Current students and recent graduates of Cambrian College have placed first and third at a competition designed to make blasting in the mining industry safer and more efficient.
The students and alumni were competing in the Côté Gold Blast Captain DevFest Challenge, January 15, at Laurentian University.
Team Alpha Nova & Associates earned top prize at the Côté Gold Blast Captain DevFest Challenge earlier this month at Laurentian University. Team members include current and former students of Cambrian College as well as Cambrian employees.
In this challenge, 29 teams from across Ontario used artificial intelligence (AI) technology and drone footage to evaluate actual blasts in an open pit mine. Key goals for competitors included reducing costs associated with blasting, improving productivity by optimizing blast designs, and enhancing safety by mitigating risks like flying rocks and vibrations.
Placing first overall was a team called The Alpha Nova & Associates. Among the team members were recent graduates and current students of Cambrian College, as well as a part-time professor, and employees with Cambrian R&D, the college's applied research division. Alpha Nova won the $5,000 Blast Captain Prize.
"It was an incredible feeling to win," says Athif Shaffy, a member of the Alpha Nova team, who is also a software developer with Maestro Digital Mine, a part-time professor in Cambrian's Computer Programming - Internet of Things (CPIN) program, and a graduate of Cambrian's Mobile Application Development (MAPD) program. "All the late evenings, hard work, and great team effort paid off. Winning this competition validated our efforts, and we are thrilled to have contributed to such an impactful challenge. It was a rewarding experience both professionally and personally."
Placing third in the competition was the Code Boomers, a team comprised of students at Cambrian College who also work at Cambrian R&D, as well as students from Laurentian University.
The team earned the $2,500 Bronze Nitro Prize. One of the team members was Alvaro Acosta, an international student from Venezuela who is in the second year of Cambrian's CPIN program and a student employee at Cambrian R&D.
"It was a real honour to win third place," says Acosta. "We were competing against teams from larger schools as well as private industry which had more resources at their disposal, so it was quite a surprise and a pretty big accomplishment to make it as far as we did."
Computer Programming - Internet of Things and Mobile Application Development are two of the programs within Cambrian's School of Information Technology. To learn more, visit https://cambriancollege.ca/IT.
To learn more about Cambrian R&D, the college's applied research division, visit https://cambriancollege.ca/rd.
Placing third in the competition was The Code Boomers, comprised of students from Cambrian College and Laurentian University.
For more information
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