Harry Liang - BEng. Mining Engineering - MIEA Ambassador

I would like to start by thanking Mr. Schull and Ms. Yang for their generous support of my internship experience in Xi’an, Shaanxi, China during summer 2021. Without this stipend from Schull Yang International Experience Awards, I wouldn’t have been able to seize this opportunity and get involved in the remote sensing industry with a focus on mining.

 

As an engineering student, I possess a strong interest in both aerospace and mining engineering, seeking a proper overlap of them. After two years of further study at McGill, I realized that remote sensing presents an interesting combination of both. Thus, I joined China National Administration of Coal under its Aerial and Remote Sensing Corporation (ARSC) to obtain first-hand experience in this field, which also enabled me to have access to the mining industry outside Canada.

 

The Xi’an-based company executes a wide range of projects, from collection of geological data to processing and encoding of data. The locations of interest in such projects are generally located in western and northern China, in accordance with the location of the company, and its contractors include governmental departments and civil mining enterprises. Throughout these projects, the remote sensing corporation aims to provide its clients geological data at high accuracy and readability, ensuring their reliability in commercial, geographical, and military usage.

 

I began to work at the company in early June as a student intern and was allocated to the hydrological and environmental monitoring institute. I had little knowledge about the remote sensing industry in China and my engineering courses are inevitably organized around the mining industry in Canada, which has marvelously made this experience an essentially international one. At the institute I received training and undertook a series of data processing tasks, focusing on some fundamental duties such as the repositioning, classification, and visualization of data points.

 

During my internship at the company, I expanded my field of learning outside the assigned tasks, endeavoring to capture a general view of remote sensing in China. The applicational nature of remote sensing also allowed me to attain first-hand knowledge of the satellite measurement and coal mining methods overseas, establishing a realistic view of these fields that will assist me in developing a global perspective in my personal and professional endeavors.

 

The most exciting part of this internship was the fieldwork. One of the field trips I had was in Hancheng, a town with prosperous coal mining activities. This experience left me a deep impression, not only because it allowed me to witness the field work associated with the mining industry, but also because of my assigned task, which was to investigate the geologic hazards resulted from the exploited coal mines. It was a shock to witness the deformations of all sizes, from enormous collapse pit to invisible minor slumps that have led to severe cracks on local housing. Such first-hand experience has motivated me to pay further attention to the environmental and social impact of mining activities.

 

At first, I was worried about the difference between my professional knowledge in mining engineering and the knowledge requirements of the company, since the two share many similarities yet remain to be distinct disciplines. It turned out to be partially true: while I had to receive training in most applied skills, including GIS software and inner networking, my general geology knowledge acquired at McGill significantly helped me in understanding the theoretical basis of data sets and reports.

 

This precious experience has enlightened me on the actual situation of mining and remote probing in China, in the sense that these industries have essential differences from those in Canada. Recognizing these differences has widened my horizons in the two disciplines on a global scale. It will likely help me make wiser decisions on personal development, in terms of direction of study and future working environment. The fieldwork experience also reminded me of the social responsibilities of an engineer, either as a mine designer or a geology prospector.

 

This special internship also sparked my interest in international activities, which would be unsupported without the generous funding from McGill International Experience Awards. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the internship was initially self-funded, and I was disappointed to realize that the internship’s salary was not enough to cover the cost associated with the international experience. The Schull Yang International Experience Awards was a timely stipend that allowed me to enjoy my work with fewer concerns, and it makes my plans for further international activities possible. Thank you to Mr. Schull and Ms. Yang for making this experience possible!