The concept has been applied successfully to many branches of education including engineering and several universities have adopted this method of study for their whole engineering faculty. In 1979, Metallurgical Engineering was the first discipline in the Faculty to introduce the Co-op system. It has proven to be very popular with both students and employers. The Metallurgical Engineering Programme has been designed to give the student extensive coverage of a field which is itself very broad. Ore dressing is concerned with the purification of metal bearing minerals after they have been mined.
Chemical metallurgy involves the extraction of the metals from the minerals by chemical reactions.
Physical metallurgy pertains to the properties of metals and alloys, their fabrication and production. Usually the graduating metallurgist will choose to specialize in one of these three branches. The main employers of metallurgists are primary metal producers, large fabricators of metals and Government research establishments. The undergraduate curriculum is the same for both programmes. Programme was developed to permit the identification of students interested in and eligible to pursue graduate studies before they have completed all of their undergraduate classes.