Department of Earth Resources Engineering

Outline

Department of Earth Resources EngineeringStaff of the Department of Earth Resources Engineering are tasked with addressing various problems associated with mineral and energy resources of the Earth that supports life and society. We implement a large number of research fields including, prospecting, development and mining, beneficiation of subterranean resources towards forming raw materials such as metal and non-metal resources, energy resources such as petroleum, natural gas, geothermal energy, that are indispensable for life, disaster prevention, recycling (urban mining) and environmental remediation. We are also conducting studies on frontier technological challenges, such as carbon capture and sequestration, new resources such as methane hydrate and submarine hydrothermal deposits (rare metals), and moreover prospecting and development of extraterrestrial resources such as the Moon and Mars.
The seven laboratories in the department cover a series of resource development processes such as prospecting, development, utilization and remediation. Specialized knowledge and skills related to natural resources and environments can be developed by those who seek to apply.

Department of Earth Resources EngineeringDepartment of Earth Resources Engineering

What do you learn?

Department of Earth Resources EngineeringA four-year course of the Department of Earth Resources Engineering is prepared for undergraduate students. The course encompasses lectures, laboratory experiments, field work, an internship program and project study. The lectures provide holistic grounding in engineering, earth sciences for the first two years and earth resources engineering for the subsequent two years. Special lectures are also provided on the subjects such as Environmental Chemistry and Resources Economics by visiting lecturers. Field work includes geothermal power plants, open pit mines, and smelting facilities. An internship program is organized during third year summer holidays in which each student is assigned to one of the fields; metal and non-metal mines, oil fields, geothermal plants, research institutes, etc. for about two weeks. Some students will get a chance to conduct overseas internships. In the fourth year, students are assigned to one of the seven laboratories of the department (Economic Geology; Exploration Geophysics; Geothermics; Resources Production and Safety Engineering; Rock Engineering and Mining Machinery; Mineral Processing, Recycling and Environmental Remediation; Energy Resources Engineering) and are tasked with carrying out their own research project, supervised by staff of the respective laboratory. Students need to write a report (thesis) and to present on their project results.