Laurentian University’s Mine Rescue Team competes in the Intercollegiate Mines Emergency Response Development competition.
Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering students won the 2017 Intercollegiate Mines Emergency Response Development (MERD) competition in Golden, Colorado. The team placed first in the first aid and field competitions and earned the overall title.
The competition was held over two days and consisted of teams from University of British Columbia, Freiburg University (Germany), Montana Tech, South Dakota School of Mines and Colorado School of Mines.
The competition consists of mock disasters that are 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.
“We are extremely proud of our students, staff and faculty who participated in this international competition,” said Dr. Markus Timusk, director, Bharti School of Engineering. “This achievement is a testament to their hard work and dedication. We also recognize the support of our industry partners and sponsors who make these incredible opportunities possible for Laurentian students.”
The team from the Bharti School of Engineering included 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, team trainer, Ontario mine rescue officer.
