SME Congressional Fellowship Program

Professional Associations, Institutes & Societies

Date posted: 11/18/15

In November of 2013, SME announced the first SME Mining Engineering Congressional Fellowship which began in Washington, D.C. during the 2014-15 legislative session. The Fellowship gives a seasoned mining expert the chance to apply their industry knowledge to positively affect change in the laws that govern the U.S. mining and minerals industry. In February of 2015, SME announced Kevin Ashley, P.E., as the SME choice to represent mining in Washington, D.C. during the 2015-2016 Legislative Session. Mr. Ashley is a Mining Engineer with 35 years of experience in the mining industry. He holds a B.S. in Mining Engineering, an M.S. in Mining Engineering (Geostatistics), and an MBA. He is also a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Nevada. He has worked on evaluation and development of more than 50 mining projects located in China, USA, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Suriname, Papua New Guinea, Morocco, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Thailand, Peru, India, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Norway, involving commodities as diverse as coal, gold, aluminum (including bauxite and alumina), copper, lignite, silver, nickel, iron ore, uranium, oil shale, kaolin, potash, zinc, and diamonds. Awareness of the ways in which science, engineering and technology affect a broad range of non-scientific issues, as well as sensitivity to political, economic and social factors were guides in choosing the recipient of the SME Fellowship. The assignment will provide a unique opportunity for Ashley to gain first-hand experience with the federal legislative process and make practical contributions to the effective and timely use of his knowledge of mining, mineral processing and mined product applications as they relate to the environment, natural resources and federal science policy.