Mining professor uses opportunity grant for self and program improvement

UNIVERSITY PARK — An opportunity grant for non-tenure-line faculty offered through the Center for Faculty Development and Advancement can be used for professional development, advancing approaches for educating students or for acquiring skills that help improve a program at Penn State. Sekhar Bhattacharyya, associate teaching professor of mining engineering, used it to do all three.

Bhattacharyya, who teaches in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, has made short trips during the past several months to mining facilities and universities in Chile, Saudi Arabia and India. These mines, he said, were selected because their operations reflect potential future careers for his students, analogous to ones they might pursue in the United States.

“Visits like this help me strengthen my underground mining courses and provide students with real-life examples of the best mining practices there," Bhattacharyya said.

Nearly all large copper mines in the U.S. are surface mines, Bhattacharyya said, so getting a look at deep-mining practices was valuable. Specifically, a technique called block caving — where miners cut directly below the desired deposit and let gravity do the work — is commonly used in Chile but not so in the U.S.

Bhattacharyya also attended the Authentic Leader Development course offered by the Harvard Business School. He said the course isn’t just a course in leadership; it’s designed for self-reflection and learning how one's background can be used to inspire others and make the classroom more inclusive.

One task for participants — a prerequisite ahead of the five-day, in-person experience at Harvard — is talking with leaders from a variety of backgrounds, who are an inspiration to their career. Bhattacharyya selected a dean of a university, a family member, a few CEOs and a monastic leader among his nine interviewees.

“This course is about how you inspire other people to bring the best out of them,” Bhattacharyya said. “By talking with these inspirational people, and self-reflecting, you also try to find yourself. We are often blind to our potential, our strengths, our weaknesses, and this course aims to change that.”

Bhattacharyya also used what he learned to ready the ABET-accredited mining engineering program for its 2026 review, which happens every six years. ABET is a nonprofit agency that ensures programs meet the quality standards of the professions it’s preparing graduates for. He said University leaders turned in the paperwork in June and are awaiting an in-person review this fall.

“The purpose of the ABET-accreditation is making sure that we’re preparing our students to lead fruitful careers in their field,” Bhattacharyya said. “One way to do that is through our own professional development. We want to stay at the front of our field so we can share those expertise and experiences with the next generation of mining engineers.”

Applications for opportunity grants for the 2027-28 year will open this fall with an Oct. 31 deadline.