M. Tech in Excavation Engineering is a 2-year long postgraduate course designed to produce skilled mining and civil engineers for the field of excavation engineering for the purpose of serving the construction and mining industry in the most technically effective way. Related subjects such as advanced soil mechanics, rock mechanics, soil exploration and testing, applied soil mechanics, advanced foundation engineering, soil dynamics and machine foundations, geotechnics for infrastructures, and seismic site characterization, are included in the curriculum.
The excavation industry has seen exponential growth in India in the last decade, owing to rock excavations for slopes, tunnels, surface mines, underground mines, underground caverns for powerhouses, storage for the army, foundations for high rise buildings, railways, metros etc.
Some of the challenging problems facing the industry are in the areas of deep excavations, excavations in fragile and mountainous regions, excavations and tunnelling in urban areas, utilization of underground space in urban areas for storage, waste disposal and habitats, reduction in excavation costs, management of excavations, and mining ores and building profitable and sustainable material. Professionals trained in these areas are needed to meet such challenges and contribute effectively to such a nation-building activity. The course aims to innovate means to enhance the economy, productivity and safety of the excavation industry including mining, tunnelling, building materials production, and underground space technology.
Successful postgraduates of the course can work as Junior Research Fellows in institutes such as NITs and Banaras Hindu University, or as Project Assistants in firms such as Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research and Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited etc. Tecnimont ICB Pvt. Ltd, Reliance Industries Limited and TATA Power are some of the major recruiters in the private sector. They are hired in capacities such as Minerals Processing Engineer, Researcher, Mineral Explorer, Mining Engineer, Drilling Engineer, Technical Engineer in Mine Management etc.
