Awards & Banquet

Dr. Sam Marcuson is an industry consultant and adjunct professor specializing in process technology and technology management. Formerly, he was Vice President at Vale Canada Limited, formerly Inco Limited, where he led the Base Metals Technology Department and provided technical advice and guidance to the corporation. Appointed to this position in 2008, Sam served as a member of the Vale New Caledonia Board of Directors and the Vale Canada Management Committee. Previous positions within the Vale and Inco organizations included Supervisor of Process Development, Superintendent of Smelter Technical Services, Manager of Process Metallurgy and Director of Process and Product Research. Sam holds M.S. and Eng.Sc.D. degrees in Mineral Engineering from Columbia University and a B.S. in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary. Prior to joining Inco (now Vale) in 1980, he worked in the research department of Engelhard Minerals and Chemicals Corporation (now part of BASF).

Dr. Marcuson is a member and Fellow of the Metallurgy & Materials Society of CIM and served on the Board of Directors in a number of positions, including President. He was Chairman of the 1986 Annual Conference of Metallurgists. He is an adjunct professor at both the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Industrial Advisory Committee to the Lassonde Institute of Mining at University of Toronto. In 2005 he was awarded the CSChE Environmental Improvement Award. Sam was deeply involved in the 1988-1994 SO2 abatement project at the Copper Cliff smelter, leading development of a unique process for producing blister copper from nickel–containing chalcocite. Under his leadership unique technologies for enhancing nickel and copper recoveries were developed and commercialized. In addition to technical papers on the chemistry and engineering of metal recovery and refining, Sam has written and presented articles on diverse topics including academic/industry collaboration, innovation, 19th and 20th century historical metallurgy and sustainability. Most recently as Chairperson of the Metsoc Historical Metallurgy Committee he organized an oral history project about leaders in Canadian mining and metallurgy conducted by the Canada Science and Technology Museum. A current interest and passion is the interface between technology, innovation and business, including sustainability in the resource industry.

Professor Peter Hayes is currently Professor and program leader in Metallurgical Engineering within the School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Prof Hayes obtained BSc (Metallurgy),1970 and MSc (Metallurgy), Newcastle on Tyne (UK),1972, and PhD (Metallurgy), University of Strathclyde, Scotland,1974.He took up a British Steel Corporation Postdoctoral Fellowship 1974-75 and was appointed lecturer in materials at The University of Queensland 1976. Prof Hayes has been activity involved in program and curriculum development in the field of metallurgical engineering over a several decades, establishing the BE in Minerals Process Engineering in 1985 and dual major BE Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering in 2006. Prof Hayes is the author of the undergraduate student textbook “Process Principles in Minerals and Materials Production”, first published in 1985; it is now in its 3rd edition. He has taught courses in chemical thermodynamics, hydro-, pyro- and electro-metallurgical processing.

The focus of Prof. Hayes’ research is on the high temperature processing of minerals and materials, with particular application to the pyrometallurgical production and refining of metals. His research interests include chemical equilibria, reaction kinetics and mechanisms. Prof Hayes has over 300 research publications in international journals and conferences. A feature of the research has been the focus on developing further understanding the fundamental science underpinning metallurgical processes and providing support for the improvement of industrial operations. Prof Hayes has built strong research collaborations with industry; he was foundation Director of the Pyrometallurgy Research Centre, Pyrosearch, and continues to be active in the field.

Dr. Michael S. Moats is an associate professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He has dedicated his 20+ year career to extractive metallurgy with specific emphasis on non-ferrous electrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Starting with his first summer job at Big River Zinc and continuing to his current roles as professor, AMIRA project leader, Copper Refinery Group facilitator, and SME/TMS member, he has focused his efforts on the improvement of industrial process through training and research. Dr. Moats earned his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1992 and 1995, respectively. As an undergraduate, he was awarded the A.P. Green Medal as UMR's outstanding graduating senior and the SME-MPD national scholarship (now called the Klimpel Scholarship).

For the past 11 years, Dr. Moats has been a professor of metallurgical engineering at the University of Utah and Missouri University of Science and Technology. During his academic tenure, he has focused on teaching inside and outside of the classroom. Michael continued his focus on non-ferrous education by publishing two books, two book chapters, 28 journal papers and 29 conference proceedings since 2010. He has also edited three conference proceedings. In total, he has 41 peer reviewed journal articles and 48 conference proceedings. His most cited source is the book Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum Group Metals. According to Google Scholar, his works have been cited 635 times and he has an h-index of 15.

Dr. Moats has also been very active serving the non-ferrous metallurgy industry through professional societies and leading the Copper Refinery Group. Mike is an active member of SME and TMS. He serves on the executive committee of the SME -Mineral and Metallurgical Processing Division, where he is presently the Vice Chair. He was/is also the TMS representative to the International Copper Meeting for 2013 and 2016. For TMS and SME, he has helped co-organize Electrometallurgy 2012 and 2016, Ni-Co 2014, and Hydrometallurgy 2014. He also played a role in establishing and now in administering the SME Career Grant and PhD Fellowship programs. Finally, Dr. Moats has been serving as the unpaid facilitator for the Copper Refinery Group for the past nine years. The Copper Refinery Group is a consortium of eight copper refineries in North and South America which meets semi-annually for technical exchange meetings and plant tours.