Laurentian University team wins mine rescue challenge.

A student team from Laurentian University's Bharti School of Engineering in Sudbury has won the 2017 Intercollegiate Mines Emergency Response Development (MERD) competition in Golden, Colo.

The Laurentian team placed first in the first aid and field competitions, in addition to the overall competition.

Held over two days, the competition presents students with mock disasters created in an underground mine to train collegiate mine rescue teams in a realistic emergency search and rescue setting. It included a field competition where teams had to put out an actual underground fire, a technician test, and a first aid test.

The competition attracted teams from University of British Columbia, Freiburg University (Germany), Montana Tech, South Dakota School of Mines, and Colorado School of Mines. The first competition was held in 2011.

"We are extremely proud of our students, staff and faculty who participated in this international competition. This achievement is a testament to their hard work and dedication," said Dr. Markus Timusk, director at the Bharti School of Engineering, in a release.

"We also recognize the support of our industry partners...