University: The University of Western Australia

Degree: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Mining Engineering

School Subjects: Mathematics Methods, Mathematics Specialist, French, Economics, Chemistry, English

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Throughout school, I was always a maths and science student, so when deciding on a course in Year 12, I naturally leaned into Engineering. Towards the back end of Year 12, during the little moments of free time I had, I would research which Engineering majors interested me. I found that talking to older friends and listening to their experiences with their majors, as well as looking through SEEK at different job outcomes and working backwards from there, assisted me in gaining a clearer idea of what to choose. At first, I was intrigued by Civil, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering. I was lucky I had some friends who were already studying these degrees. After talking with them, I quickly found that most Engineering majors fed back into the mining industry, which made me think, “Why not mining?”

Choosing a University

When deciding on which university to study at, it’s easier to pick the university after selecting your major to make sure that the university caters for your selection and not vice versa. For example, I always wanted to study over east in Sydney, but after selecting Mining Engineering, it made a lot of sense to stay in WA, which has one of the strongest mining industries in the world. The choice between Curtin and UWA was made for me when I received an offer for the Fogarty Foundation Scholarship at UWA.

Mining Engineering

Mining Engineering is the study of how to extract and process minerals from the Earth in a safe, economical, and environmentally responsible way. Studying Mining Engineering leads to a range of roles within the mining industry, which include everything from production scheduling, enablement, design, Geotech, mine management, etc.

I would say Mining Engineering is more straightforward than other Engineering majors, as this specialisation revolves around mining concepts, processes, and techniques. In comparison, other disciplines such as Chemical or Electrical Engineering can be more theoretical and conceptually dense.

1st / 2nd Year Engineering

All Engineering students, irrespective of major, will study similar foundational units in their first year. A key point to note is that, for many other degrees, first-year (level 1) units are extremely easy and can be completed with minimal work and attendance. This is not the case for Engineering, at least in my experience. The foundational units are extensions of maths, chemistry, and physics; they are all very content-heavy and move quickly, as a lot must be covered in the 12 weeks. Whilst it is hard to fail a unit in first year (due to participation and online submissions), if you want to do well, focus must be maintained throughout the semester. Different units in first year have different unit requirements, but as a general guide of what to expect, for most of these foundational units, there are a few hours of lectures (watch these and stay up to date – try not to bank them up as they are hard to catch up on), practicals (these are optional but arguably the most useful thing to attend), workshops (which are less useful), and compulsory labs. All of this will add up to about 20+ hours per week.

The number one tip to tackle first-year Engineering is to stay on top of your work – this is easier said than done, as you will most likely be surrounded by friends who have lower contact hour workloads and who are going out all the time. So, my next tip is to study the course outline at the start of the semester and map out a path for success. What this would look like for me would be thinking about things such as, ‘What is essential that I attend?’, ‘Where do the marks come from?’, and ‘What happens if I were to miss this class – do I lose marks? Do I miss out on a learning opportunity?’

Moving into 2^nd year Engineering, you will start to complete more specialised Engineering units – core units for your major. I completed Fundamentals of Mining Engineering – MINE2001, which is an introductory unit where you learn everything from the industry to basic mining processes as well as terminology. This unit is a great starting point if you want to learn mining, as it’s straightforward with only lectures and assignments. You’ll also complete core units of geomechanics, solid mechanics, and hydraulics, which, although not mining-specific, are units that a mining engineer must do. To do well in these units, you must be able to quickly grasp concepts and apply formulas to problems.

General Advice

• One of the main challenges of transitioning to university from school is the lack of structure and resources provided to students. A lot of the learning must be done individually, with lectures there to just provide you with a guide of which topics to focus on. My top tip is to familiarise yourself with good websites that hold past question banks and YouTube channels that cover the content in more detail than the lectures. Ensure you allocate time for revision and consolidation of concepts, as just watching lectures isn’t enough.

• Uni is a very dynamic environment, so making friends isn’t straightforward due to the inconsistency of aligning units and classes. I recommend joining social clubs in your first year to meet like-minded people. UEC (University Engineers Club) is always a good place to start if you want the very social side of things. Enitiate is another option for Engineering students who want to apply their classroom learning to the real world in a consulting context.

• Apply for internships and work experiences as early in your degree as possible – this is particularly important for Mining Engineering to make sure you enjoy the FIFO lifestyle and the degree (as mining engineers cannot pivot to other industries as easily as mechanical or civil, etc.). It is always good to start the ball rolling, which will make getting future internships and graduate roles easier down the track.