Curtin’s WA School of Mines (WASM) was recently the recipient of a WA Mining Club (WAMC) donation to assist in the training of remote students in mining education.
President of WAMC, Neil Watson and Director of WASM, Professor Steve Hall, strongly believe in the importance of formal mining education opportunities for remote students with this donation going directly towards those efforts.
Mr Watson said his club and WASM had a long relationship, with many WAMC members being graduates from the Curtin school.
“The Club sees WASM as a key institution providing education for current and future members of the mining and resource sector,” Mr Watson said.
“WASM has used our donations for a range of projects such as upgrading the minerals processing lab in 2007, upgrading the rock mechanics lab in 2008 and providing support for remote students in 2009 and 2010.”
Mr Watson said remote students embarking on formal mining education could find significant difficulty in accessing resources.
“Such challenges can arise from distance to travel and the means and cost of this, difficulty in sourcing education materials, the need for income support, living expenses during study and access to technology,” he said.
“Scholarships, student prizes and donations are methods the WAMC uses to support students of the mining industry and assist in their education process.
“The ability to provide remote student support by WASM through WAMC’s donation is designed to help reduce these pressures for remote students and to encourage them to pursue formal education and a career in the mining sector.”
Professor Hall said WASM was fortunate to have the support of well-respected clubs like WAMC and would continue to focus on providing opportunities for remote students.
“WASM will continue to develop flexible learning materials and summer school opportunities that are particularly important to regional and remote students,” Professor Hall said.
WAMC provides annual scholarships in the disciplines of Mining Engineering, Metallurgy, Environmental and Geology. Each scholarship is for $10,000 paid over two years and is offered in conjunction with corporate support to students who demonstrate outstanding ability and commitment to their studies.
WASM has a campus at Bentley in Perth and also Kalgoorlie in regional WA. WASM offers degrees in Mining Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy, Applied Geology, Spatial Sciences and Exploration Geophysics and is a major part of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Curtin University.
Contact:
Andrea Barnard, Public Relations, Curtin University
Tel: 08 9266 4241, Mobile: 0401 103 755, Email: andrea.barnard@curtin.edu.au
