The decision to add a new Ph.D. specialisation in the Mining Engineering and Management Department at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology will increase research opportunities and funding, and develop critical collaborations.

The Mining and Engineering Department recommended the Ph.D. mining engineering specialisation in response to increased interest from students; an increased need within the industry and government for Ph.D. employees; and a desire for more federal research funding opportunities. The addition will also develop stronger collaborations between the earth systems programs at Mines – geology, geological engineering, petroleum systems and mining engineering, says Lance A. Roberts, Ph.D., and head of the Department of Mining Engineering and Management at SD Mines.

“Working collaboratively with the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering allows us to efficiently leverage numerous resources and attract new students into a unique interdisciplinary program,” says Roberts. “Our goal is to graduate top-notch academics, engineers and researchers who are needed to solve the most complex minerals-related problems facing the United States and the world today.”

Roberts said the new specialization in mining engineering, in concert with the existing specialisation in geology and geological engineering, will allow the departments to “incubate and nurture emerging programs” that could lead to additional specializations. Interdisciplinary specialisations also make departments more competitive when vying for research funding, as many funders want research expertise in multiple areas. Roberts says one example is the development of strategic minerals, which are minerals critical to both the national defense of the United States and its industry. Currently, the United States must often import the minerals from less-than-friendly nations. “To ultimately solve this problem will involve the disciplines of multiple specialties.”

The addition of this Ph.D. specialization at Mines was approved by the South Dakota Board of Regents summer 2017.