World Mining Competition testing the mettle of students in Saskatoon – by Alicia Bridges (CBC News Saskatoon – October 29, 2017)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/

Mining engineer Sydney Miller had never met the students on her four-person team before the World Mining Competition started in Saskatoon on Friday. Within 36 hours, the group had developed a complex mining strategy in response to a detailed question in a 26-page case study.

On Sunday, the multi-disciplinary teams of business, engineering and geology students from around the world each got the chance to present those strategies to a panel of judges.

Speaking shortly after her team’s presentation in the preliminary round, Miller said it had been a sleep-depriving and challenging weekend so far. “We had to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses and set up the case accordingly to where we thrive,” she said.

“So it was challenging but it was a really good learning opportunity.”

In developing the competition, organizers strive to challenge the student’s abilities to be flexible, work as a team and take advantage of their diverse skills.

The University of Saskatchewan students that created the competition in 2012 also wanted to highlight the province’s mining sector by attracting students from other regions.

It started as an event for western Canadian schools but has grown to attract student teams from countries including India, Germany and Chile.

For the rest of this article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/world-mining-competition-saskatoon-1.4377591