Fellowship Offers College Professors Real-World Experience

July 31, 2026 - Years of academia recently made way for months of invaluable, real-world experience for 12 college professors participating in Freeport’s Academic-Industry Mining (AIM) Fellowship.

Through the AIM Fellowship, college professors from across the country temporarily trade academia for summer work experience, gaining an in-depth, hands-on understanding of the mining process and the challenges it faces.

For Azeem Raza, the fellowship not only represents an opportunity to understand the current landscape of the mining industry but also help shape it, literally.

Raza, an assistant research professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology, specializes in surface mine design and planning. He is spending his fellowship with Freeport’s Reinvent Mining team, exploring how emerging technologies like autonomous haulage and robotics could fundamentally change the way mines are designed and operated.

“Mine planning has traditionally been built around people,” Raza said. “Traffic patterns, facility placement, haul road distances, all of them are optimized for humans and human-operated equipment. The rise of autonomous systems is creating entirely new possibilities for how future mines could be designed and operated, requiring new skill sets for mining engineers.”

Working with the Reinvent Mining team, Raza hopes to bring that insight back into the classroom, helping prepare a generation of engineers beginning their education as these new technologies are being introduced.

Kate Brown Requist, an assistant professor of mining engineering at the University of Tennessee, also plans to use her fellowship experience in the classroom.

Brown Requist comes from a family steeped in service and mining. Inspired by a first responder parent and a sibling working in the mining industry, Brown Requist found a way to combine those influences through a career focused on mine safety. During the fellowship, Brown Requist has been examining underground mine ventilation systems, including those used at PT Freeport Indonesia, to better understand the practical considerations that go into maintaining safe and effective work environments.

The AIM Fellowship, which started in 2017 and was temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, restarted last year and has grown this year with the placement of 12 fellows.

As mining continues to evolve, it is more important than ever for Freeport to support those preparing the next generation of mining professionals, said Angie Harmon, Regional Manager of Social Performance-North America. The fellowship gives educators firsthand exposure to the industry, which in turn helps students better understand the range of careers available to them.

“One of our biggest challenges is perception,” Harmon said. “By engaging educators like this, we’re creating opportunities for their students to see just how much has changed and better appreciate some very real employment possibilities. We’re creating a pipeline to our future workforce.”

For Brown Requist, that direct exposure helps bridge the gap between academic instruction and industry practice.

“In academia, it can be easy to get locked in the ivory tower,” Brown Requist said. “Programs like the AIM Fellowship give educators real-world knowledge about the modern mining industry, helping students better understand its realities and needs in a way that will prepare them to make a difference.”

Photo (top to bottom): Through the fellowship, Kate Brown Requist (left) and Azeem Raza look to bring firsthand experience into the classroom; This year, 12 AIM fellows joined various company initiatives, toured operations and more to better understand modern mining.