Team – Jean-Philippe Harvey

Baccalaureate

Laurence St-Germain

I am an undergraduate student in chemical engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. Throughout my first year of studies, I developed an interest in materials science, thermodynamics and programming. This summer, my goal is to simulate a process for the production of niobium from niobium concentrate and to simultaneously optimize the thermodynamic databases in Factsage by using the Calphad approach.

Vincent Rioux-Frenette | LinkedIn

I am an undergraduate student in chemical engineering. The research is a path that interest me because I am passionate in the fundamental aspects of science behind the engineering applications. Therefore, this is a real pleasure to have the opportunity to learn more about thermodynamic and material science by working and studying at the CRCT.My project consists of studying the interactions of tungsten with various other elements to model their solubility in tungsten through CALPHAD method regarding fusion reactor material application.

Masters

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Anya Bouarab | LinkedIn

I am currently coordinating and working on a project focusing on the determination of energetic requirements for the production and recycling processes for various metals and alloys. The scope of this project is to propose a tool to assess the feasibility of different recycling processes, based on classical thermodynamics considerations. I am also involved in the redesign of the chemical thermodynamics course at Polytechnique Montreal. I am assisting in the conception of educational material built around real processes of the chemical industry. I have been in the CRCT for a little more than two years now. I recently finished my master’s which consisted on the development of a viscosity model for ionic liquid mixtures.

Juan Ricardo Castillo Sánchez | LinkedIn

Ricardo first came as an exchange student to the École Polytechnique de Montréal in 2018 through the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP Scholarship) granted by the Government of Canada. He then returned in August 2019 to start his master’s degree in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering. His research focuses on classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for aluminum alloys around their melting temperatures to determine the mechanisms of nucleation during solidification.

Laura Pressi | LinkedIn

I am a Chemical Engineer, graduated in Brazil. At present, I am a M.Sc. A. student at Polytechnique, I have been working on a research project about the effect of impurities on mechanical behavior of stainless steel for applications to large-size components, such as hydraulic turbines. Previously, I had worked for 6 years in a large company specialized in energy where I could acquire professional experience in industry.

Minh Duc Vo

I am a M.Sc. A student in Materials Engineering at the CRCT, having completed my Bachelor in Chemical Engineering at the Polytechnique. The core of my project is to improve the existing thermodynamic database for aluminum alloys. The main objective is a more accurate description of the impacts of various impurities, such as Cr, Ni and V, on phase formation during heat treatment and recycling of commercial aluminum alloys.

myriam Myriam Mahfoud

Holder of a bachelor’s degree in Physical Engineering, I am passionate about physical phenomena, particularly those that lead to the exploitation of renewable energies.
My master project is to improve the thermodynamic database of Al-Si-Fe-Mn- (Cr-Ni-V) alloy. To do this, the CALPHAD method, supplemented by the modified quasi-chemical model, will be used.

Ph.D

Camille Rincent

I am a Ph.D. student at the Chemical engineering department at Polytechnique. I completed my masters degree at the CRCT in molecular dynamics, and am now doing a PhD on process simulation and control, using both thermodynamics and computational tools.

My interest in projects is focused on the combined strength of chemical engineering and computational methods, helping us to improve our work continually through novel techniques.

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Javier Jofre

I am a Ph.D. student at the Chemical engineering department at Polytechnique. My first studies were on enzyme engineering, identifying regions on the protein structure, using Molecular Dynamics and Principal Component Analysis as modifications in order to improve the thermal stability of the structure. My ongoing work focuses on the development of new generation thermodynamic models with the aid of computational methods as DFT calculations and MD. Previous to coming to Montreal, I was a research engineer in the chilean mining company SQM S.A.

Rodrigo Wang

I am a research associate at the Centre for Research in Computational Thermochemistry (CRCT). At the CRCT, I have been developing scientific software in several languages and I am also involved in research projects of new thermodynamic models using first-principle methods and molecular dynamics. I hold a master’s degree in theoretical chemistry from Université de Montréal. Currently, I am completing a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry at Université de Montreal under the supervision of Professor Matthias Ernzerhof. My research is in the field of density functional theory (DFT) where I have been developing state-of-the-art density functional approximations for exchange-correlation energy.

Post-Doc

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Paul Lafaye (Ph.D.) | LinkedIn

I am a postdoctoral researcher in applied physics. My research project consists in designing thermodynamic modelling of aluminum alloys using new and various Density Functional Theory calculations, finite-temperature calculations and Thermogravimetric Analysis, Differential Thermal Analysis and Differential Scanning Calorimetry experiments. Previously, I did a Ph.D. in material science at the Atomic Energy Commission in France. My thesis work consisted in designing a new thermodynamic database for Zirconium alloys using Density Functional Theory calculations for ordered compounds, Special Quasirandom Structure calculations for solid solutions and new experiments as input data for the Calphad (CAlculation of PHAse Diagram) approach.

Alumni

Agathe Tshipama

I’m a bachelor’s degree student in chemical engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. I am passionate about optimizing metallurgical processes. Indeed, I come from a mainly mining region within the Democratic Republic of Congo. For this reason, I joined the CRCT through the UPIR grant to work on the quantification of recyclability of metal alloys.

My project aims to determine the energy requirement of many processes involving recycling of Aluminum alloys, based on states processes conditions. The modeling of the different processes is done using the Factsage software. This project is a major importance as it will significantly reduce the energy consumption to produce a metal compared to traditional metallurgical processes. In addition, it will allow the development of recyclability indices for several metals.

Elizabeth Labonté | LinkedIn

I’m an undergraduate student in chemical engineering and I aspire to have a positive impact on the environment in the industry I’ll be working in. My job this summer is to tie chemical thermodynamics theoretical concepts to the industry’s actual reality in an educational context. The goal is to help students from École Polytechnique Montréal to assimilate and associate nebulous concepts from their chemical thermodynamics course with technologies and processes they are most likely to encounter during their journey towards becoming chemical engineers.

Francis Lebreux Desilets | LinkedIn

Undergrad student in process engineering at Polytechnique Montreal. I have worked in the past with Pr. Harvey as both an Intern at CRCT and a teaching assistant for the undergrad thermochemistry class. I am very exited to currently be working with the CRCT and one of its partners in developping new recycling processes using thermodynamics. Remember, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Iman Bouara | LinkedIn

I’m a second year chemical engineering student at Polytechnique Montreal. I’m interested in energy processes, programming and simulation. My project with CRCT is working on the simulation of metal recycling processes, and studying their energy index for specific thermo-physical properties. This project will consider the importance of circular economy, as well as reducing evironmental impacts

Jeanne Marchand | LinkedIn

During my first year of bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering I have learn essential notions in thermodynamics, materials science, mathematics and eco-design. Since I enjoyed these learnings, I wanted to improve my knowledge through research. My project will help establishing an energetic processing index for metals and alloys by focusing on nickel superalloys and the calculation of the index.

Sarah Myriam Touré | LinkedIn

I am a second-year student in Chemical engineering at Polytechnique Montreal. I am really interested in metallurgy, process optimization and cosmetics. All I aim for is to gain a maximum of experience and broaden my horizon concerning the engineering world. Here, at CRCT, I have the opportunity to work on a new kind of project. I study the reduction of hematite pellets through the MIDREX process using H2 and CO. The project ultimate goal is actually to go towards H2-MIDREX process.

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Thomas Garon de Silva

I’m a first year student in chemical engineering. After living for eight years in Brazil, I’ve decided to return to my homeland for college and got into Ecole Polytechnique a year later. During my first integration project I worked on the analysis of recovering high value metals from electronic waste such as copper, gold, palladium and silver. Today I’m working with the CRCT to evaluate the potential of aluminum recovery from its different alloys considering different methods of separation.

Zineb Squalli Houssaini | LinkedIn

I am currently a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering student at Polytechnique Montreal. Thermodynamics and metallurgical processes have always fascinated me and that is why I joined the CRCT through an internship opportunity.
The first objective of my project is to study the different recycling processes of copper found electronic waste and their energy demands using the Factsage software. The second is to explore the methods of extraction and recycling of rare earth elements.