UNSW School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering: Leading the Way in Education and Innovation

 

The UNSW School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering (MERE) is a leading provider of innovative world class engineering education and research, and a proud sponsor of the 2023 Oral Presentation Prize at this Year’s World Mining Congress in Brisbane.

Operating for over seventy years, the School continues to thrive with highly sought-after undergraduate and postgraduate programs, alongside an increase to its internationally acclaimed research output.

In the latest global rankings, MERE was ranked both 4th in the world (QS World University Rankings, 2023), and 10th in the world (Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2022).

The School prides itself on creating and nurturing industry change makers and immersing them in a world that few people get to experience.

Whether it’s finding the lithium that powers electric cars; spearheading the sustainable exploration and development of subsurface energy resources, investigating ways to decarbonise industry, or developing the technology to extract water and minerals from the Moon and Mars, MERE is at the forefront of both learning and thinking.

Where others might see a limited resource, MERE expands the imagination of its students to see further and bring new life to those essential things that cannot be grown. It generates ideas and technologies that completely inform how society uses and thinks of energy, minerals, and resources into the future.

The UNSW School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering is committed to:

Technology Development & Integration

Advance the uptake of state-of-the-art technologies for minerals and energy resources industry to achieve sustainable technology-integrated operations.

Advance the knowledge of extractive industries

Develop novel mining systems and sustainable practices for waste disposal, mine tailings, ground and surface water interactions, and in situ mining approaches.

Reduce the energy footprint of extractive industries

Deploy hybrid renewable energy technologies by co-developing and designing effective solutions for energy transition including deep subsurface storage of CO2.

Development of energy storage solutions

Expand the effective recovery of essential minerals for the onset of renewable technologies and storage of heat and pressure in underground reservoirs.

Research Strengths

Geoenergy

Geoenergy focuses on fundamental and applied research related to minerals, energy extraction and storage.

Of particular importance are technologies that improve recovery and provide new insights into the production of transition fuels and critical minerals.

Traditional knowledge and expertise in petroleum and mining engineering will drive new technologies related to the geological storage of CO2 and hydrogen, recovery of critical minerals, production of transition fuels, and extraction of geothermal energy.

Geomechanics

Geomechanics focuses on fundamental and applied geomechanics related to the mining industry.

Interests and learning are oriented towards improving safety performance related to current and emerging technologies.

MERE closely collaborates with industry partners to find innovative ways to ensure environmentally safe and sustainable practices are incorporated in all aspects of design and operation.

With future energy technologies new practices and approaches are ever evolving that require geomechanical expertise.

Transformative Technologies

Transformative technology relates to providing innovating new technologies for operational excellence to accelerate the transformation of the minerals and energy resources sectors.

Of particular interest is the adoption of scientific knowledge and emerging technologies from other disciplines tailored for the minerals and energy resources sectors.

This includes monitoring and communication technologies to improve operationalsafety, evaluate environmental impact and expand efficiencies, and artificial intelligence for automation and data analytics.

Postgraduate programs

Mining Engineering

  • Master of Mining Engineering
  • Graduate Diploma of Mining Engineering
  • Graduate Certificate in Mining Engineering
  • Master of Engineering (Mining Engineering)

Mine Geotechnical Engineering

  • Graduate Diploma of Mine

Geotechnical Engineering

  • Master in Mine Geotechnical Engineering

Mine Ventilation

  • Statutory Coal Mine Ventilation Officers (Non-Award) Course
  • Graduate Diploma in Mine Ventilation

Petroleum Engineering

  • Master of Engineering Science (Petroleum Engineering)
  • Master of Engineering (Petroleum Engineering)
  • Graduate Diploma of Engineering Science
  • Graduate Certificate in Petroleum Engineering

UNSW MERE’s role in Future Energy

MERE’s excellent renewable energy, mining and subsurface engineering research capabilities give it a natural advantage but also the potential to conduct research involving the deployment of future technologies into the energy and resources sector.

The conflict between global energy demand and the conservation of natural resources supplies a unique opportunity for novel engineering solutions.

MERE’s experience with extraction technologies; geomechanics, flow and transport processes and industry engagement provide a prime platform to address the challenge of future energy.

The School’s research efforts focus on new extraction technologies for the resources sector – particularly in relation to alternative energy sources – and on investigating approaches to reduce the environmental impact associated with the extraction of raw materials.

As energy demand is ever growing, a diverse collection of technologies will be required to address the need since the utility of each technology is not equivalent.

The School therefore focuses on natural gas as a transition fuel, geological storage of CO2 to mitigate current technologies and geothermal energy as an alternative energy source.

What we do today in our discipline will change, however, the conflict between energy and the environment will remain a pressing question needing new insights, novel research, and technological innovations all of which are driven by UNSW MERE.

It is the School’s aim to be at the forefront of the energy transition with novel technological innovations.

 

Touch base with UNSW School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/unsw-mere/

Website: https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering/our-schools/minerals-andenergy-resources-engineering

CONTACT THE SCHOOL DIRECTLY:

Professor Ismet Canbulat

FIEAust, FAusIMM, RPEQ

Head of School

UNSW Minerals and Energy

Resources Engineering

T: +61 2 9385 0721 | +61 432 003 064

E: [email protected]

Professor Serkan Saydam

Chair of Mining Engineering

UNSW Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering

E: [email protected]

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