Ilias Atwani has always had a thing for photography and was delighted when a picture clicked by him was awarded the first prize at a photo contest organized by a leading mining company back in the year 2015. Much to his surprise, the photo was not only submitted to PwC’s ‘The Art of Mining’ contest but also was chosen the winning photograph. Andre Allard was chosen to be the second-place winner.

Being the winners, Andre and Ilias Atwani were rewarded with a personalized tour of local Inuit villages Salluit and Kangiqsujuaq. While he was having this once in a lifetime kind of experience, Ilias could sense a feeling of natural discovery. When asked about the experience, Ilias’ response was, “I have traveled quite a bit in my life, but during this trip, I realized the extent to which the Inuit culture is one of social solidarity and warmth. You can see it and feel it.”.

About Ilias Atwani

Ilias Atwani is an experienced Mining Engineer working with a senior Canadian gold mining company as a Mine Operations Coordinator (Mine Operations Dept.). He is skilled in mining oriented operational Analysis/Modeling: Surpac®, Whittle®, Talpac®; Programming: Matlab®, C/C++, VB; Management and logistics: SAP®, JD Edwards®; and CAD software like AutoCAD® (Amine & Promine), SolidWorks®, Silverscreen® (CAMP), 3DReshaper®. He is an alumnus of Laval University from where he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Mining and Mineral Engineering in July 2012. He also attended Institut Polytechnique privé de Casablanca from Sept 2006 to Dec 2008 for his preparatory classes for engineering school. Currently, Atwani is pursuing his Executive Master of Business Administration (E-M.B.A) degree from Laval University.