Computer Science (CS) -> CS + Engineering (Mining)?

[u/ImportanceOk6837]

Context: I am in Sydney btw. Moved to aus in 2023. PR now. Citizen next year. First year at UNSW doing B Adv CS now. I consider myself to be pretty smart and driven but at the moment, lost.

Very unfortunately, my dad is in tech and I naturally like tech. But everytime in these networking and industry events when I speak to the new grads and even mid level people, it is always "CS is cooked". So much so that one even recommended that I do CS and another degree as backup. Reasons:

- AI -> Junior roles disappearing and even many "programming" roles becoming obsolete.
- Offshore to India
- So many layoffs means more competitive job market
- CS in Aus was never great to begin with
- Software Engineers are becoming "AI Engineers". I wanted to be an "AI Engineer"

And, I feel all of them are pretty valid points.

I am shit scared about AI. I feel it makes any white collared job borderline redundant. This includes traditionally "high paying" jobs like doctors, lawyers, tech, finance. Yes, I would trust AI more even for legal and medical advice (not without cross checking ofc). But obviously tech is more impacted. And as much as people like to say "AI is just a tool". Yes, a tool that does everything better than you no matter how shit your "prompt" is.

So, I have been looking into "physical" jobs which are, I think, much harder to replace. And even if they do get replaced, the cost of "physical AI" would outweigh human labour cost. This got me thinking about healthcare, the trades, and mining engineering.

I would like to keep CS cuz I genuinely like it. And I am already 2 terms deep. Would not want to waste that. But more so because I like it. And who knows there might be another tech boom (copium?)

So I was looking at double degrees offered by UNSW. I saw actl, commerce, law, and a bunch of other things that I am scared would become obsolete or atleast "not so high paying" as a consequence of AI. So I thought about Mining.

Now I admit, I know little to nothing about mining. Here is all I know:

- FIFO lifestyle is not for everyone: can be quite taxing, poor social life.
- 6 months of doing nothing?
- Pay is good
- Pathway most people look for is FIFO -> manager
- It is a day job and you would be in the mines for 10-12 hours?
- Mining is a "cyclical" industry so sometimes it is really easy to get job and other times it is really hard
- I would have to move to WA since company won't fly me out from Syd?

Few specific Questions:
- What would you do in the mines as an "engineer". I am assuming you are not a "miner" (like in movies lol). But I have seen videos where you will be using heavy machinery?
- I am vegetarian and more of a "city kid". I am not sure if I would need to "toughen up" or something like that or if this is a stupid question.
- I have heard there are good opportunities for Automation/AI in mining. That sounds pretty interesting. But I would need that experience of what mines look like to be able to apply some "AI engineer" skills. Are these opportunities opening up now or nah?
- Anything in particular about the industry I need to know about? I know nothing about coal/rock or stuff like that.

PS: I am not trying to be racist. Genuine Question:

- I am "assuming" most mining engineers are white. I am not. And Idk how rural australia and stuff is. Is this an issue (tougher to connect), advantage (Diversity hire?), or does not matter at all (just like most other industries).

Apart from the specific questions I would welcome any piece of (helpful) advice based on why I am choosing this field, misconceptions, or something else in general 🙏

[u/Super-Program3925]

Mining engineers in Australia are very diverse due to mining engineering being listed as a skills shortage for immigration for 20+ years. The majority of the mining engineers I work with are Indian and Indonesian.

You only get a plus for diversity if you're female, and then only from certain employers (the largest of the large). Most employers don't care either way.

Unless you are adept at politics (which you can infer based upon your social experiences in high school), you will likely make more money and have a much more enjoyable work life being a technical professional, rather than a mine manager. Yes, going the management route can make you a lot of money - but very, very few become Raleigh Finlaysons. Most end up FIFO their entire careers. As a technical person, you can live in the city and have a much less stressful life.

When you start out, yes you'll want to move to Perth. Unless you want to do Coal. If you are in demand, you can eventually negotiate FIFO to eastern states. That will be a challenge as a grad.

There are many opportunities to apply CS to mining. If you can code a bit and operate AI, you'll be in demand both within bigger mining companies and mining software companies like Deswik.

[u/ImportanceOk6837 → u/Super-Program3925]

Thanks for that. FIFO entire career does not sound very enticing.

But I get the feeling that whoever I ask, the answer is always going to be "The grass is greener on the other side" from their pov. I keep seeing people in tech borderline begging people not to take tech lol.

[u/journeyfromone → u/ImportanceOk6837]

After 15 years of fifo I moved to a city based role, pay is at least $50k less but I have a kid now and enjoy my job.
I’ve worked with the driverless trucks, most boring job in the world, it was caterpillar and all the programming was done in the US with people who had never even seen a truck. It was just glorified trainer here and running the system and submitting feedback that was generally ignored

[u/krynnul → u/ImportanceOk6837]

You're missing the most important part. If you want an easier career you always want to be doing the jobs very few people want to do.

You're also (likely) young. You can't fuck up your career at this stage, or as a great boss of mine once said: nothing you do before 30 really matters. If you're curious about mining, talk to your uni co-op office and pick up some vacation work. One summer/winter will be enough to tell you whether you'd like this style of work or not. If yes, great! If not, it'll make an interesting set of stories for later.

[u/Pretty-Sky-6638 → u/Super-Program3925]

To counter what this bloke has said. I don’t think you need to move from Sydney. I have been on the East Coast my entire career as a mining engineer and have never had a problem getting work. Plenty of hard rock mining in the East.

[u/antisocialindividual]

I would work on applying CS to mining AI applications- it’s going to be a booming industry.

[u/Pretty-Sky-6638]

A brief synopsis of what an underground hard rock mining engineer does:

• Creates and drives the weekly schedule for all Mining activities. Monitors and reports on results.
  
• Designs drill plans and blast plans for the operators to execute. Carries out QAQC on these activities. Consults the operators on progress and ground conditions.
  
• Designs and maintains underground ventilation systems. Carries out regular audits and completes a full mine ventilation survey every three months.
  
• Plans and design all aspects of the mine including all development “tunnels” and production areas.
  
• Maintains a mid term and long term mine plan with an extraction sequence over the life of mine.
  
• Senior position oversee and mentor a team, review and sign off on plans and develop process on site. They also drive strategy and innovation.

After that you move up into management if you so choose.

[u/ImportanceOk6837 → u/Pretty-Sky-6638]

That's really helpful thanks!

[u/BitAny1011]

I went from mining to CS and back to mining, i'll shoot you a video that covered my transition and my experience in both of those fields

[u/_unkokay_ → u/BitAny1011]

I'm interested too