Engineering Spotlight
graduate Kuljit Basi 
“The best decision of my life……to date”
After graduating from Cowichan High School in Duncan, BC in spring 2000, Kuljit Basi arrived at UBC for his first year of higher education and felt completely overwhelmed by the size and scope of the university.
It’s not an uncommon feeling amongst first-year students, but Kuljit had two extra concerns: not only was he the first of his family to ever attend university, leaving him without a family mentor, but his father had passed away only a few short months before. Studying first-year engineering, he also had little idea of which area to specialize in. Lucky for him, he found both his career path and a new, grounding “family” in Mining Engineering at UBC.
Kuljit was inspired to go in to mining by a friend he met in residence, a mining engineering student who convinced him to attend a Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) lunch. There he was introduced to the wide range of career opportunities and growth in mining as well as to the community of mining engineers. Most notably, Kuljit remembers meeting Mr. Sandy Laird, who was then a Senior Vice President at Placer Dome, who took time to sit with and chat with UBC Mining students. If such a high-placed executive spent time with beginning mining engineers, Kuljit felt, then mining must be a fantastic place to be.
“It was a great decision,” he says.
The department, faculty members, and students are an outstanding group, and the education he received is excellent. In between his busy class schedule–in addition to his major in engineering, he also pursued a minor in commerce–and co-op work terms, Kuljit kept busy by staying active within the department. He played on the departmental soccer team and enjoyed participating in various mining industry conferences as a member of the CIM and the Canadian Mineral Processors.
It’s the industry influence that makes UBC Mining a great learning experience, says Kuljit. From industry influence on curriculum to guest speakers, field trips, bursaries and scholarships and co-op opportunities—Kuljit has worked at Highland Valley Copper, Cominco Engineering Services, Syncrude and Cochrane Engineering during his tenure in co-op—industry involvement has made a huge impact. It has ensured the department has the ability to direct studies to those areas most relevant to industry, a huge plus for students.
Co-op was also a good inspiration for his academic success—seeing what engineers did, knowing what would be expected of him as a professional engineer—not only helped Kuljit to direct his studies, but also to apply himself and work hard during his classes and labs to ensure he would be able to excel at his next co-op placement—and in his future career. He hopes to spend his first years post-graduation pursuing his P.Eng. and then will perhaps return to school to pursue more education.
Whatever the future holds, Kuljit is happy with his choice and with his future. “It’s the best decision I’ve made in my life so far,” he says.
