Dingo begins to build a collaborative relationship
with the Missouri University of Science & Technology

Building on a foundation that began more than 20 years ago, Dingo provides training to students at Missouri University of Science & Technology.

In-depth training seminars by Dingo representatives and a warm reception from MS&T staff fosters a mutually beneficial relationship for an industry leader and a world class University.

A relationship that began several years ago between Dingo and Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS&T) has provided great value to a world class University that has seen the merit in training their graduate and undergraduate students in the science and financial benefits of managing lubricated assets in the mining industry.

MS&T was founded in 1870 as the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM), and was one of the first technological schools opened west of the Mississippi.  It was renamed the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR) in 1964, and then became Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) to better manifest their mission of educating the engineers, scientists and leaders of the modern world. 

The relationship between Dingo and MS&T began in the late 80's when Paul Higgins, Dingo's President and CEO, attended UMR to pursue his Masters' Degree in Engineering Management.  During his time there, he was impressed by the interaction with the mining industry which he observed while taking a technical entrepreneurship class taught by Professor Don Myers. "Dr Yilidrim Omurtag, the faculty dean, was a natural entrepreneur and encouraged that spirit in all of the engineering management students," commented Mr. Higgins.  Mr. Higgins remained a resident of Rolla for three years, taking a job with Kingsford charcoal in Belle, Missouri. After starting his own business in 1994, Mr. Higgins contacted the university in 1995 to inquire about participating in their business incubator program and was welcomed with open arms. In 1995, he moved into a small room in the Missouri Enterprise building and opened the companies first US office. Staff from Missouri Enterprise (http://www.missourienterprise.org/) reviewed Mr. Higgins' business plan, performed a database search and from that, provided him with several hundred names and addresses for what would become Dingo's first direct mail campaign. Mr. Higgins remained in Rolla for six months before moving to St. Louis where Dingo hired additional staff, UMR grads of course! UMR was instrumental in allowing Dingo to quickly establish a beachhead at a very low cost.

This relationship was rekindled in late 2009, through the partnership of Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei, Assistant Professor in the Mining & Nuclear Engineering Department at MS&T, and Dingo representatives, Bob Williams – VP Business Development, and Jeff Walkup – Manager, Condition Intelligence.  Bob and Jeff traveled to MS&T in mid-March, 2010 to present seminars both to graduate and undergraduate students on the following topics:

- Preventing Fatalities at Mine Sites

- The Financial Case for Asset Maintenance

- The Science of Lubrication

More than 100 engineering graduate and undergraduate students attended the two seminars to discuss the science of lubrication in mining assets and also to take a look at building a financial case for equipment maintenance.

In parallel to the training courses, the Dingo representatives also spent time conducting faculty interviews and were able to visit the MS&T Experimental Mine, which is used for student instruction and student/faculty industry-funded research projects.  The MS&T Experimental Mine is led by Jimmy Taylor.

As a result of this collaboration, Dingo and MS&T hope to incorporate Trakka^™, Dingo's benchmarking and software tool to manage mining assets, into the existing MS&T curriculum.  The relationship that began 20 years ago continues to grow and benefit both parties in regards to research, training, and development. 

To learn more about Missouri University of Science & Technology, visit http://www.mst.edu.

If you are interested in a condition-based lubrication program offered by Dingo, please visit Dingo at http://www.dingo.com or contact us directly by phone or email at goverboe@dingo.com. In North America call +1 888 346-4630 and in Australia, call +61 7 3115 9000.