Maggie Hettinger was a Senior Technical Engineer for BME, USA, Inc. and is based out of Fayetteville, AR. Her current focus is on supporting customers, both surface and underground, throughout North America, training blasters in the use of electronic detonator systems, and in developing training programs. She has a varied experience background having worked for the Doe Run Company, Dykon Explosive Demolition, and Barrick. At Doe Run, her work focused on post-mining pillar extraction planning as well as safety and regulatory compliance. At Dykon, she worked on all aspects of explosive demolition including planning, execution, and monitoring. At Barrick Goldstrike she was the Drill and Blast Engineer for the open pit where she planned and monitored all their blasts including designing specialty plans for vibration-sensitive areas.
She earned both a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering and a Master of Science in Explosives Engineering from Missouri S&T. During her undergraduate education, she completed internships with Jim Walter Energy and Newmont. Her master’s thesis focused on the effects of short delay times on rock fragmentation in bench blasting.
Maggie has been actively involved in the ISEE since her first semester of work on her undergraduate degree. She held the positions of Secretary and Vice President of Missouri S&T Student chapter and has presented at the ISEE Annual Conference. She received scholarships from the ISEE during both her undergraduate and graduate studies. She is currently a member of the Emerging Professionals Section and the Blaster Training Committee.
Maggie has assisted in instructing blasters’ training courses in Missouri and Georgia. She has held blaster licenses in Missouri and Oklahoma. During graduate school, she assisted in teaching several Explosives Engineering courses.
Additionally, she is trained as an Emergency Medical Responder. She also dedicates time building charity partnerships in her role as Volunteer Coordinator and BOD member of a local charity. Some of these partnerships include the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter, House of Little Dogs, Ronald McDonald House, and the Alzheimer’s Association.