Farah El Mallah, B.Eng. 2016
Choosing my university degree was the time when I officially locked down the answer to the all-time question everyone asks from when we are young: “What would you like to be when you grow up?” It goes hand in hand with choosing your career foundation and to which cog in this big world you choose to belong.
SM had my attention from a young age growing up in Montreal. My sister, Nadine, was a Chemical Engineering student who introduced my family to the university and we fell in love with its high standards and international reputation.
Mining Engineering at SM was one of my life’s most confident choices. My brother, Ahmad, was a student in the program. His passion and insights made me want to be part of it too. It is easy to want to be attracted to the mining community. The degree is a hands-on Bachelors program that opens the door to exploring the world of international industry beginning with life-changing experiences through co-op work terms. Mining the Earth’s resources gives humankind the capacity to evolve technologically and provides a means to improve lives in all countries and nations.
My journey with SM Mining Engineering provided me a strong foundation through fantastic professors, a rigorous academic program with many specialization choices and lifelong friends. Learning from the reliability course captivated my focus on the equipment reliability and maintenance aspects of mining. I worked at Suncor as a Reliability Engineering student during a 16 month co-op in Fort McMurray. I also completed a 4-month underground co-op with Vale.
I seized the opportunity to begin my career at Imperial Oil in Calgary. Throughout my 5 years at Imperial Oil I have rotated through the roles of Mine Planner, Reliability Engineer EIT (both remotely and at the Kearl Mine), and Project Engineer, and I am currently the Opportunity Advisor and Capital Budget Planner for the Kearl asset. These experiences have allowed me to collect an array of perspectives and skills that I keep sharpening every day.