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Kentucky Coal Academy Receives Education Excellence Award from Fifth Dimension Technologies

A James River Coal rescue team is shown as they prepare to enter the mock rescue area. Front row, from left, are Gene Fisher, Greg Clevenger, Clifton Preece, and Donald Lowe. In back, from left, are Chris Campton, Rick Wallen, Mike Sharp, and Adam Smith.

The Kentucky Coal Academy, represented by Executive Director William Higginbotham, received an award of Education Excellence from Fifth-Dimension Technologies (5DT). COO Jared Baer of the USA operations office in Irvine, California presented the award. The event took place at the annual Training Resources Applied to Mining Conference (TRAM) hosted by the US Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The TRAM Conference was held in Beckley, WV on October 9-11, 2007. This conference is for trainers given by trainers. The best of the best present at this conference and it has a history of being one of the most attended conferences nationwide. This year there were over 60 presentations covering all aspects of Health and Safety in the Mining Industry.

5DT (Fifth Dimension Technologies) is a high technology company specializing in Virtual Reality (VR). 5DT develops, produces and distributes VR hardware, software and systems. 5DT's focus is VR Training Simulators and VR Peripherals. The KCA uses 5DT simulators in all its training programs across the state. KCA is also the largest single user of 5DT equipment nationwide.

The award presented by 5DT to KCA reads: 5DT Achievement Award for Educational Excellence, Presented to the Kentucky Coal Academy For Educating and Training The Coal Workforce of the Future, October 2007.