Nathan Rouse, PE, PhD
Nathan earned a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering (‘09), Masters of Science in Explosives Engineering (‘10), and PhD in Mining and Explosives Engineering (‘15) from the University of Missouri-Rolla (Missouri S&T). He was active in the department in mucking, mine rescue, student design, and the SME and ISEE student chapters.
Nathan started working for Morgan Worldwide Consultants (MWC) in Lexington, KY in 2010. In 2014, MWC was acquired by Respec, Inc out of Rapid City, SD. He continued working in Lexington for Respec until 2019 when he joined DynoConsult, the consulting team for Dyno Nobel, as a principal consultant. He left Dyno to pursue a longtime dream and form his own company in January 2023.
Nathan’s career has been focused on drill and blast engineering and consulting. He has managed drill and blast projects for surface and underground mining and quarrying operations globally. He loves the opportunity to travel to a new site, meet new people, and work with new teams to improve their operational outcomes.
Laura Butler
Laura spent a decade in Australia building a strong foundation in business support and operations. Her roles included Executive Assistant to the SVP of SAP Hybris and Office Manager at a tech startup, where she worked across multiple departments and gained broad operational experience.
After returning to Ireland in 2022, she remained with the same company and moved into the HR function as a People Operations Associate and Atlantic Project Manager, supporting global teams and delivering cross-functional initiatives.
Laura now works with Thoroughbred Drill and Blast Consultants as a Business Support and Operations Specialist, applying her background in operations, HR, and executive support to streamline processes, strengthen organisational efficiency, and support the company’s continued growth.
Rob Bush, PE
Rob is a licensed Professional Engineer with +15 years of diverse industry experience in technical, operations, and commercial leadership roles, primarily in the mining industry. These roles have had global reach, with particularly extensive experience in Latin America and Spanish fluency. He has spent the majority of his career providing technical blasting support to mining and civil engineers, and the projects they cared for, in surface and underground mining, tunneling, and other large unique civil projects. This included leading the implementation of the latest blasting technologies, such as electronic detonators and underground gassed emulsion pumping systems, in projects and geographies where they had never been used.
Rob has always maintained a curiosity for new technologies and techniques that optimize heavy industry, solving real problems at the workfront and improving the lives of the engineers and operators that confront them.
Kyle Perry, PE, PhD
Kyle is an Associate of Thoroughbred Drill and Blast Consultants and an Associate Professor and Explosives Engineering Program Coordinator for the Mining and Explosives Engineering Department at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Dr. Perry has over 15 years of experience educating students in both an academic setting at the University as well as industry training initiatives. He is also a member of the ISEE’s Blaster’s Training and Education Committee.
While educating and training, Dr. Perry focuses on hands-on approaches to real-world applications. Utilizing the Missouri S&T experimental mine, which he is the faculty director of, students and trainees get to see educational concepts put into practice. Dr. Perry is a licensed blaster in the state of Missouri and a registered Professional Engineering in Missouri and Kentucky.
Kyle also has extensive experience in supporting specialized drill and blast projects throughout the blasting industry for both surface and underground applications. His practical knowledge and experience provide a great foundation for training and implementing new processes and procedures for sites.
Gabe Milliron
Gabe is our mining engineering intern and is currently finishing his undergraduate degree in mining engineering. He will be joining us full time upon graduation and pursuing a masters degree in explosives engineering following its completion. He loves the opportunity to continue learning the real world applications of the drill and blast industry and being on-site.