New STEM Partnership Brings Papua New Guinea Students to South Dakota Mines

September 09, 2025
New STEM Partnership Brings Papua New Guinea Students to South Dakota Mines
: A delegation from Papua New Guinea, led by Minister of Education Lucas Dawa Dekena and Secretary of Education Uke Kombra, Ph.D., met with South Dakota Mines faculty and staff, including Beth Riley, director of the Ivanhoe International Center; Lance Roberts, Ph.D., provost and vice president of academic affairs; and Rudra Mitra, Ph.D., associate professor of mining engineering and management and Syd & Felicia Peng professor, to explore a new STEM partnership that would bring Papua New Guinea students to Mines.

Next fall, 20 students from Papua New Guinea are expected to enroll at South Dakota Mines as part of a new partnership aimed at strengthening the country’s STEM workforce.

A delegation from Papua New Guinea recently visited Mines during a tour of United States universities, exploring opportunities for education collaborations.

The goal, said Papua New Guinea’s Minister of Education Lucas Dawa Dekena, is for students to “bring back the American spirit and can-do attitude” to help drive innovation and growth at home. The visit is part of an initiative to send the country’s top students abroad for advanced training in STEM fields. This is the third year of the initiative, with more than 120 Papua New Guinea students currently studying throughout the Dakotas.

During the visit, the group, which included Dekena, Uke Kombra, Ph.D. and secretary of education, and other senior advisors and staff, toured the campus, including the Nucor Mineral Industries Building, civil/mechanical engineering facilities, and CAMP. “We are really impressed with what we saw today and everything the students are doing,” Dekena said during the visit.The visit included a campus tour, including the Nucor Mineral Industries Building, civil/mechanical engineering facilities and CAMP.

Beth Riley, director of the Mines Ivanhoe International Center, first learned of Papua New Guinea’s initiative during a recruiting trip to Asia last year. “I spoke with Vincent Flores, EducationUSA’s regional director for Northeast Asia and the Pacific, who highlighted Papua New Guinea and Fiji as countries rich in resources with strong student interest in studying in the U.S.,” Riley said.

The Papua New Guinea government supports students with scholarships to study abroad and return with skills to strengthen their nation. Riley then brought in Rudra Mitra, Ph.D., associate professor of mining engineering and management and Syd & Felicia Peng professor, along with Kelli McCormick, Ph.D., senior lecturer in the same department, to help advance the discussions.

This summer, Mitra virtually met with the National Department of Education and faculty members from the University of Papua New Guinea in an effort to get Mines a stop on their visit.

“They were literally blown away by the work the students are doing here,” Mitra said.

While the goal is to enroll 20 students for next fall, Kombra emphasized that it is just a starting point with the hope of sending additional students in the years ahead.

“With international partnerships, there is a wonderful fostering of global research collaborations, enhancing the academic reputation of the university on a global scale, boosting student opportunities both incoming and outgoing and supporting economic growth in key industries like mining and energy,” Riley said.