Awards

Dr. Laxman (Lucky) M. Amaratunga earned a B.Sc. (Ceylon, 1969), an A.C.S.M. with a First Class Honors degree in Mining Engineering (Camborne, U.K., 1974), and a Ph.D. in Mineral Processing (Birmingham, U.K., 1978). He has worked at the University of Toronto as a Research Associate, the Iron Ore Company of Canada as a process control engineer, and Laurentian University, where he became a Full Professor in 1993. His research activities have covered mineral processing, with emphasis on the utilization, recycling and processing of waste in the mineral industry to promote the environment. He is an active member and a Fellow of the CIM, the Education Committee, a member of the Board of the Canadian Mineral Processors Division of the CIM (CMP), the Metallurgical Society of the CIM (MetSoc), and has served as Chair of their Environment Committee. He is an Editor of the Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly. He has co-chaired, organized, and edited the proceedings of several MetSoc international symposia in the past. Dr. Amaratunga was awarded a CIM Distinguished Lecturer in 1999 – 2000. His lecture, “The Mineral Processor and the Environment: Waste to Resources.” has been presented internationally and was well received in Canada, USA, UK, Australia and Chile, SA. In 2003, Professor Amaratunga was honored in his own university as the recipient of their 2003 Teaching Excellence Award, and became the first Engineering professor to win this honor in the history of his university. He is also a member of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) (UK), Society of Mining Engineers (SME) (USA), and Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO).