AI4Safe Mines Student Competition
The AI4Safe Mines Student Competition is your opportunity to innovate, collaborate, and make a meaningful impact on health and safety in mining—while gaining valuable feedback and competing for a scholarship prize for the most promising innovation.
The AI4SafeMines Student Competition began in January, 2026 with IMII issuing a call for students to pitch their ideas to leverage AI to improve mine safety.
Since then, three pre-pitch events were held and five finalists were selected to advance their ideas with seed funding and mentors to guide them.
Come see the results at the AI4SafeMines Student Competition Global!
Finals taking place at the ISSA Mine Safety Conference!
Team IMSA
Team IMSA consists of Laura Mora Torres, Gabriel Segovia Bustos and Martina Antonella Roncogliolo, all students from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Team IMSA earned their spot in the AI4SafeMines by winning the Southern Cohort pre-pitch competition led by Consejo Nacional de Seguridad y Fundacion del CNS, which involved 48 students across 16 teams from Chile, Argentina, Peru and Germany.
Team IMSA
Team TS² includes three students from the University of Saskatchewan: Shruti Kaur, Talian Iwanchysko and Sahas Mittal. Team TS^2 earned their spot as a finalist from the original IMII-led pre-pitch competition, which involved 27 students across 10 teams, with participants from Canada and the UK. Together they are developing SmartDome, an innovative solution designed to address a significant gap in the mining industry.
Team Statera
Team Statera consists of Nitish Joson, Princess Tayab and Tim Li, a group of students from Holy Cross High School in Saskatoon and the University of Saskatchewan. Tim and Nitish have recently graduated and are now first-year university students: Tim is attending the University of Saskatchewan and Nitish is attending the University of British Columbia. Team Statera is a finalist from the original IMII-led pre-pitch competition, which involved 27 students across 10 teams, with participants from Canada and the UK. They are developing an AI-Driven Asset Management System for Mining.
Team MineAir
Team MineAir includes Kevin Steven Meza Peñaranda, Jairo Steven Casas Sierra and Eduardo Andrés Torres from Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander in Colombia. Team MineAir earned their spot in the AI4SafeMines finals by winning North of South America and Central America cohort which was organized by Consejo Colombiano de Seguridad and involved 30 students across 10 teams.
Team TurtleShell
Team TurtleShell has two team members: Ryder Quiring, a student from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and Drake Ryce, a student at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. While attending different schools, Ryder & Drake are a natural team, formed from growing up together in Warman, SK. Team TurtleShell is a finalist from the original IMII-led pre-pitch competition cohort.