Associate Professor Michael Tuck was approached to undertake an external review of the Department of Earth Resources Engineering to aid the process of achieving international accreditation through the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka.
Dr Tuck is an Associate Professor of Mining Engineering in the School of Engineering and Information Technology at Federation University Australia. Prior to that Dr Tuck was a Research Fellow in the Department of Mining Engineering at the University of Nottingham, UK. Dr Tuck holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a PhD from the University of Nottingham, UK. His major research interests include; mine ventilation, heat and mine climate, blasting, water demand management and numerous other areas. He is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Society of Mining Engineers, Mine Ventilation Society of Australia and a Fellow of the Mine Ventilation Society of South Africa. Apart from teaching and research duties at the University, he also has undertaken a wide range of ventilation consultancies in a number of countries.
Associate Professor Michael Tuck visited the Department from 15th February 2016 to 18th February 2016. During the visit as well as inspecting facilities, Dr Tuck held meetings with academic staff, academic support staff, students, other members of the faculty and visited Bogala Mine to meet the students undertaking industry experience.
Dr Tuck's summary of the observations and recommendations from the visit states that overall the Earth Resources Engineering degree is comparable to programmes overseas in terms of content, quality, staffing and staff qualifications and experience. It was concluded by Dr Tuck that the industrial training component is well organized and should be commended. However some gaps have been found within the facilities and some changes were suggested for the programme. As a conclusion, it was recommended by Associate Professor Michael Tuck that the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka accredits the programme of Earth Resources Engineering.