What if mining equipment could take on the risks associated with going underground instead of humans? What if drilling and decision-making processes underground no longer depended on operators being physically present?

These thoughts crossed Mary Kuru Sam’s mind while working as a national service person and graduate trainee at Sandvik Mining and Construction Ghana Limited. While there, Sam was part of the maintenance team, handling drill rigs and load-and-haul equipment. She stripped them down, assessed worn components, prepared technical reports, reassembled them, and tested them in simulated drilling environments before they returned to operation.

In the course of her work, she encountered some unpleasant realities of the mining industry, such as collapsing rock faces, poor air circulation underground, and the constant risk operators faced each time they descended below the earth’s surface. These experiences gave Sam a sense of responsibility, pushing her to think beyond maintenance and toward solutions that could better protect human life.

Now, as a graduate student in the Ashesi Master’s in Mechatronics program, Sam is developing the skills and knowledge necessary to bring her vision to life. She hopes to design solutions that make mining safer, more efficient, and more sustainable, applying technology to tackle some of the sector’s most pressing challenges.

“I want to leave with the ability to design complete intelligent systems,” Sam says as she begins her journey. She is eager to deepen her technical expertise in sensor integration, robotics, data analysis, and control systems, while also sharpening leadership and communication skills. In a few years, Sam sees herself championing Ghana’s first fully automated surface drilling system, one with no onboard operator. “The machine should be able to learn its environment, detect changes through sensors, and make precise decisions in real time,” she says.