Professor Bern Klein Receives MetSoc Research Excellence Award

Bern Klein
June 9, 2026

The Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering is proud to announce that Professor Bern Klein has been named the 2026 recipient of the MetSoc Research Excellence Award, one of the most prestigious honours in the field of metallurgy and materials science in Canada.


The award, originally established in 1965 by the Aluminum Company of Canada Limited and now supported by Rio Tinto through the CIM Foundation, recognizes individuals who have made a highly significant and sustained contribution to metallurgy or materials science. It is presented to researchers whose work has had a lasting and meaningful impact on both scholarship and industry practice.


Professor Klein received the award in recognition of his original and fundamental contributions to ore sorting and energy‑efficient comminution, areas that are central to advancing more sustainable and efficient mining practices.


Professor Klein has had a longstanding impact on research, teaching, and leadership within the department. His research focuses on sensor‑based ore classification, comminution technologies (including high‑pressure grinding rolls and stirred mills), and the rheology of mineral suspensions—areas critical to modern mineral processing and resource efficiency.


In addition to his academic contributions, Professor Klein is a co‑founder of MineSense Technologies Ltd., a company at the forefront of sensor‑based ore sorting technologies, and a principal with OrePortal Ltd., where he provides advisory services to the mining industry. His work has played a key role in bridging research and industry application, advancing innovative solutions that improve operational efficiency and sustainability.


Professor Klein has also made significant contributions to education, teaching courses in mineral processing, precious metals processing, rheology, and integrated mining systems, and supervising numerous graduate students—including approximately 20 PhD and 50 MASc students. His leadership has further shaped the department, including serving as Head of the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering from 2008 to 2014.


This recognition places Professor Klein among the leading researchers in metallurgy and highlights the strength and global impact of research within UBC Mining Engineering.


Please join us in congratulating Professor Klein on this outstanding and well‑deserved achievement!

UBC is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people (Musqueam; which means 'People of the River Grass') and Syilx Okanagan Nation. The land has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam and Syilx peoples, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history and traditions from one generation to the next.

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