January 30, 2016, 3:32p.m. – AN AUSTRALIAN University has joined UST in launching a graduate program specializing in metallurgical engineering, to promote mining practice in the Philippines.
The UST Department of Chemical Engineering, through the Graduate School, is offering the dual degree program MS in Chemical Engineering with specialization in Metallurgical Engineering to “[promote] responsible and sustainable mining practice in the Philippines [and] the Asia-Pacific region.”
This is in partnership with the Western Australian School of Mines of Curtin University, the largest university in Western Australia. The post-graduate program will be a first in the country, as other institutions have only been offering metallurgical engineering courses in the undergraduate level.
According to the University’s official website, the collaboration seeks to produce experts in metallurgical engineering through the help of “Australia’s well-established technology and practices in sustainable mining.”
The joint program will use the “1+1 Platform,” where a postgraduate student can earn the graduate degree in chemical engineering from UST and a graduate degree in metallurgical engineering from Curtin.
According to Mark Emile Punzalan, chemical engineering department chairman, the launching of the program will help steer the Faculty of Engineering toward internationalization.
“[The] collaboration with Curtin University is just the start for the [Faculty of Engineering toward internalization] since we want to produce globally competitive [engineers],” Punzalan said in an interview with the Varsitarian.
UST and Curtin University signed a memorandum of understanding in 2014 for the academic partnership in mining and metallurgical engineering. Through the partnership, postgraduate students who will be granted Australia Awards Scholarships can finish the jointly managed program in both universities. Roy Abrahmn D.R. Narra and Kathryn Jedi V. Baylon