The SME/NSSGA Student Design Competition is a mine design challenge held annually, open to undergraduate students. Students in teams of up to six have 35 hours each over the first phase to design a life-of-mine (LOM) plan for an aggregate site somewhere in the US. Judges then evaluate first phase submissions for professionalism, clarity, feasibility, and creativity of the mine design. The top six teams worldwide are invited to the SME National Conference in February to compete there, where they each have about 48 hours to incorporate information from a second problem statement into their design. At the conclusion of this 48-hour period each team presents to a panel of six judges, and the top three teams are awarded prizes. www.youtube.com
