MJ Engineering Attends the “Coal Show for Coal People”
Mining is among the many industries MJ Engineering has served since its inception. For that reason, company president Richard Wand (pictured at left) makes it a point to attend the Bluefield Coal Show in Kentucky when it is put on every other year by the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce.
Hundreds of coal-based businesses display items ranging from tools and safety vests to full-scale machines. This year’s “Coal Show for Coal People” was held in September, and attendees and exhibitors came from all over the U.S. and beyond to share and learn the latest mining innovations.
“That’s why I go to events like this,” says Wand, “to see what people in the industry are doing and what kind of new equipment is out there. It’s also about looking at other types of advancements, such as life-saving equipment or jacking equipment to support the roof.”
Especially interesting at this year’s show was Joy’s “100 Years of Mining Innovation” display, which celebrated the company’s 100th anniversary. The photograph below shows one Joy’s early designs.
Most of what MJ Engineering does for the mining industry revolves around technical aspects of underground equipment and operator safety. For example, MJ Engineering does a lot of canopy certifications on pieces of equipment that are designed to help protect the operator.
Some of the many projects MJ Engineering has worked on over the years include designing multiple continuous miners, such as the one pictured at right, for unique mining environments throughout the world. They have also worked on a hybrid diesel-electric drivetrain on a shuttle car for a Canadian mine and finite element analysis (FEA) for a shuttle car canopy.
While the mining industry has declined in the U.S. since 2012, it is still part of MJ Engineering’s core business and skill set. Today, their projects might include designing scalers for hard rock mines or designing equipment for parts of the world outside the United States.
The Joy Machine Company was founded in 1919 by Joseph Joy in Evansville, IN. Pictured is one of Joy’s unrestored loaders from the 1940s.