Dick Shaw Memorial Scholarship

The scholarship will be awarded to a full-time student attending a college or university in Canada (including Yukon and North West Territories) who is studying a subject with some relevance to the non-military use of explosives or blasting (e.g. mining, civil, or chemical engineering; geology; seismic exploration; avalanche control; blasting physics). We are flexible about the subject providing the applicant has an interest in pursuing a career that could involve blasting. Studies may be at any level (i.e. certificate, diploma, bachelors, masters, or doctorate). The applicant does not need to have any link to the Chapter or explosives industry and does not need to come from Western Canada. Also eligible would be a student who has been studying in Canada but is in the process of transferring elsewhere (e.g. moving to U of M Rolla, South Dakota, or Montana Tech.) providing the subject is very relevant to explosives or blasting. Again, we are not particularly interested in the student's GPA, but he or she must be in good standing. Candidates leaving high school and moving directly to further studies are also eligible.

The main criterion for selecting a winner is the submission of a "paper" entitled “The safe use of controlled blasting in modern day construction and mining”. This could be in the form of an essay, a PowerPoint presentation, or some form of mixed media, movie, etc. The main aim is propaganda: to convince a skeptical public that explosives are very fundamental and useful to modern society, not just destructive. All the public sees and hears about explosives is that they cause death and destruction but, if one really digs down, almost every facet of our modern civilization is dependent somewhere on the use of explosives. The work should be original and any quotations from the work of others must be properly referenced. The successful candidate will be invited to receive their scholarship funds and give a presentation of their paper at the Annual Chapter Conference on September 24th , 2022 in Kamloops, BC – if a conference is possible due to existing Covid-19 protocols. Reasonable travel and accommodation expenses will be reimbursed by the Chapter.

Features & Conditions:

A) The scholarship will consist of a one-time payment of $1,000.00

B) Paid conference registration fee for the Annual General Meeting held in Kamloops, BC, September 22nd – 25th, 2022.

C) One year’s student membership to the Western Canada Chapter ISEE.

D) Candidates must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants.

E) The student may already be enrolled in a course of full-time study, or about to enter. “Mature” students are also eligible; there is no age limit.

F) The candidate must submit to the Scholarship Committee of the Chapter an essay (or other form) entitled “The safe use of controlled blasting in modern day construction and mining”. Electronic format is preferred, though hard copy will be accepted.

G) Other documents to be submitted: résumé, transcripts, letter of acceptance, etc., as appropriate to prove eligibility.

H) The Scholarship Committee reserves the right to withhold awarding of the scholarship if no eligible candidates apply or if the work submitted is not of sufficiently high quality. Also, if two or more candidates are judged to be of equal standard, the award may be divided.

I) The closing date for receipt of applications is August 15th, 2022.