UBC Researcher Wins Canada's Top Science and Engineering
Prize
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Vancouver Dr. Keith Brimacombe, Director of the
Centre for Metallurgical Process Engineering at the University of
British Columbia, is the 1997 winner of the Canada Gold Medal for
Science and Engineering.
"Keith Brimacombe is one of the innovative giants of 20th century
metallurgical process engineering, and a role model for young Canadian
scientists and engineers," said Dr. Thomas A. Brzustowski, President
of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC),
the award sponsor. In offering his congratulations from Ottawa, Dr.
Jon Gerrard, Secretary of State (Science, Research and Development),
said that scientific research and innovation are key to Canada's ability
to compete in the new economy. "Dr. Brimacombe has been a major contributor
to the economic competitiveness of the Canadian steel industry and to
the nationwide effort to build productive research links between industry
and universities."
The Canada Gold Medal honours outstanding, sustained, lifetime contributions
to Canadian research. Individuals in all sectors concerned with the
advancement of research -- university, business, industry and government
-- may be nominated for the award. The final selection is made by an
NSERC award committee on the basis of an international peer evaluation.
NSERC is the national instrument for making strategic investments
in Canada's capability in science and technology. The federal council
invests $450 million annually to support advanced research, train new
scientists and engineers, and encourage collaboration between the academic
and industrial sectors.
The Canada Gold Medal will be officially presented at a ceremony in
Ottawa on June 11.
For more information on Dr. Brimacombe, consult:
Arnet Sheppard
NSERC
Telephone: (613) 995-5997
E-mail: axs@nserc.ca
Stephen Forgacs
UBC
Telephone: (604) 822-2048
E-mail: stephen.forgacs@ubc.ca
1997 Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering
Dr. J. Keith Brimacombe
Alcan Chair of Process Engineering
Director of the Centre for Metallurgical Process Engineering
University of British Columbia
E-mail: keith@cmpe.ubc.ca
Dr. Keith Brimacombe is one of the innovative giants of 20th century
metallurgical process engineering, and a major contributor to the economic
competitiveness of the Canadian materials industry. Using exceptional
creativity and intellectual rigour, he has demonstrated the power of
a research approach that combines complex mathematical modelling with
fundamental studies of physical and chemical phenomena, and direct measurement
of industrial processes. His groundbreaking studies are recognized worldwide
and have led to remarkable advances and savings in processes as diverse
as the continuous and ingot casting of steel, direct-chill casting of
zinc, static casting of fused refractories, direct reduction and limestone
calcination in rotary kilns, flash smelting of lead and copper concentrates,
copper converting, ladle refining of steel, microstructural engineering
of steel and aluminum, extrusion of metal-matrix composites and molybdenite
roasting in a fluidized bed.
Throughout his career, Dr. Brimacombe has played a vital role in transferring
the knowledge from his research to industry and in building partnerships
between the universities and industry. His vision and his uncompromising
commitment to excellence in research have inspired and shaped the careers
and development of professionals in Canada and around the world. Many
of his more than 60 graduate students have themselves become leaders
in academia or industry. A gifted speaker, he is eagerly sought after
by the global metallurgical industry and has presented over 50 courses
in companies on every major continent. His annual course on continuous
casting of steel attracts over 100 participants.
Dr. Brimacombe has also been the primary force in the development
of a world-class program in materials process engineering at the University
of British Columbia. As a result of his vision, the university secured
the necessary funding to open the $21-million Advanced Materials and
Process Engineering Laboratory (AMPEL). Described as the best facility
of its kind in any university in North America, the new laboratory brings
together physicists, chemists, and materials engineers working on a
wide range of materials and processes.
For his pioneering efforts, Dr. Brimacombe has received twenty-eight
major national and international awards and nineteen best paper awards.
He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Fellow of the Royal Society
of Canada and of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and he received
an Honorary Doctorate from the Colorado School of Mines in 1994. He
is also the only professional who has served as president of the three
major societies serving materials engineers in North America. He has
been awarded the Killam Memorial Prize from the Canada Council, the
E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from NSERC and the B.C. Science and
Engineering Gold Medal. In 1987, he received the Ernest C. Manning Principal
Prize, reserved for a Canadian "who has shown outstanding talent in
conceiving and developing new concepts, procedures, processes or products
of potential benefit to Canada and society at large." His contribution
is succinctly described in his citation for the Office of the Order
of Canada, which reads "An internationally acclaimed engineer and scientist,
he is an advocate of cooperation between universities and industry and
a founder of the Centre for Metallurgical Process Engineering. His research
utilizing computerized, mathematical analyses has resulted in improved
quality in a host of consumer products and lower production costs, and
has helped put Canada in the forefront of metals processing, particularly
in the steel industry."
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