21st Pennsylvania Drilling and Blasting Conference Held

• Posted on Mar 3, 2026

On November 13 and 14, 2025, the 21st Pennsylvania Drilling and Blasting Conference was held at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State College, Pennsylvania.

The conference is hosted for underground and surface blasters, engineers, suppliers, and other professionals associated with drilling, blasting, and explosives. This year’s conference involved over 400 people, 47 exhibit booths, 4 outdoor drill exhibits, and 20 corporate sponsors.

The conference program committee, comprised of university faculty, staff, and industry leaders, developed a program that highlighted a varied and impressive list of 25 speakers. The conference included two breakout sessions focused on relevant real-world practices and concepts in drilling and underground, plus a breakout session about the New York State blaster training requirements.

Jeff Hermanson, one of the primary mountain carvers of the Crazy Horse Memorial, was the keynote speaker. His enthusiastic and knowledgeable discussion of Crazy Horse and the techniques used in mountain carving captured the audience’s attention and provided a unique blend of technical insight and powerful storytelling. Jeff donated to the conference a hand-carved feather replica that was raffled off with the proceeds supporting Crazy Horse Memorial.

The conference welcomed Buck Hawkins, ISEE Executive Director. An ISEE Seismograph Operators Certificate Program, taught by Dr. Cathy Aimone-Martin and Doug Rudenko, P.G., was held in conjunction with the conference and well attended.

This conference is sponsored by Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of ISEE, the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of ISEE, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Special thanks to the conference program committee:

• Jerry Brumbaugh, Buffalo Creek Explosives
• Christopher Catalano, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection – Explosives & Safety
• Aaron Christ, New Enterprise Stone & Lime
• Rachel Conaway, Penn State
• Mark DiFonzo, Quick Supply Co.
• John Farris, Penn State
• Dave Harrison, Terra-Mechanics
• Tom Hairhoger, Austin Powder Company
• Kristin Klemish, Vibra-Tech Engineers
• Daniel Ray Leach, Sales and Operations Consultant
• Shimin Liu, Penn State
• Dale Marker, Hanson Aggregates
• Scott Mueller, Blue Stone Drilling
• Mohammad Rezaee, Penn State
• Ron Ruby, Maurer-Scott
• Jeff Skovira, Keystone Drill Services
• Matthew Tomlin, American Rock Mechanics
• Kirk Whitaker, Dimension Supply
• Christopher Yackmack, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection – Bureau of Mine Safety