August 17-20, 2026 | metsoc@cim.org
We are happy to announce our keynote speakers. There will be many keynote speakers spread out over the 3 days of the conference.
Click on the (+) symbol to read their keynote presentation abstract or their biography.
Genthelvite-bearing deposits are an emerging alternative source of beryllium (Be), often offering higher Be grades than traditional bertrandite or beryl-hosted systems, and in some cases enabling the recovery of zinc as a by-product. The BGV Beryllium (Perzhanskoye) deposit in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region is one of the largest known genthelvite-rich ore bodies, hosted within quartz–feldspar and feldspar metasomatites. Beneficiation testwork has demonstrated effective genthelvite flotation achieving over 87% Be recovery, producing a mineral concentrate containing 1.6 – 3.2% Be and 24.5% Zn. Subsequent hydrometallurgical testwork led to the development of a flowsheet consisting of acid baking, impurity removal, and solvent extraction, ultimately yielding a high purity sodium beryllate solution. Subsequent hydrolysis and calcination produced beryllium hydroxide at 99.7% purity and beryllium oxide at 99.2% purity, with an overall hydrometallurgical recovery (from concentrate) of 90-94% Be. The testwork showed that high purity Be compounds can be produced from the Perzhanskoye deposits using fairly conventional metallurgical processes. The presentation aims to highlight the beneficiation and hydrometallurgical results and discuss potential by-product recovery from this genthelvite-rich deposit.
Bio coming soon.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will reshape the metallurgical industry across the full processing chain – from ore characterization and mineral beneficiation through pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical testing, report preparation, plant design, and plant operations. This paper, generated with AI assistance, surveys the current landscape of AI models and agents relevant to metallurgical practice, reviews representative applications, and critically examines the limitations practitioners must confront: hallucination, sycophantic behavior, confidentiality risks, ethical responsibilities, and the challenge of detecting AI-generated manuscripts. Employment implications for metallurgical engineers are discussed. The intent is to equip metallurgical professionals with a balanced and technically honest evaluation of AI as a practical engineering tool.
John Goode graduated from the Royal School of Mines in London in 1963 with a degree in Chemical Engineering in Metallurgy. After four years of experience in nickel and lead-zinc operations, he joined Rio Algom’s uranium, rare earth element (REE), and thorium operation in Elliot Lake. After six years there, John joined Kilborn Engineering in Toronto, where he eventually rose to the position of Vice President, Mining and Metallurgy. With Kilborn, he was directly responsible for the design of several gold, uranium, and base metal facilities, as well as pioneering REE plants for Denison and Molycorp and a detailed review of six Chinese separation plants for AMR (now Neo Performance Materials). In 1994, John joined Barrick and managed the company’s Chinese exploration/acquisition efforts for four years.
In 1998, John returned to Canada to establish an independent consultancy, which has undertaken numerous global assignments over the past 28 years. His portfolio includes major uranium ventures (Michelin, Laguna Salada, and Tumas), gold projects (Young-Davidson and Valentine), the AnorTech alumina project, and major REE projects such as Serra Verde, Tomtor, Wicheeda, and Strange Lake. He has also conducted multiple due diligence studies for institutional investors and government agencies.
John served as an expert representing Canada in the preparation of ISO standards for the REE industry. He has been a co-organizer for all CIM MetSoc REE and critical materials conferences since the inaugural 2012 meeting. He is a Fellow of both the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. His contributions to the industry have been recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Mineral Processors, the CIM’s Selwyn Blaylock Medal, and the MetSoc Sherritt Hydrometallurgical Award.
The increased emphasis on climate change coupled with the 2050 emission reduction targets that most countries have committed to, means that operators of high temperature thermo-processing equipment are looking for solutions to substantially reduce their CO2 emissions. One potential method is the use renewable green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is and will remain an expensive fuel in the foreseeable future, so it makes sense to optimize its use in industrial process. One obvious route is the use of hydrogen fired oxyfuel combustion systems for high temperature industrial process that, for technical reasons, cannot be converted to direct electrical heating.
Linde has been investigating the use of hydrogen fired oxyfuel burner systems at their combustion technology centres in Stockholm (Sweden), Tonawanda (New York State, USA) and Unterschleissheim (close to Munich, Germany) since 2018, with the goal of ensuring that all Linde oxyfuel burners are Hydrogen Ready. Linde has been implementing oxyfuel solutions across a broad range of industries for more than 40 years.
In this paper Linde will present data and findings of the comparative tests performed with several commercially available Linde burners as well as results from full hydrogen combustion scale trials in a steel reheating furnace, aluminium remelter and a glass melter. The data presented will be for hydrogen, natural gas as well as selected blends of hydrogen in natural gas. Parameters like flame length and shape as well as NOx emissions and heat distribution within the test furnaces will be presented and compared for conventional as well as flameless oxyfuel burners. Heat transfer into aluminium and copper samples as well as measured peak flame temperatures will be presented, as well as real world data from an industrial scale REBOX® flameless oxyfuel burner installation operating with renewable hydrogen.
Hydrogen safety, production, supply, storage, a few challenges as well as hydrogen’s use as a reductant in the copper industry will also be discussed briefly.
Graduated with B. Science (Chemistry) from University of Cape Town in South Africa in 1983. Worked at Koeberg nuclear power station for 10 years, responsible for the steam water chemistry. Worked with industrial gases for 28 years, initially ozone applications in South Africa. Moved to Germany in 1999. Been working in the field of oxyfuel combustion since 2001. Developing, designing, testing, installing and commissioning oxyfuel burners. Joined Linde in Munich in 2009, worked in Shanghai 6 years supporting local colleagues. Since 2018 I have focused on hydrogen fired oxyfuel combustion in high temperature metallurgical processes.
A novel H2 based single stage reduction ironmaking technology named ZESTY (Zero Emissions Steel TechnologY) has been developed by Calix Ltd carrying out pilot plant testing at their Bacchus Marsh facility near Melbourne. Their process uses counter current flow of hydrogen and iron ore fines (less than 500 micron) in an electrically heated tubular reactor; residence time of particles are estimated to be 40 to 80s in the reactor depends on the particle size and gas flowrate. Initial pilot plant trials in 2023 established the general characteristics of the reactor and in 2024, Calix completed an extensive testing campaign in a fully electric pilot reactor for a range of Australian-sourced hematite/goethite and magnetite. Characterization of the products demonstrated that hematite goethite ores can achieve metallization levels above 95% operating below 1050 °C, the best results being achieved for particles less than 200 micron with highly porous structures. Particle size, mineralogy, ratio of hydrogen to reducible oxide, porosity and reactor temperature play a crucial role in determining the level of metallization achieved. Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology have developed a thermogravimetric technique using flow through fine samples on a wire mesh to study the kinetics of the process. A multi-zone thermodynamics and kinetic model have been developed to provide a basis by which to understand how key parameters affect reactor performance. Further fundamental work is underway to inform the development of a 30,000 tpa demonstration plant.
Professor Geoffrey Brooks is the Joint Swinburne/CSIRO Professor for Sustainable Minerals Processing. He has been a Proferssor at Swinburne for 20 years, previously being an Associate Professor at McMaster University and a Senior Lecturer at University of Wollongong. Geoff has worked extensively with the international metallurgical industry and published over 300 papers on fundamental aspects of steel and non-ferrous metallurgy. He and his coworkers has won prestigious awards from the IOM3, TMS, AIST and the ASM. In 2023 he was awarded the Bessemer Gold Medal for contribition to the international steel industry.
In the present work, we reduced high-grade iron ore pellets (Provided by VALE, Brazil) by employing different reducing atmospheres, namely pure hydrogen and MIDREX. The reduced pellets were then melted in electric arc furnace laboratory equipment. The pellets’ microstructure was characterized through SEM and XRD before and after each reduction experiment in TGA. During melting, optical emission spectroscopy analyses allowed to precisely measure the melt elements and evaluate the hydrogen content in the pellets. Both slag and steel composition and microstructure were revealed by SEM observations after the melting operations.
Bio coming soon.
Ironmaking is the most energy intensive and generates the majority of CO2 emissions associated with steelmaking. The most advanced and promising technology to reduce and eliminate CO2 emissions associated with Ironmaking is Direct Reduction with Natural Gas and Hydrogen. As the industry leader, Midrex Technologies Inc. been actively researching and developing technology solutions to adapt the MIDREX® process for both a stepped transition from Natural Gas to Hydrogen (MIDREX FlexTM) and for the ultimate carbon-neutral direct reduction process (MIDREX H2TM).
Paul Kazalski has more than 15 years of experience in chemical engineering, process development, and energy technologies, and is currently a research engineer at Midrex Technologies. Throughout his career, he has transitioned between research, design, project execution, and field operations, demonstrating a strong ability to adapt to evolving technical challenges. Currently, Paul leads research and development initiatives focused on hydrogen-based ironmaking and advanced electric heating systems, while overseeing critical safety and operational programs at the pilot plants in Midrex’s Research and Technology Development Center.
Prior to Midrex, he worked at companies such as BHI-FW, AMEC Foster Wheeler, and Siemens Energy, where he specialized in the design of low-emission combustion technologies. These opportunities allowed him to gain experience in power generation systems, Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling, commissioning, and performance optimization. Paul holds a Master of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and remains committed to developing sustainable engineering solutions that address humanity’s most pressing challenges.
Research and development activities to realize carbon-neutral iron- and steelmaking processes have been underway worldwide. It is considered that the use of hydrogen in steelmaking is a promising method, and various projects to industrialize hydrogen direct-reduction shaft furnaces have been carried out. However, due to the vast scale of the steelmaking industry, abruptly switching iron- and steelmaking processes to hydrogen-based processes is difficult. Therefore, it is essential to design pathways during the transition period. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions from ironmaking processes is indispensable, even on these pathways. For example, the GREINS (GREen INnovation in Steelmaking) project in Japan is taking a multi-track research approach that includes the hydrogen direct-reduction shaft furnace, hydrogen-enriched blast-furnace operation, and so on. It is known that the hydrogen reduction of iron ore proceeds faster than the carbon monoxide reduction and is an endothermic reaction. Therefore, the inner state of the blast furnace will change when hydrogen is used. Even under such conditions, the stable operation of the blast furnace must be achieved. To design and optimize the hydrogen-ironmaking process, the characteristics of hydrogen reduction and the in-furnace state must be quantitatively understood. For this purpose, a novel multi-scale numerical approach for iron ore reduction in a blast furnace under hydrogen-rich conditions was conducted. This approach includes three different scales, namely particle scale, furnace scale, and layer scale. In this presentation, the details of this approach, as well as the current state of Japanese research and development toward carbon-neutral steelmaking, will be introduced.
Bio coming soon.
Calix’s Zero Emissions Steel TechnologY (ZESTY) offers an alternative process route engineered to overcome these limitations. Built on Calix’s patented indirectly heated Flash Calcination (CFC) technology, ZESTY enables flash hydrogen reduction of iron ore fines in a lean phase environment, with high metallisation, minimal hydrogen consumption, and lower processing temperatures than those of traditional ironmaking technologies.
Since 2021, Calix has completed over 130 pilot runs across nine hematite/goethite and magnetite ores. Test work at the Calix Technology Centre in Victoria, using the pilot electric CFC reactor modified for direct hydrogen reduction, generated critical process data to validate ore compatibility, optimise reduction parameters, informing the basis of design for the 30,000 tpa ZESTY H₂ DRI demonstration plant.
A key innovation of the ZESTY reactor is its indirect and electrically heated, vertical tube design. Ore fines, typically milled to <500 µm, are injected into the top of the reactor and descend through a precisely controlled hydrogen/steam atmosphere. Heat is supplied via external electrical furnace, which avoids hydrogen combustion and enables the process to approach the theoretical minimum hydrogen requirement. Short residence times of 40–120 seconds are sufficient to achieve high metallisation, as the combination of fine particle size, precise temperature control, and counter-flow hydrogen configuration ensures high reaction kinetics while mitigating the onset of sticking and accretion formation.
Pilot testing of hematite–goethite ores demonstrated clear temperature-dependent behaviour, with metallisation increasing sharply between 750 °C and 950 °C (Figure 1). Above approximately 950 °C, metallisation gains diminished and sticking became more evident, particularly at 1050 °C. As such, controlled operation within 950–1,000 °C was identified as the optimal regime for high metallisation while maintaining operational stability. All hematite–goethite ores processed at these conditions exceeded the 75 % metallisation threshold required for electric smelting furnace (ESF) entry.
Beyond reduction testing, downstream qualification of ZESTY H₂DRI included ESF smelting and hot briquetting trials. Briquetting conducted at TU Bergakademie Freiberg showed that increased furnace temperature and compaction pressure improved briquette strength and density to >4.5 t/m³, yielding products approaching IMO HBI shipping standards. ESF trials at the University of Newcastle demonstrated effective slag micro foaming, strong iron partitioning into the metal phase, and successful carburisation using reductant additions.
The ZESTY 30,000-ktpa demonstration project represents a major step toward TRL 7. The FEED study, completed in early 2024, delivered a fully specified design envelope, including heat transfer modelling, hydrogen utilisation strategies, DRI/HBI product handling systems, fines recirculation concepts, and a comprehensive risk mitigation framework. Key scale up risks, which include ultra-fines management, heat transfer limits, sticking avoidance, hydrogen utilisation and recycle, and safe hydrogen/DRI handling, remain central engineering priorities. Extended duration campaigns at Kwinana will validate full scale reactor performance, de risk commercial deployment, and accelerate the transition from TRL 5 to TRL 7.
Seb joined Calix in late 2024 after over 20 years’ experience in iron ore, commencing in the Pilbara with than Hamersley Iron, which now is part of Rio Tinto Iron ore and subsequently Fortescue.
Over the past 5 years he has developed a marketing perspective on sustainability, by creating initiatives through customer collaboration on pre-processing of iron ores, hydrogen and non-hydrogen direct reduction, and other de-carbonization initiatives. This has been achieved through partnerships with global technology providers, industry associations, universities and governments playing a key role in collaborative organizations such as the HILT CRC and other global iron & steel research initiatives.
Seb’s current role is to support the commercialization of the application of Calix’s platform technology for iron ores: Zero Emissions Steel TechnolgY also knows as ZESTY.
Seb holds a MSc in Minerals Processing from Delft University of Technology, Netherlands and fluent in Dutch, German, English and fair in French.
The development of innovative metallurgical process technology from laboratory scale to full commercialization stage involves a strategic approach to de-risking involving laboratory, pilot and demonstration testing at the appropriate level of operation, and careful scale-up of all process steps to achieve a successful ramp-up.
Skilled in all aspects of non-ferrous metals processing including research and development, management, and operations. Noranda Research Centre in Canada-1969-1971; Technical Superintendent, Noranda Mines-1973-1979, where played a leading role in developing the Noranda Process; Program Manager-Noranda Process-1980-1990; Principal Scientist 1990-2001, when developed the Noranda Continuous Converter. Principal Engineer-2002-2009 at Falconbridge for the development of new nickel laterite technologies. Since 2010, President of own consulting company, is Advisor to Horizonte Minerals developing a laterite project in Brazil, also consulted for Redwood, BHP, Anglo-American, Codelco, Glencore, North American Nickel, and other companies. A Fellow of TMS (USA) and CIM (Canada). Inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame, spring 2022.
Apollo-Clad Laser Cladding, an Edmonton-based division of Apollo Machine & Welding Ltd., applies wear and corrosion resistant coatings to downhole tool components using high-power laser cladding processes. Building on the successful completion of a multi-partner Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) project involving Canadian and German institutions, Apollo is advancing the integration of machine-learning (ML) based coating defect detection models into active production environments.
The project focuses on deploying trained ML models as an operator-assist recommendation engine, providing near real-time feedback during laser cladding operations. The intent is to identify process instabilities and defect precursors that are traditionally only observable during post-process inspection or via destructive metallurgical evaluation, which is not feasible for production components. The ML framework utilizes spatiotemporal thermal history data acquired in situ and correlates these signals with metallurgically validated outcomes, including defect classification and coating quality metrics. This approach has demonstrated strong performance for nickel–tungsten carbide abrasion-resistant coating systems.
This work examines the practical challenges associated with integrating ML decision-support tools into high-mix, low-volume production laser cladding operations, including data latency, operator interaction, and process variability. The implications of scaling the methodology to approximately 35 active production alloy systems and 11 production laser cladding cells are also discussed, with emphasis on model generalization, data requirements, and deployment robustness. The successful implementation of ML-enabled laser cladding operations establishes a foundational capability for the adoption of more complex metal additive manufacturing processes, supporting a key strategic growth area for both Apollo’s business and the broader Canadian advanced manufacturing sector.
Gentry Wood is the Production Engineering Manager for Apollo-Clad Laser Cladding in Edmonton, Alberta, where he oversees the application of high-performance wear- and corrosion-resistant coatings using advanced laser deposition technologies. He is currently leading efforts at Apollo-Clad to implement machine learning at scale into their production operations. He earned his PhD in 2017 from the Canadian Centre for Welding and Joining at the University of Alberta, specializing in laser cladding modelling under Dr. Patricio Mendez through an industry partnership with Apollo-Clad. Gentry has authored three first-author peer-reviewed publications, eight co-authored papers, one patent, and has delivered 20 conference presentations, including international engagements. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Welding Bureau Association, a recipient of the University of Alberta Alumni Horizon Award, and was recently honoured by the American Welding Society with the International Meritorious Certificate Award for his contributions to the global welding community. He also serves as an expert delegate to CCIIW Commission IV, Vice-Chair of the AWS Technical Papers Committee, and Past Chair of both the CWBA National Advisory Council and the Edmonton CWBA Chapter.
Nanocrystalline (NC) materials are considered the next frontier for lightweighting from a metallurgical standpoint, because reducing crystal size to the nanoscale increases material strength and, in turn, potentially reduces material thickness and weight requirements for structural components. However, NC materials coarsen even at low homologous temperatures, leading to a loss of mechanical and functional properties and limiting their suitability for structural applications. Using a mechanical alloying process to develop NC-microparticles (MPs), we establish a thermodynamic strategy that addresses this thermal instability by doping a host NC multicomponent alloy solvent with a solute that prefers to decorate grain boundaries (GBs) rather than remain in the grain interior—a process that effectively offsets the excess energy at GBs that drives coarsening. The careful selection of this solute involves breaking an age-long, well-established rule in the field of metallurgy. To enhance splatting, flattening, and bonding of NCMPs during solid-state cold-spray additive manufacturing, another scaling law is intentionally broken. This is followed by heat treatment of the consolidated parts to develop bulk-stable, GB-decorated multicomponent alloys beyond the electrodeposition thickness limit to which the field is accustomed. This approach ensures that the stable nanocrystalline structure of NC multicomponent alloys is retained after consolidation. Taken together, this work represents a significant advance in tailoring NC multicomponent alloys for structural applications.
Dr. Ahmed (Tia) Tiamiyu joined the Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering department at the University of Calgary as an Assistant Professor in September 2021. Before then, Dr. Tia was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was also a board member of the MIT Postdoctoral Association. He received his doctorate and master’s degrees from the University of Saskatchewan with a specialization in materials science, and a bachelor’s degree in metallurgy from the University of Lagos. Dr. Tia is both NSERC Vanier and NSERC PDF scholar. His research focuses on understanding the processing-structure-property-performance relationships in materials with an emphasis on materials synthesis and optimization for improved performance in extreme service conditions. Dr. Tia is currently developing the Materials Processing and Performance (MaPP) Lab at the University of Calgary to pursue different research projects based on his area of specialization.
As CCUS deployment accelerates, repurposing existing oil and gas pipelines, wells, and subsurface infrastructure offers major economic and strategic advantages. However, corrosion under dense-phase and supercritical CO₂ (s-CO₂) conditions remains a critical integrity challenge, particularly when water, chloride, and reactive impurities are present. Although dry s-CO₂ is generally benign to steels, wet s-CO₂-rich phases and s-CO₂-saturated aqueous/brine environments can promote general corrosion, localized attack, and unstable corrosion-product layers. The large scatter in reported corrosion data reflects the combined effects of phase state, water availability, impurity chemistry, temperature, pressure, exposure time, alloy composition, and corrosion-layer evolution.
This talk presents our recent work on s-CO₂ corrosion from a mechanism-informed engineering perspective. It first summarizes key corrosion risk scenarios relevant to CO₂ transport, injection, storage, and EOR, highlighting why laboratory results must be interpreted within realistic operating envelopes; then discusses our experimental studies on candidate steels and alloys in s-CO₂-saturated saline environments, showing that FeCO₃ commonly forms as an outer corrosion product, while Cr-enriched inner layers can improve protection. In particular, alloys containing approximately ≥9 wt.% Cr tend to develop more compact and adherent corrosion layers, providing guidance for material selection. Beyond bulk Cr content, we introduce a transient amorphous layer framework for early-stage corrosion, showing how Fe–C-, Fe–O-, and Cr–O-dominated interfacial layers regulate CO₂-derived adsorption and reaction pathways, helping explain non-monotonic corrosion trends. Finally, we discuss how curated datasets and machine-learning models can support corrosion risk mapping, impurity prioritization, and safer reuse of existing infrastructure for CCUS.
Dr. Jing Liu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta, where she holds both the Engineering Research Chair and the Ron Nolan/Hatch Chair in Sustainable Energy and Mineral Process Technologies. Dr. Liu received her Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 2015 and subsequently completed her postdoctoral training there. Her research spans corrosion, materials degradation, high-temperature and high-pressure electrochemistry, and hydrometallurgy, with a strong focus on sustainable materials engineering for energy, resource, and infrastructure applications. She has authored over 60 publications in leading journals such as Materials Today, Acta Materialia, and Chemical Engineering Journal. Since joining the University of Alberta, she has secured more than $4 million in funding as Principal Investigator and contributed to over $8 million as co-Principal Investigator, while training a growing cohort of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Her achievements have been recognized by major honors, including the 2022 Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award and the 2024 MetSoc Brimacombe Award.
Ultra-high strength press hardening steels (UHS-PHS) are finding increased use in automotive passenger safety applications such as roof beams, side impact beams, passenger cage beams and, ore recently, battery rack protection in electric vehicles (EVs). Currently, these steels frequently use an (Al-Si)-based coating system which transforms into a series of Fe-Al-Si intermetallics upon austenitization of the steel at 850-900℃ prior to direct die quenching to a fully martensitic microstructure. However, this coating system provides only barrier protection against corrosion of the underlying steel.
Zn-based coatings provide significantly potential to provide robust cathodic and barrier protection against aqueous corrosion, but present several challenges. The first of these is that of liquid metal embrittlement (LME), where press hardening of Zn-based coatings above the G‑Fe3Zn10 peritectic temperature of ~780℃ has potential to have significant residual Zn-based liquid being present during die quenching. Recently, the risk of LME during direct die quenching has been mitigated with the McDermid group development of a series of prototype Fe-xC-2Mn-ySi-0.003B substrates which can be direct die quench at 550℃ – 700℃ to yield LME immune steels with ultimate tensile strengths (UTS) of 1500 – 2000 MPa. Concurrently with austenization of the prototype PHS, the Zn-based coating transforms from nearly pure Zn to a coating comprising mixtures of G‑Fe3Zn10 and Zn-saturated ferrite (i.e. α‑Fe(Zn)), both of which have significantly different electrochemical properties and, therefore, different potentials to provide robust cathodic protection to the underlying steel. The present contribution will outline the development cycle for the Zn-coated UHS-PHS-coating systems, focussing on the microstructural and electrochemical properties of the Zn-based coating systems employed and how these fit within the overall process map required to provide a direct die quenching PHS with robust Zn-based cathodic protection.
Bio coming soon.
The development of more energy intensive metallurgical processes, with more extreme operating conditions, since the early 1990’s has driven the selection and application of unconventional materials and continues to support the commercialization and use of new hybrid materials and additive manufacturing processes. This presentation describes some of the unusual service conditions in metallurgical applications such as pressurized reactors with highly acidic environments (pH < 0) and elevated temperatures (T > 150°C), regeneration of HCl from ferric/ferrous chloride solutions by pyrohydrolysis, the development of erosion resistant valves, coatings and pressure-letdown systems for high pressure/temperature applications, supersonic diffusers for high pressure venting applications, re-design of gas cyclones for removal of entrained solids/slurry droplets from flashed steam, and corrosion-resistant spargers for oxygen injection applications. Each of these applications involved testing of an alloy or non-metallic material that had not been previously used in such application, or the use of multiple materials in concert, or the development of a new material not commercially available at the time. The presentation concludes with a discussion of evolving use of cold gas dynamic spray and wire-arc additive manufacturing processes for industrial-scale production of protective coatings and components for each of these novel applications.
Murray has over 30 years of experience in mechanical engineering and design of specialty chemical and metallurgical process plants, including a diverse background in piping, instrumentation, estimating, procurement, and project engineering. His project assignments include feasibility studies, basic engineering and detailed design of autoclave facilities & related processes for the oxidation & extraction of non-ferrous metals such as gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, and copper. His assignments have included extensive site work on a variety of projects for sulphide oxidation, high pressure acid leaching, sulphide precipitation, strontium refining, titanium dioxide purification, as well as nylon-6 polymer, automotive paint, antioxidants, and organic acids production.
His field experience includes construction, inspection and commissioning of several novel chemical process (CPI) facilities, start-up support for a synthetic rutile upgrade facility, commissioning and start-up of a cobalt pressure oxidative leach circuit in Zambia. Between 2003 and 2006, Murray oversaw the engineering and design of novel demonstration plants for chloride assisted oxidative leaching of nickel and copper sulphides (Voisey Bay Nickel, Usina Hydrometallurgical Carajas), and commercial processing of Pentlandite (Glencore/Xstrata CCR). From 2006 to 2012, Murray supervised the mechanical design of the world’s largest pressure oxidation facility, constructed by Hatch, for the Pueblo Viejo Project, a 24 000 t/d refractory gold plant located in the Dominican Republic. He is presently the project manager for the ОАО «Полиметалл» Phase 4 POX Hub Expansion Project.
Murray graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, and an MBA from Queens University, Smith School of Business. As Director of Technology Development for Hatch’s High-Pressure Metallurgy practice, his responsibilities include research & development of new technologies for hydrometallurgical applications, patents, and intellectual property related to pressure hydrometallurgy.
Wear of metals in dry sliding contacts is governed by third body flows leading to dynamic processes such as adhesive transfer, material mixing and oxidation. These phenomena, along with the mechanical deformation of the near-surface, lead to the formation of tribofilms, which are also called mechanically mixed layers. Microstructural and chemical modification of tribofilms lead to significantly different properties from the bulk material that is subjected to dry sliding wear. In some instances, tribofilms can be stable and resist wear and in other cases, there can be persistent wear flow related to tribofilm instability.
Metal matrix composites (MMCs) provide a significant advantage for their tribological properties compared to pure metals. The traditional thought process is that ceramic reinforcements enhance the load-bearing capacity, resulting in higher wear resistance. However, more recent studies of MMC tribology have shown that MMCs can form tribofilms with higher hardness and better wear resistance than metals without reinforcements. This creates opportunities for engineering MMCs and the tribofilms forming during service to better enhance wear resistance and sustainability.
In this presentation, we review recent advances in the understanding of MMC coatings made by cold spray and thermal spray processes. Coatings are tested in sliding wear conditions. Post-characterization of cross-sectioned wear scars reveals microstructural evolution near surface leading to formation of tribofilms that provide wear resistance and friction control. Structure and properties of the tribofilms are determined with SEM, TEM, EDS, Raman spectroscopy and nanoindentation. Generally, tribofilms are found to be mixtures of the two components in the MMC, but with finer microstructure and some level of oxidation that leads to higher hardness. The tribological performance of MMC coatings was found to depend significantly on the nature of the third bodies formed by the wear process. Combining results for all the MMC systems studied, a general trend of decreasing wear rate was found with respect to tribofilm hardness, which while reminiscent of Archard’s Law clearly indicates the properties of third bodies is important for realizing wear resistance for MMCs.
RICHARD CHROMIK is a Professor of Materials Engineering and director of the McGill Surface Engineering and Coatings Tribology Laboratory. He has over 30 years of research experience in the field of surface engineering and has made most of his contributions in field of coatings tribology, often developing protective coatings for harsh environments found in aerospace, hydropower, mining and other heavy industries. He has published over 200 papers on mechanical properties and tribology of coatings manufactured by cold spray, thermal spray, CVD, PVD and electrodeposition. He is a member of the editorial board for Surface and Coatings Technology and Surface Topography Metrology and Properties. He is also a board member for Wear of Materials, Inc. and is a past conference chair for WOM2025.
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells (PEMFCs) and PEM water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) are widely recognized as key enabling technologies for the development of a sustainable hydrogen economy. PEMFCs efficiently convert hydrogen into electricity with high power density and low emissions, whereas PEMWEs enable the production of high-purity green hydrogen using renewable electricity. Together, these technologies form a highly complementary platform for future integrated clean energy systems. Despite major technological advancements, widespread commercialization remains constrained by challenges associated with durability, high capital cost, interfacial transport losses, and scalable manufacturing. At the core of both systems lies the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which governs electrochemical activity, transport phenomena, efficiency, and long-term operational stability. This presentation provides a comparative overview of PEMFC and PEMWE technologies, with particular emphasis on recent advances in MEA materials, component engineering, and interface optimization. The discussion highlights both the fundamental similarities and the distinct operational requirements of PEMFC and PEMWE architecture, including membranes, catalyst layers, gas diffusion layers (GDLs)/porous transport layers (PTLs), bipolar plates, and electrode interfaces under different electrochemical environments. Special attention is given to the influence of operating conditions on degradation mechanisms, water and thermal management, catalyst utilization, and mass and charge transport behavior. The presentation concludes with perspectives on future research directions and technological opportunities for next-generation PEM electrochemical systems. Emphasis is placed on the importance of integrated MEA engineering and multi-scale materials design in achieving durable, high-performance, and economically viable hydrogen production and energy conversion technologies for large-scale deployment.
Dr. Samaneh Shahgaldi is an Associate Professor at the Hydrogen Research Institute, University of Quebec and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo. She holds the Canada Research Chair (CRC) Tier 2 at proton exchange membrane fuel cells and electrolyzer. She is an award-wining researcher and a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Green Energy. She was also a Senior Research Scientist at Cummins/ Hydrogenic dealing with different PEM Fuel Cell and Water electrolyzer projects. She published more than 100 articles with over 3900 citations with h index of 34 on the development of components for fuel cells, electrolysers and batteries. Dr. Shahgaldi has unique interdisciplinary expertise in renewable energy field. she has made foundational contributions to research in development of different components for fuel cells, electrolyzer and battery applications.
The global steel industry accounts for approximately 7 % to 10 % of direct anthropogenic CO2 emissions, necessitating urgent decarbonization strategies. Lightweighting—the reduction of mass while maintaining functional performance—is widely promoted as a key lever for improving sustainability. This paper presents a critical analysis of the lightweighting potential for two distinct steel classes: (I) Fe-C-Si-Mn steels used in civil engineering, typically hot-rolled, and (ii) advanced engineering steels, alloyed with elements like Ni, Cr, and Mo, and routinely heat-treated. Through a life-cycle assessment (LCA) framework developed within the PAASTK project, we are proposing that the sustainability of steel lightweighting is not inherent but is a complex function of production pathways and application contexts. For Fe-C-Si-Mn steels, lightweighting via High-Strength Low-Alloy (HSLA) grades offers a direct and substantial reduction in embodied carbon, where Mn additions should be considered for a multiplicity of factors. For engineering higher alloyed steels, a paradox emerges for some special alloy additions, e.g. Al. The high-performance attributes enabling mass reduction are linked to energy-intensive production, creating a significant “carbon upfront cost” that we are pleased to discuss here. Their net sustainability is conditional on operational energy savings repaying this initial debt. The analysis concludes that a holistic LCA is indispensable, and the transition to Green(er) Steel production is the critical enabler to resolve this paradox and unlock the full sustainable potential of advanced lightweight steels.
The paper also offers a quick report on a demonstrative application of light steel frame (LSF) structures, resulting from the assembly of cold formed members made of high yielding/strength steels belonging to the classes described above. The design concerns a building top addition, which is currently a field of growing interest for LSF structures, especially in seismic areas.
Stefano Sorace is Full Professor of Structural Engineering at the Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA) of the University of Udine, Italy. His research topics concern various issues within earthquake engineering, advanced seismic protection of buildings, structural rehabilitation, and static and dynamic characterization of engineering materials, structural elements and systems. He is the author or co-author of over 200 scientific publications, including 50 articles in international journals indexed Scopus / ISI Web of Science. He is the Director of the Materials and Structures Testing Laboratory of the Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture at DPIA.
The development of modern light-metal structures increasingly depends on the quality of material data used to populate simulation models and material databases. As products grow in complexity, organizations must characterize and manage hundreds of distinct alloys, tempers, coatings, and bonded or formed subassemblies. In this context, traditional point-based testing methods often lack the spatial resolution required to capture strain localization, anisotropy, and boundary effects critical for generating reliable material cards for numerical simulation.
This paper examines how recent advances in imaging sensors, data-transfer standards, and general-purpose computing have reduced the cost and complexity of full-field digital image correlation (DIC), enabling broader adoption in material development workflows. Improvements in global-shutter CMOS sensors, including high-resolution 1/1.8″ formats such as the Sony IMX547, combined with USB-C and USB 3 Gen 1/Gen 2 bandwidth and modern laptop-class computing, allow compact systems such as ARAMIS 1 to deliver high-quality full-field strain data without specialized acquisition hardware. An industrial case study from an autonomous vehicle manufacturer is presented, where full-field optical measurement is used
across both raw-material characterization and subassembly-level testing. With more than 500 distinct materials and alloys present in a single vehicle platform, the organization applies full-field strain measurement during incoming inspection and development testing to validate material behavior, improve consistency of material cards, and strengthen correlation between experimental results and finite-element simulations.
The results demonstrate that recent technological advances have made full-field strain measurement a practical tool for systematic material understanding, supporting more reliable simulation, reduced model uncertainty, and faster iteration in light-metal product development.
Charles-Olivier Amyot is an accomplished expert in mechanical testing, leveraging and implementing innovative digital image correlation techniques for the Aerospace, Automotive and Consumer Electronics industries both with academia and Fortune 500 companies. After graduating in Mechanical Engineering and working as a Research Engineer at Université Laval in the Laboratory for Composite and Metallic Material Mechanics, he moved to Trilion Quality Systems in Seattle where he founded and now leads their Engineering & Applications Development team. He deepened his expertise in composite materials and additive manufacturing characterization both on the material and structure levels, contributing to notable publications and conferences over the last decade. Engaged in his communities both here in Quebec City and in Seattle, he is an aviation and aerospace enthusiast who now sees Digital Imaging applications around every corner of his personal and professional lives.
