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While she's not tossing greenbacks in the air, Poulton is offering something that's almost as good, or maybe even better, than free cash — careers in mining engineering.
And there's no catch to it — just skyrocketing demand.
Consider that last year UA graduated five mining engineers. Most of them received at least four job offers, which often included incentive packages. The average starting salary was $55,000 a year, without overtime or bonuses. One recent graduate received an offer as high as $80,000 a year. That was with a bachelor's degree and very little experience.
Poulton, head of UA's Mining and Geological Engineering (MGE) Department, says despite the cyclical nature of the resources industry the demand for mining engineers is high for two reasons.
First, consumption of natural resources is at an all-time high. Production can't keep pace and new mines can't open fast enough to satisfy the market.
China, and to a lesser extent, India, are responsible for the huge demand. The Chinese have greatly increased their consumption of coal, iron ore, cement, steel, scrap copper, mined copper and other resources that support basic infrastructure development and manufacturing.
"I spent a month in China in March and I have never seen such a frenzied pace of growth, " Poulton said. "The bridge building, the road building and the power infrastructure development are running at an incredible pace. Some estimates are that this high level of consumption could continue for the next 10 to 20 years."
Second, the mining industry is graying. Sixty percent of SME (Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration) engineers are past 50. Meanwhile, only four percent of the membership is under 30.
The same graying is occurring among USGS scientists, mining engineering professors, petroleum engineers and heavy-construction engineers. Large numbers of mining engineering graduates are needed just to replace those who are retiring.
Profession Faces a Crisis
"Mining engineering is in a crisis," Poulton said. "But, as in any crisis, there's also opportunity. It's a great time to get into the field because not only do students have their pick of really interesting jobs in just about any location, but — because of this big retirement bubble — recent graduates are being groomed on the fast track for management positions — much faster than we've seen in the past."
UA students have an added advantage in this market. The mining industry looks first to those programs, such as UA's MGE department, that have a long history of producing mining executives.
The Princeton Review Gourman Report has rated UA's mining engineering program second in the nation. The department has one of the world's strongest research programs in mining technology and it owns the San Xavier Mine, where students get hands-on experience in hard-rock mining.
So with the high salaries, multiple job offers and excellent prospects for advancement, why aren't more students enrolled in mining engineering? Last academic year, only about 110 students graduated with mining engineering degrees nationwide.
It's Not a 19th Century Throwback
"It's an image problem," Poulton said. "Many people mistakenly think that mining engineering is some kind of throwback to the 19th century — low tech and environmentally destructive. It's like describing electrical engineering in terms of vacuum tubes."
Actually, "mining engineering" is a misnomer these days, Poulton added. "Mineral resource engineering" or "resource engineering" better describe the profession because mining engineers often support activities that have nothing to do with mines. Many of them work in the construction industry, building subway tunnels or excavating skyscraper foundations and bridge pilings.
"There are opportunities for our graduates in the financial sector, the environmental sector, and a broad range of industries," Poulton said. "The MGE Department is not just about mining, it is about the way the future is built.”
In fact, UA's mining engineering program is developing a new three-track curriculum that reflects the broad range of jobs that mining engineers tackle.
First is the traditional mining operations track, which is still in high demand. Second is a geomechanics track to meet the increased demand for heavy-construction engineers. Third is a sustainable resources track that involves courses in health, safety, and the environment.
Counter to the 19th-century, low-tech stereotype, mining is more like rocket science these days, Poulton explained. It's heavily computer-based and automated. In some underground mines, all the operations are controlled from the surface and robots are the only ones working underground.
"Today's mining engineers not only have to be well versed in earth sciences, environmental design and human factors, but they also have to be technology specialists," Poulton said. "They have to understand wireless technology, GPS, all sorts of information technology, sensors and control optimization. It's really a much different industry than it was even 20 years ago."
Fighting the Stereotypes
Many students also don't consider mining careers because of bias in the media and in some pre-college curricula, Poulton said.
"I have reviewed textbooks from a number of publishers, and the content on mining tends to be, limited and very out of date," Poulton said."You often don't see positive images of mining in the media either," she added. "If there's a violation of a water or air permit, it's front-page news. But you never hear the positive things that go on with mining or the vital contributions it makes to the economy and national defense.
"Also, there are some absolutely stunning examples of reclamation that never make it into the media or the textbooks. And today's mining companies are working closely with communities to ensure that they will have healthy economies once the mineral deposit has been depleted and the mining company moves on."
Another problem is that there's no obvious path from high school into mining engineering programs, Poulton said. "Quite often engineering students are recruited from an affiliated high school science discipline. Chemical engineering students frequently are those who had a strong interest in high-school chemistry. Mechanical and electrical engineers come out of the physics classes. But a lot of high schools don't offer earth science courses. So there's no natural transition for students to go from high school into mining engineering."
Poulton and others in UA's MGE Department are working hard to get the word out about the breadth of career opportunities for mining engineers and to increase enrollment.
"Mining engineering programs across the country need to graduate three to six times more students than they do today just to meet the current and future demand for mining engineers," Poulton said.
"These workforce issues go far beyond the health of individual companies," she added. "Congress is very concerned about the shortage of mining engineers and the effect of that shortage on the economy and national security."
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