Biography
B.Eng. in Metallurgical Engineering at McGill University
M.Sc. (Eng.) in Mining Engineering at Queen's University
Ph.D. in Mineral Processing at Queen's University
When I was 12 years old, I was fishing on the Bay of Quinte with my grandfather one day. He asked me what career I wanted to follow. I said I wanted to be a veterinarian to which he replied, "You should be an engineer." That was the start of my thinking about engineering. Later, I had a teacher, John McCallum, in Grade 9, 10 and 11 who instilled in me an incredible love for mathematics and chemistry. This put me on the path to select Chemical Engineering. Then in first year engineering at McGill, I took a course on Materials Science given by Professors Jonas and Williams of the Metallurgical Engineering Department. This outstanding course provided me with insight into the incredible field of materials. I chose to go into Metallurgical Engineering.
In my third year we were exposed to Professor Tal Salman, one of Canada's most outstanding Mineral Processing Engineers. His lectures were not very good – he talked to the blackboard and mumbled a lot. This forced us to come and visit him in his office if we wanted to learn the material. The first time I entered his office he had another professor with him who he asked to leave because he had a more important person to talk with – me.
That was the start of one of the most important friendships of my life. Dr. Salman proved to be one of the most inspiring mentors and friends whom I have ever had in my life. Outside of class, he was simply outstanding in taking the time to answer questions and to help me understand what turned out to be my choice of fields – Mineral Processing. His knowledge ranked on genius level in the field and he desired to inspire his students to have the same passion as he did. My association with Tal grew over the years – he consulted for the company I worked with in Zambia and so I had the opportunity to continue to learn and grow with someone who became like a father to me.
When I returned from Zambia in 1973, I attended Queen’s University where my supervisor was John Paterson who had been one of Dr. Salman’s Ph.D. students. John had worked for many years at INCO and had acquired considerable expertise on Nickel processing. John became more than a supervisor to me – he became one of my best friends – we worked together at Queen’s until I left to join UBC in 1989. At the time the department of Mining Engineering at Queen’s was being led by Dr. Alan Bauer who was one of Canada’s premier experts on Explosive Technology and Drilling and Blasting. Under Alan’s leadership, Queen’s Mining grew from a small department to the largest in Canada. The quality of the program and of the Faculty is still today one of the finest in the world – we owe Alan Bauer a considerable debt for having shown those of us who followed him how to stimulate students to come into Mining and how to develop a curriculum to meet the needs of an industry that has gone through considerable change over the past quarter century. Alan was a person with incredible charisma – he challenged young minds to have confidence in one’s ideas and abilities and to follow our dreams. He had a passion for life and for instilling new knowledge into his students. I learned much from Alan about how to motivate people and work to achieve true excellence in everything one does.
These three mentors are with me every day of my life – Tal Salman, John Paterson and Alan Bauer. They each left this world much too early in their lives – I miss them very much and have tried to emulate their thinking in all of my actions over the years.
Research Interests
- Artificial Intelligence
- Fuzzy Expert Systems
- Artificial Neural Networks
- Genetic Algorithms
- Robotics and Industrial Automation
- Environmental Protection and Control
- Sustainable Technologies in Mining
- Geothermal Energy Systems
Biography |
