Metallurgical Education—A Sound Investment for the Future

Our civilisation is at the start of a period of major transformation as we address decarburisation of our industries, the transition to renewable energy generation, and electrical power storage technologies and electrically powered vehicles. The changes will impact on all stages of the metal supply chain, primary metal production, metal recycling, and environmental stewardship and will take decades to achieve. Meeting the predicted increases in demand for metals will require not only increases in productivity and efficiency of existing processes but also sustained investment in R&D and new ideas. These new ideas and innovations come from people, people with specialist knowledge, skills, and experience. With the continuing growth in demand for commodities, now is the time for the industry to invest in people. Investments in education and improved skills are essential to support the future sustainability and profitability of enterprises in our industry. The problem is people cannot be simply bought off the shelf like most commodities. It takes time to produce a well-trained metallurgist with appropriate knowledge, skills, and experience. The metallurgical industry needs to make greater efforts to actively engage with young people. To stimulate their interest, and effectively demonstrate to them that there are exciting and rewarding opportunities for them to contribute positively to addressing the global challenges facing our societies and the global environment and to creating a better, more sustainable world. If we are to address these significant challenges, these additional efforts need to start now. Investments in metallurgical education and skills development provide net benefits to the industry and should be a key budget item included in all major capital investment proposals.