Dr Jonathan Peck is inducted into the International Mining Technology Hall of Fame in the surface mining category. He was a co-founder and CEO of Aquila Mining System, which was subsequently sold to Caterpillar. In this role, Jon led the development effort that pioneered the use and development of real-time high precision GPS guidance products for both blasthole drills and cable shovels in the mid-1990s. These developments set the standards for this technology, which is still in use 20 years later.

He deployed production grade, ruggised PC-based mobile computers for use on a wide range of blasthole drill makes and models. Besides production monitoring, the applications included rock recognition, based on data collected by drill monitors, and retrofit drill control systems. All subsequent work on rock recognition has been based on the work Peck did as a PhD candidate and later at Aquila.

He delivered the first full integrated production and diggability monitoring, load weighing, health, and high precision GPS guidance products for cable shovels in the mid-1990s.

Following his departure from Aquila (Caterpillar), he served as Head of the Department of Mining Engineering Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario) and established his consulting firm in 2004 (Peck Teck Consulting) Through Peck Tech, he has continued innovation in the development of new blasthole drill related technology including advanced rock recognition algorithms, augmented GPS devices, and autonomous drill operation.

In summary, Peck over the last 25 years has pioneered a number of technologies for mobile equipment in the surface mining industry. These developments continue to be the underlying technology for products in use today. The products have had a significant impact in reducing costs and increasing productivity in the global surface mining industry.