Campus, co-op and first place at the Canadian Mining Games

How did you get interested in engineering? 

My high school hockey coach once offhandedly told me he thought I would make a good engineer. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it before. I enjoyed math and science in high school and knew there were a couple of paths I could take to turn those interests into a career. I looked into it, and the work seemed fun and interesting. My auntie also influenced my decision: she is a mining engineer and when I talked with her about her work I realized that this is what I wanted to do. 

Any highlights from your time at UBC so far? 

The highlight of first-year engineering are the two courses that teach you about engineering and design thinking. 

You do a few group projects over the year and they are all great.  

In second year, we did a lot of case studies to deepen our understanding of the mining industry. I especially enjoyed the mineral processing lab in second term, which takes you through the entire mineral processing life-cycle, from putting rocks in jaw crushers to the final slurry.  

You were also part of the winning team at the Canadian Mining Games.  

While I was on co-op, I joined UBC Mining Games as part of the ventilation team, underground stope design team and mystery event team. We met once a week for our practices (which I was able to do online) and then travelled to Saskatoon in February 2026 to compete against 10 other university mining programs at the Canadian Mining Games. 

We won the competition, which marks UBC’s third consecutive victory. Although the competition is really fun, the best part of the games is meeting so many people. 

Countless industry sponsors and company representatives are in attendance, and they are very eager to talk with students. You also meet students from mining programs across Canada. Given that the mining industry is a small world, it is inevitable that you will be working with some of these people later in your career.  

UBC Mining Games Canadian Mining Games

What impact do you want to make as an engineer? 

One of the rewarding things about Nutrien is that we produce potash. If you have a vegetable, fruit or wheat farm in Canada, it’s probably been treated with potash as a potassium fertilizer. Knowing that the work I do contributes directly to the food I eat is meaningful. 

There is a saying in the mining industry that “if it wasn’t grown, it was mined.” Almost everything in our built environment and in the technology we use includes material that was mined. 

In Canada we strive to mine properly, ethically and safely. Those values are central to the culture of mining and it feels good to be part of that.