Dr. Aaron Noble is a Professor and the Department Head in the Mining and Minerals Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. Noble’s research, teaching, and scholarly efforts are in the general area of mineral processing with a specific focus on critical mineral production, process modeling and optimization, and techno-economic analysis. Over the past decade, his group has focused on process development for the production of rare earth and critical minerals from unconventional sources, such as industrial wastes, mine tailings, and acid mine drainage. Noble has a BS, MS, and a PhD all from Virginia Tech and all in Mining and Minerals Engineering, and he is a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.