Udaipur, February 24, 2025 - The closing ceremony of the International Conference on Future of Mining - Digital Empowerment and Youth-Led Sustainability (by Students, for Students) was held yesterday at the College of Technology and Engineering (CTAE) of Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT), Udaipur. The conference had been jointly organised by the Mining Engineers Association of India (MEAI) Rajasthan Chapter - Udaipur Student Chapter with CTAE MPUAT with the objective of promoting technological innovation and sustainability in the mining sector.

Present at the closing ceremony were Chief Guest MEAI national president SN Mathur and Session Chair Dr Anupam Bhatnagar (Chairperson and Professor, Department of Mining Engineering, CTAE, MPUAT).

Mathur applauded the MEAI - Rajasthan, Udaipur Chapter - for organising such an event and encouraged other MEAI chapters across the country to conduct similar conferences. Dr Bhatnagar emphasised that the conference provided a splendid platform for participants from across the nation and abroad to engage in meaningful discussions on technical knowhow, enhancing networking opportunities for young mining engineers and benefiting their future careers and job prospects.

Co-convener and assistant professor of the Mining Engineering Department Dr Vikram Seervi, presented a report on the conference. He highlighted that all sessions of the conference included enriching discussions, technical presentations and research papers exploring new possibilities in the mining industry. Around 50 technical research papers were presented, offering participants unique learning opportunities.

The meet witnessed participation from researchers representing esteemed institutions such as IIT BHU Varanasi, IIT Kharagpur, MBM University Jodhpur, University of Kerala, The Safety X, Government Polytechnic Bhuj, Sir Padampat Singhania University Udaipur, Bhagwant University, BIT Sindri, Sangam University Bhilwara, Jharkhand Rai University Ranchi, AKS University Satna, National Institute of Hydrology Jodhpur, MLSU Udaipur, CTAE Udaipu and researchers from South Africa.

During the conference, experts engaged in in-depth discussions on key topics such as the use of machine learning in the mining sector, advancements in drilling and blasting processes in surface mining, youth participation in mining, development of mobile apps for predicting blast-induced ground vibrations, drone-based mineral mapping, the future of rare earth elements and the role of AI, remote sensing and geophysics in promoting safe and efficient mining through AI and robotics.

Session Chairs Dr SC Jain, RC Purohit, Dr SK Vashisth, MS Paliwal, DD Shripat, RP Mali and Arif M Sheikh provided valuable guidance to researchers, significantly enhancing the quality of the presented research work.

In his Vote of Thanks, Organising Secretary Dr Hitanshu Kaushal expressed his gratitude to SN Mathur, Dr Bhatnagar, MEAI Rajasthan Chapter - Udaipur Chapter chairman Praveen Sharma, Secretary Asif M Ansari and senior MEAI members.

He also acknowledged the efforts by the organising team to make the conference a “grand success”.