The donation of hundreds of geology books and journals to the National University of Mongolia will empower geology students there to more effectively exploit the country’s vast mineral resources for the benefit of the entire population. Delivery of the books from Australia, to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, was made possible by Techenomics, a private company which provides fluid management services.
Head of the Geology and Geophysics Department of the School of Arts and Sciences at National University of Mongolia, Professor Bat Bold, said he was extremely grateful for the donation and indicated that it was very hard for students to gain access to relevant books. "The most valuable investment for students is self-esteem, and these books and journals will help teachers to provide this," he said.
Techenomics CEO Chris Adsett said supporting the logistics involved with the transfer of more than 40 boxes of books added to the company’s support of students in Mongolia. The books and journals have been donated by geologists in Australia and follows a similar donation to the Institute of Technology of Cambodia in Phnom Penh several years ago.
Many of the items have come from the personal collection of 40-plus year geologist Adrian Day. Other donations are from Australian Institute of Geoscientists members disposing of their libraries and from the Bookhouse run by the Alumni of the University of Queensland.
The alumni collect discards from libraries and donations from the public which are sorted, classified and boxed for a Bookfair held every two years to raise funds for student bursaries, UQ art acquisitions and financial assistance to needy students. The Bookfair in April 2017 raised $110,000.
“Adrian Day and his family have been associated with the development of Techenomics over a number of years and our support of the book project continues the association,” Chris Adsett explained.
“Adrian helped build the first laboratory we established in Indonesia, at Sangatta, has carried out a number of project manager jobs and his son was Techenomics Mongolia Acting Country Manager in our early days in the country.”
In addition to supporting the book project, Techenomics Mongolia also has a cooperation agreement with the University of Life Science’s School of Engineering and Technology. This is aimed at helping Mongolia’s future engineers and mechanics gain greater knowledge of the importance of oil and fluid analysis as a preventative maintenance tool, thus leading to less downtime and increased productivity.