The Aluminium Association of Canada is pleased to announce the endowment of a scholarship in memory of the late Christian Van Houtte, founder and president of the AAC for 18 years. Mr. Van Houtte passed away this past summer.

Jean Simard, President and CEO of the AAC made the announcement at the 10th edition of its annual reception on October 6, 2015.

The total annual scholarship amount will be $5,000, which will be divided into two awards of $2,500 for master’s students having conducted research in one of the following areas:

• The economics of aluminium:
  • Factors affecting industry performance such as energy costs, exchange rates, worker productivity, or operational efficiency
• Aluminium and sustainable development:

Work still needs to be done on how materials and their applications in the economy affect sustainability. There are today numerous approaches that allow us to quantify and break down environmental footprint, from lifecycle analysis to sustainable development indicators and total cost of ownership.

Martin Brière, President, Alcoa-Smelting, Jean Simard, President and CEO of the AAC, and Lily, Christian Van Houtte’s granddaughter presenting the Award of Honour to Jacques Daoust, Quebec’s minister of the Economy, Industry, and Exports, and his team.

A third non-financial award will also be given in a field or category at the jury’s discretion.

This AAC Award of Honour will recognize the outstanding contribution of a person or group to aluminium industry development in Quebec, aluminium use, or aluminium applications in the economy. The recipient may be associated with education, research, business, or even government, but may not be directly affiliated with a smelting operation. 

The jury has been struck and will begin considering project applications next year in view of making recommendations to the AAC board regarding student scholarship as well as Award of Honour recipients.

The jury that will select recipients for recommendation to the AAC are highly respected individuals who worked with Christian to develop our industry. No jury member however is active in the industry itself.

• Normand Bergeron, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Chair of the Board, AluQuébec
• Daniel Denis, Partner, KPMG–Sécor
• José Dorais, Partner, Miller Thomson and AAC legal counsel since its foundation
• Hélène Lauzon, President and Executive Director, Quebec Business Council on the Environment
• Carmine Nappi, Economist (retired)
• Daniel Normandin, Executive Director, Institute for the Environment, Sustainable Development and the Circular Economy (HEC Montréal–École Polytechnique de Montréal–Université de Montréal)

The Aluminium Association of Canada has decided this year to recognize Jacques Daoust, Quebec’s minister of the Economy, Industry, and Exports, together with his team, with the inaugural Award of Honour for their outstanding contribution to the development of our industry through the establishment of the Quebec Aluminium Development Strategy.