A student team from Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering in Sudbury has won the 2017 Intercollegiate Mines Emergency Response Development (MERD) competition in Golden, Colo.
The Laurentian team placed first in the first aid and field competitions, in addition to the overall competition.
Held over two days, the competition presents students with mock disasters 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.
The competition attracted teams from University of British Columbia, Freiburg University (Germany), Montana Tech, South Dakota School of Mines, and Colorado School of Mines. The first competition was held in 2011.
“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 at the Bharti School of Engineering, in a release.
“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, and Zachary Werdekker.
Ethan Armit was staff advisor and Tim Ebbinghaus, an Ontario Mine Rescue Officer, was team trainer.
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.
