and Tyler Anderson, senior electrical engineering student, worked in collaboration with Michael Sapko, inventor and principal developer at NIOSH.

The winning R&D teams will be published in the September issue of R&D Magazine.

The CDEM, a handheld, battery operated electro-optical device, will be manufactured and marketed by H&P Prototyping Inc. For more information about the meter, contact H.E. Perlee, CEO, at heperlee1@version.net or Michael Sapko at msapko@cdc.gov. For R&D information, contact Dr. Pinkerton at jep@geneva.edu.

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Jul 17, 2006