History of the Canadian Materials Science Conference

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 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 a 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. Past hosts have included Carleton, Laurentian, Manitoba, Dalhousie, University of British Columbia, and most recently, McMaster University in 2007. 

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 presentation of their endeavours, as well as those of leaders in Canadian and global materials science.

The 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 1957, MacDonald was diagnosed as having a rare neurological ailment that would lead to gradual debilitation of his limbs, and eventual death. His reaction was characteristic of his personality, and he increased the pace of activities to make the most of the time remaining. During this difficult period, the NRC, under Dr. Steacie, assisted him by providing special nursing and transportation services.

Keith MacDonald died in 1963. 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. MacDonald enjoyed a sense of achievement that is usually attained only at a more advanced age. He died a stricken but not unhappy man. It is no exaggeration to say that his contributions to metal physics in Canada set a standard that is yet to be surpassed.

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.

D.K.C. MacDonald Memorial Lectures

1964	W.G. Pfann	Bell Laboratories
1965	G.M. Pound
1966	T.J. Rowland
1967	J.W. Cahn	NIST
1968	W.S. Boyle	Bell Laboratories
1969	Z.S. Basinski	NRC
1970	J.W. Christian	Oxford
1971	J.D. Livingston
1972	J.A. Davies
1973	J.S. Dugdale
1974	T.S. Hutchinson	RMC
1975	A.R. Mackintosh	Copenhagen
1976	T.B. Massalski	Carnegie-Mellon
1977	W. Schilling
1978	J.P. Hirth	Washington State
1979	P.C. Clapp
1980	M. Brown
1981	W.B. Pearson	Waterloo
1982
1983	M. Brown
1984	W. Nix	Stanford University
1985	A.S. Argonne
1986	J.L. Smith
1987	J.W. Steeds	Bristol
1988	J.D. Embury	McMaster
1989	A. Seeger
1990	W.C. Weingard	Gov’t of Canada
1991	M.H. Loretto	Birmingham
1992	S. Howie
1993	C.J. Humphreys	Cambridge
1994	J.K. Brimacombe	UBC
1995	J.K. White
1996	R.W. Seigel
1997	J.W. Evans	Univ. of California, Berkeley
1998	J.W. Cahn	NIST
1999	J.M. Toguri	Toronto
2000	F.R.N. Nabarro	Witwatersrand
2001	B.R. Conrad	INCO
2002	W. Wallace	NRC
2003	M. Chaturvedi	Manitoba
2004	W. Nix	Stanford
2005	M. Rappaz	Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
2006	R.E. Loehman	Sandia National Laboratories
2007	Yves Brechet	INPG Grenoble

Award Winners

Year	Canadian Metal Physics Award		Canadian Metal Chemistry Award
1977	Z.S. Basinski	NRC
1978	T.S. Hutchinson	RMC
1979	W.B. Pearson	Waterloo
1980	J.S. Kirkaldy	McMaster
1981	J. Carbotte	McMaster
1982	C.M. Mitchell	UBC
1983	J.J. Jonas	McGill
1984	J.D. Embury	McMaster
1985	L.M. Howe	AECL
1986	M.Duesbury	AECL
1987	R. Smith	Queen’s
1988	G.C. Weatherly	McMaster	L.M. Pidgeon	Toronto
1989	K.T. Aust	Toronto	A.D. Pelton	Ecole Polytechnic
1990	G.R. Purdy	McMaster	J.M. Toguri	Toronto
1991	F. Weinburg	UBC	W.W. Smeltzer	McMaster
1992	K. Tangri	Manitoba	E.W. Dewing	Alcan
1993	S.R. MacEwen	Alcan	E. Peters	UBC
1994	U. Franklin	Toronto	J.E. Dutrizac	CANMET
1995	S. Saimoto	Queen’s	A. McLean	Toronto
1996	G.J.C. Carpenter	CANMET	C.B. Alcock	Toronto
1997	H.W. King	Victoria	W.T. Thompson	RMC
1998	J.W. Rutter	Toronto	N.S. McIntyre	Western
1999	W.R. Tyson	CANMET	G.P. Demopoulos	McGill
2000	U.Erb	Queen’s	C. Bale	Ecole Polytechnic
2001	H. McQueen	Concordia	D.B. Dreisinger	UBC
2002	W. Youdelis	Windsor	E. Krause	INCO
2003	D. Lloyd	Alcan	C. Hansson	Waterloo
2004	D. Wilkinson	McMaster	P.Sundararajan	Carleton
2005	M. Wayman	U of Alberta	G. Irons	McMaster
2006
2007	R. Gauvin	McGill	G. Kipourus	Dalhousie

Student Awards

Year	Chemistry		Physics		Poster
1990	B.R. Davis	Queen’s	D. Muscat	McGill	M.P. Butron-Guillen	McGill
1991	E. Benguerel	McGill	Z. He	Manitoba	P. Clark S.W. Barker	Queen’s McMaster
1992	R. Shonewille	Toronto	W. Poole	McMaster	W. Chang	Western
1993	H. Liao	Toronto	W. Chang	Western	D. Emadi	McGill
1994	M. Torvant	Toronto	D.G. Goski P.H. Boldt	TUNS McMaster	A.H. Clarke	Western
1995	D.P. Bishop	TUNS	P. Wnajara	McGill Queen’s	A.H.Clarke	Western
1996	J.R. Kish K.T.Conlon	McMaster McMaster	M.L. Turi	Queen’s	B.X. Cheng	Western
1997	S. Omelon	McGill	G. Taraschi	McGill	S. Ferenczy T.C. Nguyen	Toronto Waterloo
1998	K. Jaansulu	RMC	C. Leon	McGill	K. Boyle	McMaster
1999	N. Porter	Toronto	R. Kearsey	Carleton	G. Moldoveanu	McGill
2000	M. Kaye	Queen’s	H. Jin	Queen’s	N.M. Ritsumeikan	McMaster
2001	G. Plascencia-Barrera	Toronto	M. Zarinejad	McGill	J. Joannides	Toronto
2002					J. Go	UBC
2003	R. Clemmer	Waterloo	P. Poruks	Queen’s	A. Mark S. Sengupta	Queen’s Toronto
2004	S. Turcott	McMaster	F. Zarandi	McGill	R. Lottey	UBC
2005	J. Fan	McMaster	E. Caron	UBC		Manitoba
2006	S.J. Jaffer	Waterloo	D. Park	McMaster	D. Keogh	McMaster
2007	P. Proa-Flores	McGill	N. Braidy G. Dmytrowich	McMaster U. of Saskatchewan	Q. Zhang E. Bellhouse M. Zaeajev	McMaster McMaster INRS

Fracture of Materials Student Award

1999	S. Yandt	Carleton
2000	L. Gavard	Ecole Nationale des Mines (visiting McGill)
2001
2002	H. Zhang	Alberta
2003
2004	J. Weiler	Western
2005
2006
2007	Feng Xu	Queens

Past Chairs, Vice-Chairs & Conference Venue

Year	Chair		Vice-Chair		Venue
1989	U. Erb	Queen’s	R. Harris	McGill	RMC
1990	R.A.L. Drew	McGill	J.J. Byerley	Waterloo	RMC
1991	J.D. Boyd	Queen’s	T.A. Utigard	Toronto	RMC
1992	D.S. Wilkinson	McMaster	A. Petric	McMaster	RMC
1993	W.A. Miller	Toronto	W.F. Caley	TUNS	RMC
1994	W.F. Caley	TUNS	H.W. King	Western	RMC
1995	H.W. King	Western	N.S. McIntyre	Western	RMC
1996	N.S. McIntyre	Western	G. Demopoulos	McGill	Western
1997	G. Demopoulos	McGill	G. Palumbo	Ontario Hydro	McGill
1998	G. Palumbo	Ontario Hydro	D.D. Perovic	Toronto	RMC
1999	D.D. Perovic	Toronto	G.R. Purdy	McMaster	RMC
2000	G.R. Purdy	McMaster	P.H. Lindon	Laurentian	RMC
2001	P.H. Lindon	Laurentian	M. Chaturvedi	Manitoba	Laurentian
2002	M. Chaturvedi	Manitoba	G. Kipouros	Dalhousie	Manitoba
2003	G. Kipouros	Dalhousie	J. Beddoes	Carleton	Dalhousie
2004	J. Beddoes	Carleton	D.M. Maijer	UBC	Carleton
2005	D.M. Maijer	UBC	M. Brochu	McGill	UBC
2006	M. Brochu	McGill	G. Botton	McMaster	McGill
2007	G.Botton	McMaster	Tom Estell/Reg Eadie	/Alberta	McMaster
2008	Tom Estell/Reg Eadie	Alberta