Renewing Our Partnership with UQAC
Pictured: Mohamed Bouazara, Vice- Rector of Research, Creation and Innovation at UQAC; Guy Simard, Scientific Director of Rio Tinto–UQAC partnership; Ghislain Samson, President of UQAC; and Josette Ross, Director at ARDC.
On 19 October, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) and Rio Tinto announced a three-year extension to their partnership. In concrete terms, the company is investing more than two million dollars over three years to continue research and development in technologies for processing bauxite and tailings. This marks 25 years of partnership for the two organisations, the focus of which has been technologies for processing bauxite and tailings and producing alumina.
Guy Simard, Researcher at Centre Universitaire de Recherche sur l’Aluminium (CURAL) and Scientific Director of the partnership, is very proud of how this collaboration has developed over time.
The issues of tomorrow are the challenges of the students and researchers of today. The close ties we have cultivated with Rio Tinto over the years have enabled us to conduct research projects on the reclamation of tailings, in turn allowing us to immerse our students in both the academic and industrial worlds, while at the same time helping us train the next generation to be highly qualified and sustain the aluminium industry of tomorrow.”
Josette Ross, Director at the Rio Tinto Arvida Research and Development Centre, said, “We are very pleased to renew this exclusive research and development partnership with UQAC, which has led to great achievements over these 25 years of working together. The alumina manufacturing process and the reclamation of by-products are essential to producing low-carbon aluminium in Quebec. Our partnership allows us to continually improve our techniques and equipment and to train the next generation of researchers.”
In addition to ensuring that this collaboration continues into 2023, the renewed partnership allows UQAC to reinforce its position and the region’s position as one of the world leaders in aluminium research and development. According to Mohamed Bouazara, Vice-Rector of Research, Creation and Innovation at UQAC, “this partnership guarantees a certain stability in the development of our aluminium research and helps us maintain cutting-edge research infrastructures and laboratories equipped with the latest technology.”
