2025 MEI Young Person's Award to Túlio Moreira Campos

We are very pleased to announce that Túlio Moreira Campos is the winner of the 2025 MEI Young Person's Award.

Túlio is a Metallurgical Engineer who graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil. He completed his Master of Science in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Postgraduate Studies and Engineering Research (COPPE/UFRJ), and he is currently a PhD candidate in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the same institute. 

Túlio works as a Research and Development Engineer at the Laboratório de Tecnologia Mineral (LTM/COPPE/UFRJ), focusing on mathematical modeling of comminution, process simulations, fundamentals of particle breakage, optimisation of grinding circuits, online model application, data analytics, multicomponent comminution, and mineral liberation. He has already made substantial contributions to the understanding of particle breakage under compression, to the modeling of HPGRs, including its implementation online as digital twin in controlling the unit, to the modeling of size reduction in ball mills, using both the population balance and the UFRJ mechanistic models, to the application of machine learning to circuit data.

In 2020, Túlio was appointed as the second-in-command of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro's group within the Global Comminution Collaborative (GCC). Furthermore, in 2022, he earned the distinction of being named an associate member of the GCC Foundation e.V. He presently holds a position within the Management Team of the GCC.  Túlio has been the recipient of several awards, including the IMPC Young Author's Award,  delivered by the IMPC Council in 2021, the Best Student Paper Award for papers presented at Comminution '23 and Comminution '25, and Vale's Technical Recognition for a paper presented at the 9th Brazilian Ore Agglomeration Symposium.

Túlio is characterised by his proactive, communicative, and dedicated nature. His primary research focus lies in the development and application of mechanistic, practical, and robust process models. These models aim to enhance and integrate overall process simulations as tools for fostering innovation within the minerals industry.

Túlio's nomination came from Prof. Luís Marcelo Tavares, who is his PhD supervisor at UFRJ, together with Prof. Malcolm Powell, Emeritus Professor of the University of Queensland. Prof. Tavares' long citation can be found online and is supplemented by support from Prof. Powell, who says that Túlio has been outstanding in terms of dedication, application and quality of outputs. His work on breakage modelling builds off previous concepts, some of which have been overlooked in general comminution application, and extends these based on careful and detailed experimental test work. "This is the calibre of work that is needed to move the science forward, rather than general trends and empirical backfitting", said Prof. Powell.

Also supporting the nomination is Prof. Holger Lieberwirth, of TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, who sees exceptional capabilities in Tùlio as "one of the coming top researchers in the field of minerals processing, shaping the future in this area".

Tùlio (3rd left) at Comminution '25 with his nominator Marcelo Tavares (2nd left) and
supporters Holger Lieberwirth (1st left) and Malcolm Powell (3rd right)

Congratulations, Túlio, we look forward to presenting you with your award.

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