Alumnus to be Honored

S. Jayson Ripke, who earned three degrees at Michigan Technological University before embarking on a career in the iron ore industry, will receive the university's Outstanding Young Alumni Award at Spring Commencement on Saturday, April 29.

Ripke is the new technology manager for Midrex Technologies, of Pineville, N.C., a world leader in iron and steelmaking. He completed BS and MS degrees in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in 1997 and 1999 before earning his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2002.

After graduating, Ripke became a process control engineer with Northshore Mining Co. in Silver Bay, Minn., owned by Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., and then was named chief metallurgical engineer at CCI's Wabush Mines, in Labrador, Canada. During his tenure, he made significant advances in safety, cost-cutting and quality improvement. In addition, he designed and built a state-of-the-art mineral processing laboratory.

Ripke has been honored by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME), which chose him in 2004 for both its Young Leaders Award and its prestigious Young Engineer Award, given annually to one individual worldwide for achievements in mineral extraction and processing.

Ripke has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, many with his advisor, chemical engineering professor Komar Kawatra.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.