Hydrometallurgy Ernest Peters Master's Award
2025 Recipient
Sara Saffaj, Université Laval
Sara Saffaj, originally from Marrakech, Morocco, is an international master student in Mining Engineering at Université Laval in Québec, Canada. Her research focuses on the sustainable solvometallurgical extraction of critical, strategic, and precious metals from waste printed circuit boards using deep eutectic solvents, under the supervision of Professor Georgios Kolliopoulos. Committed to advancing circular economy principles, Sara aims to contribute to the development of eco-friendly extractive metallurgy. She also holds Moroccan and French engineering diplomas in Materials and Process Engineering, now complemented by her Canadian graduate studies.
| 2024 – Tarantoj Singh, Laurentian University | 2023 – Philip Gamboa, McGill University |
| 2022 – JoonKyung Koong, McGill University | 2021 – Noel Devaere, University of Toronto |
| 2020 – Guillermo Alvial-Hein, Queen’s University | 2019 – Hiroki Fukuda, University of British Columbia |
| 2018 – Chengqian (Charles) Wu (Queen’s University) | 2017 – Eric Shum (University of Toronto) |
Ernest (Ernie) Peters (1926-2009) received his B.A.Sc. in Metallurgical Engineering in 1949. Upon graduation, he took a job in a steel mill in Utah, but in fall 1950, he returned to UBC to do an M.A.Sc. thesis on “The Leaching of Uranium from Pitchblende Ores.” He then took employment with the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd. (now Cominco Ltd.) in Trail, BC as a Research Engineer. He again returned to UBC in 1953, with a Cominco Fellowship and finished a Ph.D. thesis in 1956, on “The Homogeneous Activation of Molecular Hydrogen by Cupric Species in Aqueous Solutions.” Following his Ph.D., he worked with Union Carbide Co. in Niagara Falls, Ontario, until 1958, when he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Mining and Metallurgy at UBC. Thereafter, he dedicated his research to hydrometallurgy with Professor Frank Forward as mentor.
His legacy remains huge in the hydrometallurgy community in Canada and abroad.
Scholarship Terms
To encourage graduate studies in the field of hydrometallurgy, the Hydrometallurgy Section offers one (1) award of $3,000 to honour the accomplishments of a Master’s graduate student in the field of hydrometallurgy in a Canadian university.
In addition to the cash award, we award one free registration for the conference at which we present the award, plus free admission to the social events we sponsor at that conference.
Eligibility
To be eligible the candidate should be registered in a Master’s (M.Sc., M.Eng., M.A.Sc.) program in the field of hydrometallurgy during the entire academic year in a Canadian university.
Applications must include: 1) A copy of the applicant’s academic transcripts 2) A summary of the project, including preliminary results, a discussion concerning subsequent project orientation, and a list of prepared publications or conference presentations (2-3 pages maximum)
Submit your application
Email your application package to Georgios Kolliopoulos and Ramanpal Saini, Chairs of Student Support at: Georgios.Kolliopoulos@gmn.ulaval.ca and ramanpal.saini@vale.com
Application deadline: February 10, 2026
The call for scholarship applications is closed for 2025.