Practice makes perfect
What do university mining schools need most? Over the past few years increasing attention has been directed to the people employed to teach and mentor students at university engineering schools, with university departments mostly staffed by scientists and graduates with no industry experience. Emeritus Professor Odwyn Jones (OA) was principal of the WA School of Mines at Kalgoorlie and Dean of Mining and Mineral Technology at WAIT/ Curtin University of Technology for 15 years. He shares his thoughts with readers of Australian Mining Review. UNIVERSITIES too often place a premium on engineering applicants having a doctorate with little or no mention of the merit of having some industry experience. In doing so the teaching becomes too scientific and theoretical…