CIM awards are presented to cream of the metallurgical crop

Seven awards for outstanding contributions to the Canadian metallurgical industry were announced recently at a dinner in Vancouver, B.C.

The Metallurgical Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) presented the awards in recognition of achievements in the development and processing of metals and materials.

The following individuals were honored:

* The 1995 Airey (Noranda) Award was presented to Michael Avedesian of Noranda for having extended the influence of Canadian metallurgy as past president of the Institute of Magnesium Technology. The Institute is renowned for providing services and products in design prototype, die-casting and metallurgical engineering to the international magnesium industry.

* The 1995 Alcan Award was presented to Dr. George Weatherly, a professor at McMaster University, for his work on the development of techniques used to understand molecular structure. Weatherly was also chosen to be CIM’s distinguished lecturer for 1995, in which capacity he will give talks to professionals and students across Canada.

* Bruce Hawbolt of the University of British Columbia received the Dofasco Award for his accomplishments in materials science. He is well-known for his substantial work in phase transformations in steels and microstructure evolution during industrial processing.

* The Falconbridge Innovation Award was awarded jointly to Dr. L.M. Pidgeon and Timminco Metals in recognition of the Pidgeon magnesium process and its commercialization by Pidgeon and Timminco (formerly Dominion Magnesium). During the Second World War, Canadian production of magnesium airframe components was based on the Pidgeon process, and this is known to have contributed to the Allied victory.

* The Silver Metal award went to Dr. Arthur Plumpton in recognition of his leadership in the development of the Metallurgical Society. Plumpton’s past contributions include the development of student and regional activities, as well as the dissemination of information on technical advances.

* Nine people were awarded the CIM Fellowship Award for having distinguished themselves through outstanding contributions to the mining, metallurgical and petroleum industries. The winners were: Malcolm Bell of Inco; Gerald Bolton of Sheritt; Gordon Irons of McMaster University; D.A.R. Kay, also of McMaster; G.P. Lewis, consultant; Hugh McQueen of Concordia University; and John Peacey of Noranda Minerals.

* The award for the best paper published in Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly or CIM Bulletin was presented jointly to F. Chalchoub, S.A. Argyropoulos and J. Mostaghimi, all of Toronto, for their paper “Mathematical Modelling and Experimental Measurements on the Horizontal Ohno Continuous Casting Process for Pure Tin.” It appeared in Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly.