CMSC Awards
History of The Canadian Materials Science Conference
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The Conference established its roots in 1951 when the late T. S. Hutchison, a professor of solid-state physics at the Royal Military College, and colleagues at Queens University, the University of Toronto, Alcan, and the National Research Council began holding annual summer meetings at RMC. These meetings quickly became known as the Canadian Metal Physics Conference, with the self-proclaimed mission of fostering the development in Canada of then modest research activity in physical metallurgy. The continuing success of the conference, made possible in part by the organizing efforts of Wendy Jackson, attracted the interest of metallurgists engaged in chemical processing.
In 1976, under the leadership of Professor J.M. Toguri of the University of Toronto, a metal chemistry component was added to the conference. In 1987, after an incredible 37 continuous years of Conference stewardship, Professor Hutchison relinquished his role to Professor W.T. Thompson. Shortly thereafter, to acknowledge changes that had taken place in the mission of most universities with metallurgical programs, the name of the Conference was changed to the Canadian Materials Science Conference. The Conference was held at RMC until 2000, excepting 1996 and 1997, when the College was undergoing renovations. Since 2001, the Conference has been hosted at a different venue each year. The conference maintains a significant student component. The importance of this emphasis is indicated by the names of past student award winners, many of whom now hold positions of considerable authority in universities, industry, or research establishments.
It is one of the aims of the conference to instill in students an appreciation and excitement for materials science technologies by providing a friendly but intellectually challenging forum for the presentation of their endeavours, as well as those of leaders in Canadian and global materials science.
CMSC AWARDS
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D.K.C. MacDonald Memorial Lecture
The MacDonald Memorial Lecture remembers the achievements of David Keith Chalmers MacDonald, born in Glasgow in July 1920. From an early age, he demonstrated considerable ability in mathematics and physics, and he graduated from Edinburgh University with first-class honours. During the Second World War, owing to deficient eyesight, he served at the Military College of Science at Bury, where his remarkable talents for original research combining experimental and theoretical aspects became apparent.
In 1951, the year of the first Canadian Metal Physics Conference (the direct predecessor of the Canadian Materials Science Conference), MacDonald came to Canada. He and others associated with the National Research Council (NRC) soon became prominent and regular attendees at this annual conference. It was at the National Research Council that MacDonald developed an intense interest in the solid-state at extremely low temperatures. He produced many papers of the highest quality during his tenure at the NRC.
In 1963, Keith MacDonald passed away. His honours included election to the Royal Society at a relatively young age, recipient of the Gold Medal of the Canadian Association of Physicists an honorary Professorship at the University of Ottawa, five books published, as well as the high esteem of his colleagues.
The D.K.C. MacDonald Memorial Lecture has been a prominent feature of the Conference since 1964, and conference attendees have enjoyed Memorial Lectures presented by some of the leading figures in Materials Science, both from a Canadian and global perspective.
The list of past D.K.C. MacDonald Memorial Lecturers and Award recipients clearly demonstrate the rich history associated with the Canadian Materials Science Conference. The D.K.C. MacDonald Memorial Lecture.
Metal Chemistry Award
History: The Metal Chemistry Award was conceived by Professor H. Hancock of the Technical University of Nova Scotia in 1988 to recognize outstanding contributions to metallurgical chemistry as epitomized by the inaugural winner, Professor L.M. Pidgeon of the University of Toronto. Since the time of its inception, the award has included recipients from universities, industry, and government laboratories engaged in research activities ranging from hydrometallurgy, molten salt chemistry, corrosion, and fundamental physical chemistry bearing upon smelting and refining processes.
Metal Physics Award
History: The Metal Physics Award was conceived by Professor T.S. Hutchison of the Royal Military College of Canada to recognize achievements in fundamental physics of importance to the understanding of metals as materials. At the time of its first award to Z.S. Basinski in 1977, the advancement of dislocation theory was the very essence of the kind of achievement the award was intended to recognize. Although the Award since that time has been awarded for excellence in a much broader range of research achievements including even advancement in non-metallics.
