Industry & University Partnership in Developing Highly Qualified People to Address the Human Resources Challenge of the Global Mining Industry

There is a global human resources shortage in the mining industry due to a number of factors including demographics affecting supply and projected production growth affecting demand. Companies are struggling to develop and retain Highly Qualified People (HQP) who are essential to the successful operation of their business. HQP have an invaluable combination of technical post-secondary education and lengthy industry experience which takes many years to achieve. In my seven years working at the UBC Engineering Co-op Program I’ve developed relationships with hundreds of people related to the mining industry such as students, faculty, staff at other universities in Canada, senior engineers, and human resources. I plan to collect data through surveying mining alumni from schools across Canada and interview industry experts to support my hypothesis on the impact that university and industry partnership can have on addressing some of the greatest human resources challenges of the mining industry.

Faculty Supervisor:

Malcolm Scoble

Student:

Masaki Miyoshi

Partner:

New Gold Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

University of Northern British Columbia