On Tuesday, October 1, CivMin welcomed a visiting delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia headed by His Excellency Bandar Alkhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia.
The official visit to Canada, over the period September 30 to October 2 to Ottawa and Toronto, aims to enhance industrial and mining cooperation between the two countries, explore mutual opportunities in industry and mining, and attract foreign investments to the Kingdom. Accompanying HE Alkhorayef were leaders in the industry and mining sector, as well as from their Human Capital Development. The group came to the University of Toronto to learn about its academic programs supporting the development of the industrial and mining sectors, human-resource development programs, and acquiring high skills in mining operations.
Greeted by Engineering Dean Professor Chris Yip, CivMin Chair Professor Marianne Hatzopoulou along with CivMin’s Lassonde Mineral Engineering Professors Sebastian Goodfellow (Director of the Lassonde Institute of Mining) and Kamran Esmaeili (Program Director, Mining Industry Management Program – MIMP).
Prof. Goodfellow provided an overview of the Lassonde Mineral Engineering undergraduate program, graduate studies as well as research opportunities. The new Mining Industry Management Program (MIMP) online courses, developed for working professionals, appealed to the audience as it allows those enrolled to learn remotely and at their own pace.
The group toured some CivMin facilities, including viewing the Structural Testing Facilities (STF) new strong floor prepared for the new adjustable multidimensional (AMD) testing system , and visiting the Rock Fracture Dynamics Facility (RFDF), where specimens are subjected to simulated experimental conditions like the temperature and pressure far beneath the surface.
Complementing the occasion, the visiting delegation also had the serendipitous good fortune to meet a Saudi undergraduate student, Dalaa Roshod (Year 1, ChemE), while touring. Roshod remarks, “I came to U of T Engineering to pursue my dreams of pushing Saudi forward in the clean energy industry. I plan to participate in future projects that will contribute to reaching Saudi Arabia’s “net zero GHG emissions by 2060″ goal.”
HE Alkhorayef announced the Kingdom’s intention to create 200,000 jobs in mining and mining-related fields, and was pleased with immediately moving forward with a relationship with CivMin, as well as working progressively towards more substantial and involved endeavours.
The visit to Canada follows a similar tour to the U.S. aiming to attract Canadian companies to seek out minerals, such as copper, in the Kingdom.
By Phill Snel
