Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering students won the 2017 Intercollegiate Mines Emergency Response Development (MERD) competition in Golden, Colorado. The team placed first in the first aid and the field competitions and earned the overall title.

The competition was held over two days and consisted of teams from University of British Columbia, Freiburg University (Germany), Montana Tech, South Dakota School of Mines and Colorado School of Mines. The first intercollegiate MERD was held in 2011.

The competition consists of mock disasters that are created in an underground mine to train collegiate mine rescue teams in a realistic emergency search and rescue setting. It included a field competition where teams had to put out an actual underground fire, a technician test, and a first aid test.

“We are extremely proud of our students, staff and faculty who participated in this international competition. This achievement is a testament to their hard work and dedication,” said Dr Markus Timusk, Director, Bharti School of Engineering. “We also recognize the support of our industry partners and sponsors who make these incredible opportunities possible for Laurentian students.”

The award winning team from the Bharti School of Engineering includes: Team Captain, Julien Lalande, Alexander Dobrogost, Alexander Mulloy, Dalton Moncion, David Etheridge, Greg Moser, James Wilson, Gilles Paradis, Joseph Benoit, Zachary Werdekker. Ethan Armit was staff advisor and Tim Ebbinghaus, Team Trainer, Ontario Mine Rescue Officer.

Laurentian University Mine Rescue Team sponsors include: Goldcorp, Soucie Salo Safety, Draeger Safety, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, Goodman School of Mines, McEwen Mining and the Bharti Family.