ICSOBA 2016 conference concluded successfully in Quebec, Canada

<p>The 34th International Conference and Exhibition of ICSOBA was held in the period October 3 - 6 in the capital of the Quebec province in Canada and took place in the Palace Royal hotel. The Conference obtained support from Rio Tinto and REGAL (Regroupement Aluminium) and attracted more than 350 delegates from 29 countries. REGAL is an organization which regroups professors and students from Quebec universities doing research on aluminium related projects and their annual meeting (JER) was a part of the conference. As many as 130 REGAL delegates participated in the event. <br /><br />The ICSOBA 2016 conference featured a number of international industry and academia speakers who covered topics including bauxite and bauxite resources, alumina production and residue solutions, primary aluminium production, carbon and carbon materials and aluminium products and alloys. The conference included 92 technical and scientific presentations and 75 posters, discussions on alumina and aluminium production in Canada, as well as on new global developments. Under direction of Michel Reverdy and Vinko Potocnik the 2016 papers were published in the TRAVAUX vol. No. 44, which this year contains 809 pages. <br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/icsoba2.jpg" alt="News" width="480" height="420" /><br /><br />The ICSOBA 2016 conference was sponsored by Rio Tinto - the host sponsor, as well as the &Eacute;conomie, Science et Innovation - Quebec government, Aluminium Association of Canada and FLSmidth. The remaining sponsors are BOKELA, Cytec Solvay Group, Maestria Solutions, Nalco - an Ecolab Company, Outotec, PANalytical, SEFAR and of course REGAL as partner.<br /><br />The following papers were honoured with &ldquo;Best Aluminium Paper Award&rdquo;:<br /><br />Pierre Reny, Martin Segatz, Friedrich-Markus Leder, Ole Johnny Midtun, J&oslash;rund Gimmestad Hop&nbsp; and H&aring;vard Gikling. for their paper:&nbsp; &ldquo;Low Energy Start-up for Low Energy Cells&rdquo;<br />Alton Tabereaux for his paper: &ldquo;Low Voltage Anode Effects and Unreported PFC Emissions&rdquo; <br />Also during the gala dinner, two "ICSOBA Commemorative Medal" displaying portraits of industry pioneers Paul H&eacute;roult, Charles Martin Hall and Karl Josef Bayer were presented. The first medal was awarded to Dr Claude Vanvoren in recognition of his work as the 2016 ICSOBA president. The second medal awarded to Dr Houshang Alamdari of Laval University is for helping ICSOBA grow in the academic community and for bringing the REGAL organization to the ICSOBA event. <br /><br />{googleAdsense}<br /><br />The "ICSOBA Commemorative Medal" constitutes a special award and may be awarded to those members of ICSOBA who achieved significant scientific or practical results within the field of action, or who notably strengthened its organization or promoted its international scientific and industrial cooperation.<br /><br />The Vaudreuil alumina plant and the Alma smelter were awarded appreciation medals during the plant visits. Altogether 72 delegates took part in both visits preceded by a stop at the Shipshaw aluminium bridge.<br /><br />Four new Board members were elected to the Board of Directors: Matthieu Arlettaz, Houshang Alamdari, Bhavani Pani and Claude Vanvoren. They would complement Frank Feret, Andrey Panov and Michel Reverdy elected two years ago. Claude Vanvoren remains President for the next year.<br /><br />The 35th ICSOBA International Meeting &amp; Exposition will be held October 2-5, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany in collaboration with Trimet and DadCo. The theme of the meeting will be "Bauxite, Alumina &amp; Aluminium Industry in Germany and New Global Developments".<br /><br /></p>