Sudbury students pursuing mining careers learned a little something about pursuing innovation at the seventh annual Mining Day on Feb. 8.
What started as a strategy by an English teacher to engage mining students at Cambrian College has morphed into a full evening of networking and presentations.
This year, the theme was “The Pursuit of Innovation.”
Students from Cambrian and the city's other post-secondary schools — College Boréal and Laurentian University — heard from major players in the Northern Ontario mining sector.
Along with representatives from the three schools and their Industry partner, Stantec Consulting, there were industry presentations from local players TesMan, the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), Redpath Raiseboring Ltd., and Boart Longyear.
“We wanted to break down the barriers between employers and employees with the future looming ahead,” said Kate Bruce, a program co-ordinator and professor of mining at Cambrian. “The more exposure we can give them to industry the better.”
That exposure is crucial to industry.
“From an industry perspective, we're always recruiting ... there's little connect between what you learn in school and what's actually happening in industry,” said Sherrie Burrell, the strategic sector co-ordinator for Stantec.
“(At mining day) they get comfortable with the data, people, atmosphere and interaction.”
Last year, the theme was “Boom and Bust,” and she said there were a lot of questions from students if they were in the right course. This year on the other hand, she said people were energized and enthusiastic.
The students said they appreciate the chance to learn more about industry.
“It's great to learn more about the companies that came this year,” said Brette MacDonald, a Cambrian student.
“We want to hear what they're doing to have for future graduates, and what the future for us will look like,” said McKenna Urso, a classmate.
Redpath's presenter was from South Africa and, and many of the presenters spoke to a global perspective. Their talks had one student dreaming big.
According to Ashley Taylor, who also attends Cambrian, “it's cool that we're able to meet employers, and interact with people for worldwide opportunities.”
