JOM, Vol. 64, No. 2, 2012
DOI: 10.1007/s11837-012-0274-8 Ó 2012 TMS
End Notes
Materials science and engineering in our community
Characterizing a Great Scientist: The T.T. Chen Honorary Symposium Lynne Robinson “There is no instant expertise.” That’s the life lesson that T.T. Chen, emeritus scientist, CANMETMMSL, Natural Resources Canada, offers when looking back on a career that has made lasting contributions to the T.T. Chen understanding of materials characterization and metallurgical reactions over nearly four decades. “The more you do, the more you learn how much you don’t know and how many mistakes you had made before,” he said. “For materials characterization, good instrumentation FRQWULEXWHVWRDVLJQL¿FDQWSDUWRI\RXU success. But extensive time on the instrumentation, examining numerous areas, is essential.” The T.T. Chen Honorary Symposium on Hydrometallurgy, Electrometallurgy, and Materials Characterization at the TMS 2012 Annual Meeting and Exhibition, March 11–15 in Orlando, will celebrate this exceptional standard
of commitment that Chen has set in clarifying metallurgical processes. With a background in mineralogical/materials characterization, Chen said he was drawn to his particular areas of expertise because of the unique demands of the extraction and processing industries, explaining, “For process development or troubleshooting of industrial operational problems, these industries need mineralogical studies to guide process development, to help identify the causes of processLQJSUREOHPVRUWRGH¿QHWKHFKHPLFDO reactions occurring during processes.” Chen also noted that the encouragement of friends and peers—many of whom will be presenting at his honorary symposium—has been a key factor in his ongoing exploration of new understanding and techniques. One of these individuals is John Dutrizac, Chen’s long-time colleague and collaborator at CANMET who is also a symposium organizer. “I could not have done research in hydrometallurgy or electrometallurgy without Dr. Dutrizac’s assistance and encourage-
T.T. Chen (left) and John Dutrizac in an SEM lab at CANMET-MMSL. Among Chen’s many honors and recognitions as a scientist was the naming of a mineral—chenite—in his honor.
ment,” said Chen. Dutrizac likewise observed, in his introduction to the symposium proceedings, that Chen’s application of these “mineralogical methods to evaluate metallurgical processes,” particularly at a time when it was considered a relatively new approach, has made a VLJQL¿FDQWLPSDFWRQWKHJOREDOPHWDOlurgical industry. “His many pioneering investigations of copper cathodes, anodes, and DQRGH VOLPHV KDYH FODUL¿HG WKH FRPplex reactions occurring during copSHU HOHFWURUH¿QLQJ´ ZURWH 'XWUL]DF “His work on the characterization of -DUR¿[SURFHVVUHVLGXHVSURPRWHGWKH environmental and commercial acceptance of that technology. His many other characterization studies, often on jarosite-type compounds or hematite, have helped the zinc industry to understand the mode of impurity incorporation in its iron precipitates and have indicated where by-product recovery is, or is not, a possibility. “ “With the advancement of instrument technology, scientists will be able to detect and observe materials and/or processes in much detail than I can today,” said Chen on the future of WKH¿HOGWKDWKHKHOSHGWRGHYHORS³,Q situ observation of the process will be most important. It is always a challenge to interpret the data, determine what the implications of these data are to the processes, and then identify how we can utilize these data. “Collaboration with scientists/engineers in complementary areas will greatly facilitate process understanding, and TMS is a forum for such cooperation.” Lynne Robinson is a news and feature writer for TMS.
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