Canada’s enviable reputation for engineering excellence owes much to Roland Kilborn, whose vision, technical skills and entrepreneurial spirit led to the founding of one of the nation’s foremost engineering consulting companies.
Like Sir William Logan before him, James Merritt Harrison was the right man in the right place at the right time. During his 17-year tenure with the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), the scientific organization enjoyed one of the most successful periods of its venerable history.
Known best as the mining industry’s “turnaround man,” William (Bill) James has used his skills as a geologist, miner, consultant and senior executive to build and strengthen several of Canada’s most important mining companies.
Vladimir Mackiw’s life is an outstanding example of how the Canadian mining industry discovers and applies advanced and innovative technologies to create processes and products adding new wealth not only to Canada’s economy but also for the rest of the world.
Adolphe “Lap” La Prairie is a legend in the Canadian explosives and mining industry, his standards for technical innovation notable even to this day. His motivation was simple, and based solely on his concern for miners and his interest in making mining a safer and more effective endeavor.
John Convey made ground-breaking contributions to metallurgy, atomic physics and minerals research, but is best known for guiding several Canadian agencies and institutions to prominence, notably the Canadian Mines Branch (since renamed CANMET) during its greatest period of growth and influence.
Bruce Grierson made lasting contributions to the mining industry in Canada and abroad during his 40-year career with Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium (RIT) and its subsidiary, QIT-Fer et Titane (QIT).
Carroll O. (“Chuck”) Brawner is known and respected worldwide for his contributions to open-pit mining and geotechnical engineering. He earned his reputation as a foremost authority in these fields as the result of professional experience gained over half a century in no less than 40 nations and all the world’s continents, including Antarctica.
Phillip Hallof earned his status as one of the “fathers of modern geophysics” for his pioneering and innovative work in the field of frequency domain induced polarization (IP), which grew from an obscure research effort into an essential exploration tool.
David Robertson became a respected statesman of Canada’s mining industry through technical accomplishment and impeccable integrity displayed during a distinguished career spanning more than six decades.
