June 13, 2024
Source: El País
Higher Technical School of Mining and Energy Engineers. Polytechnic University of Madrid. 50 seats
Until 15 years ago the engineering degree existed mining technician with a specialty in mineralurgy and metallurgy, but it disappeared with the Bologna Plan. Now it is reborn but with a different prism, linked to the circular economy, sustainability and recycling, in line with the Anglo-Saxon offer. “In Spain, not all mineral products are valued; and it is a fundamental issue, for example, for the energy or ecological transition,” says Patxi Elorza, the director of the Madrid School of Mines, which is going to offer the degree due to industry demand. “We must try to use as much as possible what is put into circulation in the industry and that can be used again. Materials [metallic, ceramic or plastic] do not have to be cornered on third world beaches.”
Spain is the leading producer in Europe of copper products (for making cables or antennas), for example, “and it is very difficult to attract students to these technologies because they are currently seen as polluting, when things can be made more efficient in all the processes,” Elorza continues. To do this, you need to know about ecodesign, digitalization and artificial intelligence. And the director recalls the need to have “sovereignty in raw materials”, as is the case in Russia or China, which produce materials with more polluting standards than in Spain.
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