WHO IS ANDRESSA?
My name is Andressa Almeida, I’m 28 years old and I’m a very determined person as I have always pursued my goals with a lot of effort.
WHY MINING ENGINEER?
The choice of Mining Engineering was the result of a long search with a lot of screenings and many ups and downs. Out of all the options I knew available to me, Civil Engineering was the one closest to me in terms of knowledge since I previously attended a technical course in buildings. However, I wanted something different and so I decided to ‘dig deeper’ and came upon Mining Engineering.
At the time I started this course, it was new in Brazil and there were only a few universities in the whole country that had it. One of them was in the city where I lived, Palmas (in Tocantins state). I thought to myself «Is this a sign? ». So, I decided to go over there and check it out. I was received by Professor José Cleuton, then coordinator of the Mine Engineering course at CEULP/ULBRA (Universidade Luterana do Brasil), who gave me an introductory class on Mining Engineering.
ANDRESSAS' ACADEMIC JOURNEY
While attending my Mining Engineering course (2011-2016), I started a family: I got married and had a daughter. Both these factors were extra motivators for me to accomplish my goal of becoming a mining engineer.
At this time, the mining sector was growing, and Mining Engineering was becoming a more and more prominent area within Engineering. I also had the opportunity to develop projects in the laboratory, collecting sample data for studies that served as a basis for the presentation of my end-of-course thesis and the development of scientific articles as well. Another very significant experience to me was participating in field visits and analyzing processes involving the release of permits required for mining exploration in the state of Tocantins.
With my diploma in hand, but still not satisfied, I embarked on a new challenge. Only this time, it was an ocean away. In 2018, I arrived in the city of Porto in Portugal with the goal of becoming a Master in Mining and Geo-environmental Engineering, by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto
WHY O-PITBLAST?
I am currently one step away from achieving this goal. And that goal is my Master’s thesis. For this, I was given the amazing opportunity to develop my thesis in a business environment, at O-Pitblast! I got to know O-Pitblast when I was still studying in Brazil, as part of a project developed by the Academic Centre of the Mining Engineering department of my university.
Today, I am part of the O-Pitblast team and I act as the responsible for quality assurance of O-Pitblast Software and hardware solutions. Our hardware-based solution, O-Pitdev., is the subject of my Master’s Thesis, as I am writing and analysing and figuring out how to optimize its manufacturing process, by developing and applying tools for a quality management system aligned to current standards.
