The 17th edition of the REGAL Student Day (JER) took place on November 5 and 6 via a virtual platform in response to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

First of all, the Aluminum Research Centre – REGAL would like to thank its generous sponsors. Over the past few years, the JER has been growing at breakneck speed, becoming an increasingly popular event on the aluminum scene! Thanks to AAFC, AluQuébec | CeAl, Alcoa, Alouette, Centre de Métallurgie du Québec (CMQ), CQRDA, CRITM, Elysis, Hatch, ICSOBA, Metra Aluminium, Nespresso, Rio Tinto and Foundry Solutions.

The first day of activity was reserved for student conferences and posters. More than 150 participants were present to hear our graduate students highlight their research work: 6 shared their knowledge via a lecture and 56 others did so in the form of a scientific poster. In recognition of excellence, the JER Poster Competition provided 13 students with an award of excellence, all presented on behalf of one of the event’s sponsors. Of particular note is the participation of 24 reviewers, without whom the excellence of the students could not have been recognized.

The second day of activities consisted of a 5-part training session, where more than 130 people benefited from the knowledge of various experts in different fields. These experts came from the academic and industrial spheres: Monika Paape-Miyoshi (ÉTS), Lyès Hacini (AluQuébec|cela), Danick Gallant (NRC), Mansoor Barati Sedeh (University of Toronto) and Ferdinand Tchounkeu (Nespresso).

In addition, participants were invited to virtual networking events where student/researcher/industry exchanges were promoted.

Recipient of the award for the best 2020 conference: Luiz Felipe Leitao Martins (POLY)

Recipients of the JER 2020 Poster Grand Prix:
1st place: Chin Chieh Cheng (McGill)
2nd position ex aequo: Mohamed Qassem (UQAC) and Daniel Rodigues (UL)
3rd position: Peng Hu

JER 2020 Poster Award recipients: Zhen Li (McGill), Jovid Rakhmonov (UQAC), Marzieh Nodeh (UdeS), Olivier Lacroix (UL), Richard Naud (UdeS), Luiz Felipe Leitao Martins (POLY), Mahmoud Osman (McGill) and Ali Elashery (UQAC).

Our evaluators : Guillaume D’Amours (NRC_CTA), Michelle Adams (RioTinto), Julien Lauzon-Gauthier (Alcoa), Ramzi Ishak (Alcoa), Daniel Richard (Hatch), Erik Houle (CeAl-AluQuébec), François Audet (SF Solutions), Richard Menini (NRC), Mohammed Amraoui (SOVAR), Carl Duchesne (UL), Mario Fafard (UL), Kun Liu (UQAC), Khaled Ragab (UQAC), Duygu Kocaefe (UQAC), Daniel Marceau (UQAC), Lyne St-Georges (UQAC), Lukas Dion (UQAC), Mathieu Brochu (McGill), Paul Provencher (POLY), Charles-Philippe Lamarche (UdeS), Nicolas Giguère (CMQ) and Julie Lévesque (CMQ).