How Mining Works

Scott Dunbar began his career in consulting engineering and was involved in a variety of problems and challenges in geophysical, civil and geotechnical engineering, and later in water resources and mine waste management. He worked on projects in Canada, the United States, Central and South America, the UK, Sweden, and in the Middle East.

Scott joined the Department of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1997. He taught courses in mine project economics, mine waste management, mine design, and modeling and simulation. From 2000-2008 he was the founding director of the Integrated Engineering Program at UBC, an undergraduate program that focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of engineering practice, teamwork in design, independent learning, and communication skills. From 2014 to 2023 he was head of the Department of Mining Engineering. 

Scott's research explores a key question: What will a mine look like 50 to 100 years from now? His colleagues and students used ideas from all of the science and engineering disciplines to develop concepts and methods for advanced mining and mineral processing. A more recent interest is combining technologies and innovative organizational models of the mineral supply system to provide the metals society needs as its economies and population grow.