Hosted by:
Interested in Mining? AI? Safety?
Looking for a real-world challenge that puts your ideas in front of industry leaders?
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.
About the Competition
IMII has partnered with members of the ISSA Mine Safety Conference Organizing Committee to deliver the AI4Safe Mines Student Competition. This exciting initiative brings together students and industry experts to explore how AI can improve safety outcomes in mining environments.
The competition is open to all post-secondary and high school student teams and runs from January through September 2026.
The Challenge
Form a team of up to three students and submit an innovative idea for an AI-enabled application-layer tool designed to improve health and safety in mining.
Your solution should focus on:
- In-field hazard identification
- Practical interventions that reduce risk
- Real-world applicability in mining operations
Why Participate?
- Connect with leaders in mining and artificial intelligence
- Receive expert feedback on your ideas and presentation skills
- Build experience tackling real industry challenges
- Compete to win a scholarship prize for the most promising
Select one of the mine safety challenge themes below and apply your AI-driven idea to address it.
Environmental Hazard Awareness:
Leverage AI combined with sensors to alert people to hazards they can’t see (electricity, radiation, airborne contaminants, etc.).
Human Health and Well-being:
Could AI be used to detect declining fit for duty during a shift and intervene?
Equipment and Safety:
Can AI assist in developing a safe operation readiness program for bringing new system online?
Could AI help to stop equipment or infrastructure failure in between inspections?
Training and Performance:
Use AI to monitor, assist or improve developing, following and forgetting procedures.
Could AI improve quality or performance with tips for improvement?
Success criteria for your AI-based innovation will include:
- ease-of-use for field personnel,
- impact on health and safety,
- high potential for adoption (worker-friendly: ai as a coach or helper, not a watchdog).
Additional factors including:
- scalability, cost
- online/offline modes,
- impactful features – no fluff, security, minimal hardware requirements.
What's the process?
Round 1: Form a Team and an Innovative Idea and Submit your EOI
Form your team, identify your innovation idea, do a little research to vet your concept, then complete and submit the Expression of Interest (form below) and send to [email protected] before the deadline on Feb. 26, 2026.
Round 2: Top Teams Pitch Their Concept to a Panel of Judges
Expressions of Interest will be vetted and the top teams (up to 10) will be invited to deliver a preliminary pitch at an event on March 31, 2026. The top 3 ranked teams from the prelim pitch will be announced at an evening reception with industry and they will advance to the next phase of the competition.
Round 3: Top Three Teams Develop their Innovation and Pitch in the Finals
In the final leg of the competition you will be provided with seed money to advance your concept and coaching from a mentor. You will present your innovative design and your final pitch at the ISSA Mine Safety Conference in Saskatoon, September 22-24, 2026. Finalists will also be offered booths at the conference.
