The Department of Mining, Petroleum and Metallurgical Engineering encompasses programs concerned with the finding, production, management and utilization of mineral resources, Oil and Gas. The department is interdisciplinary and one of its strengths is the strong interaction between various groups within and outside the department. There are three B.Sc. degrees sanctioned by the Department, Mining, Petroleum and Metallurgical Engineering B.Sc.’s
The programs in the Department can be divided into three broad interrelated areas.
- Mining Engineering Division
Mining is the Engineering branch responsible for extracting mineral wealth from earth’s crust for direct use or for subsequent processing. Since mining is a main source of the few raw material sources, it impacts almost all the down stream industries such as metal, non-metal, chemical, agricultural, construction, space and aeronautical industries.
Teaching in Mining Engineering includes basic sciences such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Geology. It also provides engineering courses such as: Rock Mechanics, Ventilation, Mining Engineering, Surveying, Mineral Processing, Rock Fragmentation, and Engineering Geosciences. In addition, there are some application and design courses such as Mine Design, Processing Plants Design, Transportation System Design, Tunneling, and Engineering Geology Applications.
The mining division is well equipped with several laboratories and pilot scale units. These include the fields of: mine surveying, rock mechanics and engineering geology, mineral processing, mine ventilation, mining geology, and ore mineralogy and chemical analysis.
Graduates from the mining engineering division are capable of executing and managing engineering duties. Among these duties are: Surveying, quarry and open pit engineering, underground mining, mineral processing and mineral processing plant design, mine ventilation, road construction, material handling, tunneling, and site investigation.
- Petroleum Engineering Division
Teaching petroleum engineering started in the fall of 1944, when 16 students registered in the second year in the new Mining and Petroleum Engineering Department. One year later, 10 of these students specialized in mining and 6 specialized in petroleum. The first petroleum engineering graduates were in 1947 (almost 50 years later, two of them are still active in the local business). At that time, the department was the first of its kind in the Middle East and Africa. The foundation of the Department of Petroleum engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of Fuad Elawal (Fuad the First) University was one of the national initiatives that prepared for the post war era, by supplying the local petroleum industry with national, specialized engineering staff that was necessary to develop one of the important national resources of the country.
The number of graduates started with 6 in 1947, reached a minimum of 2 in 1952 and 1953 and gradually increased thereafter to reach the peak of 35 in 1962 (almost 5 years after the formation of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, the General Petroleum Company and the discovery of Belayim-Land field). The number of graduates remained between 30 and 39 until 1965 when it dropped to the level of 12-17 during 1966-1969. The seventies and the eighties witnessed another affluence of graduates; the peak was in 1972, with 68 graduates — the record so far. Over 50 years of the department’s life, graduates will have totaled 1300 who have been working in the core business and in some other 20 specialties, in Egypt and in more than 20 countries world wide.
Topics leading to granting B. Sc. are broken down as follows: specialty topics (38%), engineering topics (26%), non-engineering topics and humanities (10%), and basic sciences (26%).
The teaching staff is a diverse total of 15, including 4 emeritus professors, 5 professors, 5 associate professors, and 2 assistant professors; besides 5 teaching assistants actively involved in preparing for their postgraduate studies. Besides the B. Sc., the Department grants two postgraduate diplomas in exploration and production engineering, an M. Sc., and Ph. D. degrees in petroleum engineering. Currently, there are more than 50 postgraduate students registered in all petroleum engineering disciplines.
The infrastructure of the Petroleum Engineering Section includes four laboratories for undergraduate purposes and two for postgraduate research work, in addition to the computer center and the library which are jointly used by all students of mining, petroleum, and metallurgy.
Relationship between the teaching staff and the industry is rather excellent. Traditionally, university-industry relationship in this area dates back to the origin of the department: in the early stages the teaching staff was among prominent personnel from the industry. These days graduates of the sixties frequently meet with the students. Also most of the postgraduates are industry members and the topics of their research work address industry problems. Many of the teaching staff have industry experience and are active in consulting and continuing education work with the local industry.
- Metallurgical Engineering Division
Metallurgical Engineering embraces science and technology of making, shaping and treating of metals and alloys. Physics and chemistry of metals are the foundation of this specialty which is applied to industries including iron and steel making, aluminum industry, foundries, heat treatment shops and nuclear fuel cycle. Metallurgists in Egypt, total numbers about 2000, are employed in these industries as well as research centers, and inspection offices.
In Egypt, the first class of metallurgical engineers numbered 22 graduated from Cairo University in July 1962. Since then, the average number of graduates awarded has been 14 engineers each year. This number went as high as 46 in 1975. Only one student was graduated 1986. The courses in the semi-final and final years of study cover the general courses of different specialization of metallurgical engineering. The graduate feels at home wherever he goes, in extraction, shaping or treatment.
These courses are taught by a 20 faculty members, all with Ph.D. from reputed universities all over the world including USA, UK, Germany, Russia, Canada, and France.
The Metallurgical Engineering division is well equipped. The laboratory covers wet chemical analysis, optical metallographic, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing. Also, good numbers of laboratories are available to students, undergraduate and postgraduate.
The relation of this division with industry is strong and fruitful for both sides. Applied research contracted with industry is taken as the subjects of M. Sc. and Ph.D. thesis and helps in the development of the industry. Short term projects in topics like local manufacturing, failure analysis and corrosion control are normal business of the faculty members. The output of these activities is published in conferences and journals, locally and internationally.