Letters to the Editor We missed Laurentian

I would like to draw your attention to an error in the article McGill, Polytech plan co-op course in mining engineering, in the Jan 26 issue of The Northern Miner.

The concluding paragraph in that article stated erroneously that there are four other universities in Canada currently with degree-granting courses in mining engineering. In fact, there are five. The author neglected to include the new kid on the block, Laurentian University. The first graduates of Laurentian in mining engineering received their degrees in 1979. To dat e 87 students have graduated with mining engineering degrees, another nine will graduate this spring.

I must say I found it somewhat amusing that the article appeared adjacent to one on Laurentian which specifically mentioned our involvement in rock mechanics. Had this error been made a year ago the oversight would have been more understandable. However at this time I find it very difficult to appreciate, in view of several recent well-publicized events related to Laurentian’s mining engineering program.

One was the press conference held in Sudbury last July at which Premier David Peterson announced the creation of a Chair in rock mechanics and ground controls at Laurentian, and that Queen’s and Laurentian had agreed to formalize their relationship and co-operate in establishing joint research and instructional programs in these areas.

The work of the Ross Commission on Mining engineering and technological education needs review in the province of Ontario has received considerable coverage in which both Laurentian and Queen’s have been cited as the only two universities in Ontario offering programs in mining engineering. This list could be expanded but I believe my point has been made.

Your article on the co-op program at McGill made mention of the proposed centre for mining automation and robotics at McGill.

You might also wish to inform your readers that a similar proposal for a ring of excellence in geomechanics centred at Laurentian is also receiving consideration. This proposal provides for formal linkages between Laurentian and Queen’s to establish an infrastructure for graduate research and teaching in mining engineering on the Sudbury campus.

It further provides for a co-ordination of geomechanics research between the mining faculty at Laurentian and Queen’s and the geomechanics faculty at the University of Toronto. The yet-to-be- appointed Chair in rock mechanics and the Mining Research Directorate recently created by the OMA which is to be located on the Laurentian campus are seen as major players in this initiative. Irvine G. Reilly, Director, School of Engineering Laurentian University Sudbury, Ont.

Editor’s note: Our apologies to Laurentian, the youngest of the mining schools, but one which is very much alive. We also, we must confess, missed Laval University at Quebec City, as another reader reminded us.