Michigan Tech’s student team from the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences (GMES), known as School of Minds, has advanced to the top six teams nationally in Phase 2 of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME)/National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association (NSSGA) Student Design Competition. This achievement places the team among a select group of top-performing programs across the country in a highly competitive national field.
The annual competition is a rigorous two-phase, team-based challenge that combines technical mine design with professional oral presentations. Under the guidance of Dr. Nathan Manser, Professor of Practice in GMES, the team has demonstrated strong technical skills, teamwork, and applied engineering expertise.
The team members, listed in alphabetical order, are: Bryce Baar (EGE ’27), John Bellman (EMG ’27), Lucas Maxon (EMG ’26), Soren Olsen (EMG ’27), Joseph Steinl (EMG ’27).
The School of Minds team will represent Michigan Tech at the 2026 SME Annual Conference and Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah, held February 22-25. Michigan Tech will compete against teams from Colorado School of Mines, University of Arizona, University of Kentucky, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
In the second phase of the competition, students have one weekend to solve a design problem and present their findings to a panel of judges. The competition is designed to simulate a real-world engineering consulting project, highlighting the challenges of mine planning, plant design, reserve modeling, and feasibility analysis.
The GMES community congratulates the School of Minds team on this impressive accomplishment and wishes them the best of luck as they move forward in the competition. We are proud of their hard work, dedication, and representation of Michigan Tech.