COM & LightMAT Symposia

Get an overview look at this year’s symposia on materials science, light metals and sustainability.

Click on the boxes below to learn more about each symposium.

Innovations in Manufacturing

Advanced manufacturing is the main driving force around the world for creating jobs and subsequently increase the national gross domestic product (GDP). Staying relevant for the challenges to come in 2030s including global warming, electrification, sustainable energy resources, strategic minerals, and safety and security call for more competitive ways to produce engineering components. On the other hand, innovation is the cornerstone of emerging technologies in order to decrease the cost of these advanced parts. There is a huge interest to develop new techniques in different branches of manufacturing including additive manufacturing, quantum materials manufacturing, powder metallurgy, automation and robotics, casting, machining, micro and nano manufacturing, digital twin, remanufacturing, industry 4.0, advanced forming, and digital factory. This symposium is set to bring world leaders in the field of advanced manufacturing, processing, design, and characterization together to propose solutions for the challenges ahead to adopt new technologies in this industry.

Chair: Mohsen Mohammadi, University of New Brunswick
Chair: Alec Davis, University  of Manchester

Abdallah Elsayed, University of Guelph
Mihaiela Isac, McGill University
Sumanth Shankar, McMaster University
Hamed Asgari, University of New Brunswick

Alloy Development and Characterization: Structural and Functional Materials

This symposium focuses on the dynamic realms of alloy development and characterization, emphasizing both structural and functional materials. As technological advancements and industrial demands progress, the creation of innovative alloys is essential for enhancing performance, durability, and functionality across diverse sectors. Participants will explore cutting-edge methodologies and techniques in alloy composition, microstructural analysis, and performance assessment, targeting challenges within aerospace, automotive, construction and electronics industries, among others. The event will feature presentations on state-of-the-art research, collaborative opportunities, and case studies that underscore the role of novel alloys in achieving superior mechanical properties and customized functionalities. Through this symposium, we strive to deepen the understanding and broaden the horizons of alloy science, making substantial contributions to the field of materials engineering.

Chair: Mousa Javidani, UQAC

Chair: Ida Westermann, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Siamak Nikzad Khangholi, UQAC

Joining and Multi-Material Design

The “Joining and Multi-Material Design” symposium explores advanced techniques and strategies for combining different materials, enhancing the performance and functionality of complex engineering structures.

More info coming soon.

Chair: Elliot Biro, University of Waterloo
Chair: Hajo Dieringa, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon

Materials for Clean Energy Transition - Hydrogen, Magnets, and Batteries

Mitigating climate change requires the transition of the global energy from fossil fuels to clean energy sources such as hydrogen, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, tide, etc. Materials play a pivotal role in developing sustainable energy solutions and in enabling the clean energy transition. This symposium brings together researchers, engineers, and industrial experts to discuss the latest advancements and challenges in materials science and engineering crucial for clean energy transition. The focus areas include hydrogen, magnets, batteries, and their circularity and sustainability. The key themes for these areas include but are not limited to:

  • Hydrogen: production, transportation, storage, and applications.
  • Magnets: materials development, manufacturing, recycling, sustainability, and applications.
  • Batteries: advances in battery chemistry, next generation batteries, solid-state batteries, energy density, safety, circularity, and sustainability.

Chair: Youliang He, CanmetMATERIALS, magnets
Chair: Saeed Tamimi, University of Strathclyde, UK, magnets

Clodualdo Aranas (University of New Brunswick, magnets)
Fateh Fazeli (CanmetMATERIALS, hydrogen)
Jun Song (McGill University, hydrogen)
François Larouche (Hydro Québec, batteries)
Gaofeng Li (National Research Council, magnets and batteries)

Computational Materials Design and Engineering

This symposium invites submissions on all facets of designing, simulating, and applying high-strength, lightweight alloys through advanced forming technologies or evaluating their in-service performance in applications such as automotive crash structures. Contributions focused on analytical or numerical methods for predicting material behavior, as well as innovative experimental techniques to generate data for material model calibration, are encouraged. We especially welcome submissions that tackle modeling challenges associated with removing barriers to industrial adoption of lightweight metals, including those addressing multi-scale modeling, plasticity, formability, or fracture under dynamic loading or elevated temperatures.

Key topics for the symposium include, but are not limited to:

  • Anisotropic plasticity across various length scales
  • Constitutive characterization at high strain rates and elevated temperatures
  • Warm, hot, and superplastic forming of lightweight metals
  • Springback behavior in forming processes
  • Fracture characterization and modeling, applied to both coupons and structures
  • Cutting operations, including edge splitting during forming
  • Virtual experiments and test design for material model evaluation
  • Strain measurement using digital image correlation and its application in simulations

Chair: Cliff Butcher, University of Waterloo
Chair: Alexander Hartmaier, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Materials and Processes for Closed-Loop Circularity in Transport Applications

As a contribution to the global agenda for sustainable ressource management, this symposium will focus on the key topic of sustainability aspects in the context of transport applications. Beside the mining and metallurgy of the raw materials, a circular mindset of engineers and especially a redesign of circular products and components is one key to overcoming our major challenges with regard to the greenhouse effect and climate change as well as the imminent scarcity of resources associated with the overdue energy transition. Circular strategies aim to retain value within the economic system, i.e. through so-called Value Retention Processes (VRP). These processes include: direct reuse, repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing. These processes help to retain value through improved material efficiency and reduced environmental impact, and can potentially provide economic opportunities associated with primary material production and traditional linear manufacturing.

Chair: Irmgard Weißensteiner, Montanuniversität Leoben
Chair: Lei Ray Pan, Rio Tinto Alcan

Sustainable Metal Supply: Mining, Processing and Recycling

Mineral processing and extractive metallurgy form a nexus within the metals value chain, linking the mining industry to diversified economies that depend on metal supplies such as construction and manufacturing sectors. Moreover, metallurgical extraction techniques are foundational to tailings retreatment, therefore essential to sustainable mining. Additionally modern metallurgical flowsheets are adapted to incorporate secondary feeds along with primary, thus enabling largescale recycling of metal scrap.

The cross-disciplinary understanding of mining, mineral processing and extractive metallurgy is unlocking new metal supplies, including primary as well as secondary sources. The new supplies include critical metals that will be vital for a global net zero economy. Often these supplies are atypical, in regard to their mineralogical and metallurgical consistency, presenting particular technical challenges.

This symposium will explore innovative approaches and strategies to enable a responsible and efficient metal supply chain, from extraction and processing to recycling, with a focus on nature positive solutions and promoting long-term resource sustainability.

 

Specific themes include, but are not limited to:

– Innovative flowsheets that are nature positive

– Sustainability-oriented process mineralogy

– Mining and process optimization considering sustainability metrics (water, energy, etc.)

– Recovery of critical metals from primary and/or secondary sources

– Raw materials preparation and influence on processes such as ironmaking, sulphide smelting, comminution, flotation, leaching, etc.

– Hybridization of extractive metallurgy and recycling

– LCA including cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave analyses

– Natural resource management for resilient regions

Chair: Alessandro Navarra, McGill University
Chair: Pasquale Cavaliere, University of Oulu

Symposia title here

This symposium is sponsored by Metso and AtkinsRealis.

Specific themes include, but are not limited to:

  • Case studies of successful and unsuccessful engineering projects
  • Challenges in running high-energy experiments in the academic setting
  • Hybridization of mineral processing and extractive metallurgy
  • Hybridization of extractive metallurgy and recycling
  • Current and future trends in extractive metallurgy

Consulting & design firms, metal producers and mines, academics.

Chair: Alessandro Navarra, McGill University
Co-Chair: Elmira Moosavi, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)
Leili Tafaghodikhajavi, McMaster University
Roberto Parra, Universidad de Concepción
Philippe Ouzilleau, McGill University
Anthony Buragina, BBA
Nagendra Tripathi, Rio Tinto

Name goes here

Name goes here

Name goes here

Name goes here

Tour information goes here

Short course information goes here

Submit Your Abstract

Presenting at the conference starts with an abstract.