The 7th International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering (ISMSSE2024) was held in Pittsburgh, USA from August 17 to 21, 2024. Honorary Chairs are Prof. Xueqiu He and Prof. Hani Mitri. The General Chair of the symposium is Prof. Shimin Liu. The Organizing Co-Chairs are Dr. Long Fan and Dr. Barbara Arnold.

The technical program included presentations on the theory of mine occupational health and safety, smart mine safety and visualization, mine ventilation, fire, water damage prevention, mine dynamic disaster, ground control & strata monitoring, coal mine gas control and utilization, mine safety management and safety behavior, mine emergency management and rescue and other related topics. The Symposium showcased cutting-edge results and successful case studies linking mine safety science theory research to practical applications.

The symposium was hosted by The Pennsylvania State University, and co-hosted by University of Science and Technology Beijing, McGill University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, South Dakota Mines, The University of Arizona, Silesian University of Technology, University of Kentucky, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), University of Wollongong, China University of Mining and Technology, The University of Western Australia, Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Henan Polytechnic University, Southern Illinois University, GIG National Research Institute, Liaoning Technical University. More than 150 experts and scholars attended the symposium and carried out academic exchanges on new concepts, methodologies, emerging technologies and technical equipment in mine safety science and engineering and related fields.

At the opening ceremony, Prof. Shimin Liu gave a welcome speech and Prof. Xueqiu He gave a welcome speech inviting more outstanding experts in the field of mine safety to join the International Committee on Mining Safety Science and Engineering (ICMSSE). Prof. Hani Mitri from McGill University also gave a welcome speech.

Prof. Shimin Liu, Prof. Hani Mitri, and Prof. Stanislaw Prusek served as plenary session chairs to present the symposium keynote speakers. They are Dr. George Luxbacher from NIOSH, USA, Dr. Ed Opitz from Hecla Mining Company, USA, Mr. Christopher N. Hatton from WSP Inc, USA, Dr. Zara Anderson from Silixa Ltd, Canada, Mr. Detlev van der Veen from Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada, Dr. Derek Elsworth from The Penn State University, USA, Dr. Dazhao Song from University of Science and Technology Beijing, China, Dr. Yunxing Cao from Henan Polytechnic University, China, and Dr. Baisheng Nie from Chongqing University, China.

The symposium lasted four days, with workshops on day 1 followed by 3 days of 14 technical sessions. The topics ranged from surveillance to practice, gas production and technologies, process safety and risk management, mine hazards control, environmental solutions to future mining, applied technologies for dust exposure assessment, mine dynamic disasters, green mining and green energy transition, mine ground control, occupational health and safety, mine gas and operating environment, et al. Dr. Ihsan Berk Tulu, Dr. Peter Zhang, Dr. Wei Victor Liu, Dr. Yizhuo Li, Dr. Wenxue Chen, Dr. Pedram Roghanchi, Dr. Long Fan, Dr. Ashish Kumar, Dr. Barb Arnold, Dr. Zoheir Khademian, Dr. Hua Jiang, Dr. Ming Cai, Dr. Sekhar Bhattacharyya, Dr. Ang Liu served as technical session chair, respectively. A total of 56 academic reports were displayed. On the basis of this conference, the ICMSSE selected 11 Outstanding Young Scholars in international mining safety.

On August 18, 2024, Prof. Shimin Liu hosted the ICMSSE annual dinner meeting. Prof. Hani Mitri (International Chair), who chaired the meeting, welcomed the new members of the committee Prof. Weimin Cheng from Shandong University of Science and Technology and Prof. Na Gao from USTB. Prof. Mitri encouraged the members to give some thought about the host city of the 9th ISMSSE in 2026. In all, 15 members attended the dinner meeting. 

On August 21, 2024, Prof. Yunxing Cao from Henan Polytechnic University announced the 8th ISMSSE will be hosted by Henan Polytechnic University, with Prof. Jianping Wei as symposium General Chair, and co-hosted by Shandong University of Science and Technology.