Nathan Rouse has a BS ('09), MS ('10), and PhD ('15) in Mining and Explosives Engineering. All from the University of Missouri-Rolla/Missouri S&T.

In 2010, Nathan started working in Lexington, KY for Morgan Worldwide Consultants. He stayed on when Respec acquired the office from 2014 until 2019. The highlight during this time was that Nathan helped startup a small drill and blast engineering team in Respec. Additionally, he was a part of the due diligence for CRH's acquisition of the Lafarge and Holcim merger's spinoff mines. As part of that work, he traveled around the world and helped manage block modeling, mine planning, and specialty drill and blast projects.

In 2019, Nathan joined Dyno Nobel's DynoConsult team as a Principal Consultant. For 3.5 years, he supported Dyno Nobel's technical efforts in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

During the covid pandemic, Nathan and his good friend, Tristan Worsey, started a humorous educational video series called BlastMasters (blast-masters.com).

In January 2023, Nathan started Thoroughbred Drill and Blast Consultants (tbredblast.com), an international firm. He focuses on root cause analysis, instrumentation, training, and practical real-world solutions. Nathan's passion is underground mining and construction, but he enjoys anything blasting-related.

Nathan lives in Co. Tipperary, Ireland with his wife, two dogs, and a cat. He enjoys mucking horse stalls for his inlaws when he's not traveling or trying to figure out how to run an international business.

What led you to pursue a career in explosives engineering?

I went to Rolla to join the electrical engineering program. Once I got to campus, I heard all the great stories about Paul Worsey's fireworks class from other students (not an uncommon story in Rolla). So I met with the department chair, Larry Grayson, and learned I could spend a lot of time outside working as a Mining Engineer. I immediately made the switch to Mining and the rest is history.

What areas of explosives engineering are you most passionate about?

Training and education, underground drilling and blasting, and any specialty project that is tough to solve. I enjoy underground blasting because you typically can't see the blast, so you have to solve problems by other means. I find a lot of underground mines in today's world have younger and less experienced engineers, so there is a lot of opportunity to support them through training and design advice, so I'm luckily able to combine my interest in education and underground blasting.

How has being an ISEE member benefited your professional development?

I've been involved in ISEE, mostly through the emerging professionals (EP). The EP are a group that was formed a few years ago to provide a conduit for newer members of ISEE (young or experienced) to become more involved. Plus, we get to organize the best events at the conference!

Additionally, ISEE has allowed me to expand my professional network around the world and meet many that I consider my best friends.

What is your favorite ISEE memory?

My first conference was in New Orleans as a student. I would say that conference, but I'm afraid I didn't spend much time at the venue. I mean, I was a student, so what can you expect?!

In reality, my favorite memory is probably one from the following New Orleans conference in 2015. I successfully defended my PhD dissertation at the conference because it was the only place I could get my committee together in-person and it was before video conferencing was an easy option. My second favorite memory was the first major EP social event hosted at the Alamo in San Antonio. 

What's one piece of advice you would give to someone entering a career in explosives?

I'm giving two. First, get out and get as much experience in the field as possible and learn as much as you can from experienced people. Second, don't hesitate to reach out to anyone in the industry. It's a very small industry and I have yet to meet anyone that won't help someone out in their career.