TEACHING AND LEARNING PROFILE Following the accreditation visit of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) in 2017, the Department had been updating the Mining Engineering curriculum. The process of consultation, planning, restructuring of modules and inclusion of new modules has been concluded, and the regulations were approved at the end of 2019. The new curriculum is being phased in from 2020. The most significant changes to the curriculum are the inclusion of a first-year module to introduce the mining environment and industry to new students, with the inclusion of a module addressing technology in the second year. Technical modules in the third and final year of study have also been revamped and reorganised to be better aligned with the natural progression of the newly acquired knowledge and understanding. The full curriculum now culminates in the capstone module Mine Design,
where students are tested on the full design of the mining operation – from in-situ commodity to mine closure, including social responsibility and engineering management. With a degree in Mining Engineering obtained from the University of Pretoria, a graduate will, in future, be able to apply for professional registration with ECSA, which will allow the professional to work as an engineer in the international market.
REDESIGNING THE MINING CURRICULUM In his contribution to this annual review, Prof Con Fauconnier, Honorary Professor in the Department and Honorary President of MASUP, observes that “mining is not an island unto itself”. He states that the curriculum for mining engineers should include exposure to aspects such as leadership (including the very important aspect of ethics in business), the social context of business (and its social license to operate), rectifying the imbalances in society created by past policies without creating new problems, international economic systems, and exposing the effectiveness of the various systems that strive to create a more equal, yet productive society.
The curriculum redesign contemplates what the mining engineering profession will look like in future.
Because of such industry-wide realisations, the Department went through an extensive curriculum redesign exercise over the last two years in which the future of mining, specifically what the mining engineering profession will look like in future, was contemplated. According to Prof Ronny Webber-Youngman, Head of Department, “I am glad to say that the goals mentioned by Prof Fauconnier are among those being addressed in the new mine design curriculum.”
In accordance with this, the Department’s curriculum redesign exercise took the non-negotiable aspects related to the future of mining into account. The most important of these are improved employee safety, increased productivity, lower energy consumption, and reduced environmental impact. None of these would be possible without the adoption of suitable and applicable disruptive 4IR technologies.
Although not many new mines are commissioned in South Africa, an increase in the productivity of existing mines is becoming increasingly important. By adopting new technology interventions and mining methods, as well as focusing on the health and safety of our workforce, mine management is realising that it is no longer a question of whether one should embrace technology, but when one should do so. Another non-negotiable in the quest for an increasingly productive environment, of course, is an awareness of our social responsibility, in accordance with the goals espoused by Prof Fauconnier.
What is also evident is that mining schools across the world are looking at different ways of attracting students. What the mining engineer of the future should look like is still a very important topic being debated worldwide. Prof Webber-Youngman believes that in this lies an opportunity to explore different ways of making mining more attractive as a career through collaboration efforts with other engineering disciplines. This is necessary to create a mining engineer who is equipped with new skills. This resonates with the departmental slogan: “Educating and leading mining engineers to become imagineers”.
DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING
20
ANNUAL REVIEW 2019/20
