My name is Evan Shefik and I grew up in Littleton south of Denver. After high school I decided pursue an engineering degree at the Colorado School of Mines where I was introduced to mining and ended up receiving a degree in Mining Engineering. After I graduated I moved to Northern Minnesota and worked in Iron Ore Mining, most recently as the Manager of Mine Engineering for two mines. At the beginning of the year I decided to relocate back home and now work in Long Range Planning for Newmont.

What inspired you to explore STEM when you were young?

Growing up I was always very interested in learning how things worked and had an interest in math and science throughout school. In High School I took a physics class and science classes that really confirmed to me I wanted to work in a STEM field.

What do you enjoy most about what you do in your STEM career?

The part of working in a STEM field I enjoy the most is all the problem solving I get to do. Once of the best part of my jobs is finding creative new ways or technologies that can be used to solve a problem or make a process work better. This is very rewarding to me because I can see the impact of the solutions in practice every day.

What is a fun, bizarre or insightful STEM fact about your field?

Everything is either grown or mined. A person will need during its lifetime: 800 pounds of lead, 750 pounds of zinc, 1500 pounds of aluminum , 32,700 pounds of iron, 26,550 pounds of clay, 28,213 pounds of salt, 1,238,101 pounds of stone, sand, gravel, and cement.