London – 22 February 2021: Women in Mining UK 2020-2021 Camborne School of Mines Scholarship – Millie Scherewode
Written by: Millie Scherewode
Hi I’m Millie Scherewode, a Women in Mining UK Scholar. After having done my undergraduate at Camborne School of Mines (CSM) in Engineering Geology and Geotechnics, I decided to continue with a Master’s in Mining Engineering. I am forever grateful to the incredible Women in Mining UK and Camborne School of Mines Trust for selecting me as one of the recipients for last year’s scholarship as it allowed me to switch from a career in geotechnics to mining engineering.
Studying under the shadow of COVID-19 has definitely been challenging. It’s taken a long time to get used to the lack of face-to-face contact with lecturers and doing all my assignments sat in my bedroom space. CSM has had to stop the Mining Games training this year too until further notice. When I graduate, it will be without a graduation ceremony and I will be venturing into a very strange work environment.
But despite COVID-19, there has been much to relish. I have particularly enjoyed my Health, Safety and Project Management module last term as it’s not something I have ever done before. Exams include lengthy applied questions that I believe are more relevant to real-life scenarios I will face when I start my career. Overall, the coursework has been challenging but rewarding as I learnt practical life skills. Receiving very positive distinction grades in the work I have completed so far has also made the hours put into my Master’s worth it.
This term I am studying the modules Production and Cost Estimations, Working Environments and Ventilation, Underground Excavation Design, and Mine Planning and Design. The Mine Planning module is based around learning the Deswik software, which is both relevant and interesting.
Apart from focusing on the course content this term I am actively looking for a project for my dissertation. This is something all Master’s students have to do in their summer term and would normally involve working on a site while collecting data to analyse for a study. This year however, it will most likely be virtual working with a company sending over data for me to analyse