IRONS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-05-28 published
John McMULKIN, 92: Steelmaker
Engineer 'was a giant of the Canadian steel industry'
By Allison
LAWLOR,
Special to The Globe and Mail, Page S8
Events that transpired following a research trip to Austria in
the early 1950s turned a Hamilton-based inquiring metallurgical
engineer into a pioneer of modern steelmaking. Called "the father
of oxygen steelmaking in North America," John
McMULKIN convinced
the managers of Dofasco in 1954 to invest in a new process that
would not only catapult the company into a major Canadian steelmaker,
but at the same time revolutionize the industry.
As the inaugural head of Dofasco's research department, he travelled
the world in search of new technologies. Aware that Austria and
Germany had been developing techniques to use oxygen in the steelmaking
process during the Second World War, he decided to visit Austria
in the early 1950s to see what it was all about.
"He realized it [the technology] was going to be a breakthrough,"
said Norm LOCKINGTON, retired vice-president of research at Dofasco
(now called ArcelorMittal Dofasco).
Like most North American steel firms at that time, Dofasco was
using an open-hearth furnace to make steel. In that process,
carbon-rich molten iron is burned in gigantic open hearths for
hours to allow the carbon to burn off and produce steel. In contrast,
Austrian steelmakers had discovered that pure oxygen blown into
the furnace at a high pressure dramatically accelerated the process.
What would take up to 16 hours to produce in the old open hearths
took half an hour in the oxygen furnace, Mr.
LOCKINGTON said.
Mr. McMULKIN returned to Canada excited by what he had witnessed
in Austria and was impatient to try it at home. He ran trials
at the plant in Hamilton and successfully persuaded his superiors
at Dofasco to install a basic oxygen furnace in 1954. When the
furnace churned out its first batch of steel, Dofasco became
the first company to apply the technology outside of Europe.
"Within 10 years, steelmaking had changed," Mr.
LOCKINGTON said.
Before long, companies across the United States were knocking
at Dofasco's door, anxious to learn how they too could implement
the new technology.
The oxygen furnaces - which today stand five storeys high and
hold enough steel to make 200 cars - remain the common standard
for steelmaking around the world. More than half of Dofasco's
steelmaking today comes from an oxygen furnace and the remainder
from an electric arc furnace.
"He was a giant of the Canadian steel industry," said Gordon
IRONS, director of McMaster University's Steel Research Centre.
"He put Dofasco on the map. Before he came along they were a
small company, but they became a large, successful company that
put a great emphasis on research and development."
Raised in the steelmaking city of Sault Ste. Marie in Northern
Ontario, John
McMULKIN was an only child. His father was the
well-regarded owner of a dry-goods store who was also active
in local politics. After receiving a scholarship, young John
headed off to the Michigan College of Mining and Technology,
where he studied metallurgical engineering.
After graduation, he returned home to work at Algoma Steel. He
later joined the Ontario Research Foundation in Toronto, where,
during the war years, he worked on plate welding for light armoured
vehicles. In 1945, at Toronto's Deer Park United Church badminton
club, Mr. McMULKIN met his future wife, Margaret. A year later
they were married.
Immediately following the war, he went to Dofasco in Hamilton
on a research fellowship. A year later, he joined its staff and
was asked to start up a research department. By his retirement
in 1985, he had 80 people working with him.
"He was a one-person research department in the early days. He
could just make things happen in a hurry," Mr.
LOCKINGTON said.
"He was sometimes frustrated that things couldn't happen as fast
as they did in the early days."
While some considered him gruff or impatient, everyone respected
his knowledge of the industry, his dedication to his job and
his intelligence. "He had an inquiring mind and a very brilliant
mind," said his wife, Margaret
McMULKIN.
While basic oxygen steelmaking remained the crowning achievement
of his career, Mr.
McMULKIN would go on to make other major improvements
in steelmaking. Under his guidance, Dofasco became the first
company in Canada to add an electrolytic tinning line used to
make tin-plated steel for tin cans. He is also credited for developing
Dofasco's mining properties.
While he retired in the mid-1980s, he continued to stay abreast
of new advances in steelmaking. He often visited his old office
and still felt connected to the company. As much as he was fascinated
by the science of steelmaking, he liked people just as much.
"He was the kind of person who saw it as his role to mentor young
people," Mr.
LOCKINGTON said.
Aside from being awarded an honorary doctor of engineering degree
from the Michigan Technological University, Mr.
McMULKIN also
received almost every award available from steelmaking industry
associations.
Francis John
McMULKIN was born on December 7, 1915, in Sault
Ste. Marie, Ontario He died February 18, 2008, of prostate cancer.
He was 92. He leaves his wife, Margaret, and children Bruce and
Mary McMULKIN.
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IRONSIDE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-03-25 published
MENZIES, Catherine "Kitty" Marshall (née
POLLOCK /
SLADEN)
At home with her loving family by her side. She is finally reunited
with her beloved Don. Cherished mother of Vicki
MOORE
(Stan)
of Richardson, Texas, Susan
MENZIES and Jill
IRONSIDE
(Bruce)
of Alliston. Adored Nana of Scott
MOORE,
Peter
MOORE (Brooke,)
James IRONSIDE and Heather
IRONSIDE.
Kitty and Don were former
residents of Edmonton, Willowdale, Milton and Oakville. The family
would like to thank Reverend Jim
GILL
(Walton
Memorial
United
Church, Oakville), Doctor S.
STERN (Oakville), Doctor O.
RAMIREZ (Alliston)
and the many caregivers and Hospice volunteers who helped to
make mother's last months as comfortable and bright as possible.
She was a light in our lives and will be forever missed. Funeral
Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday March 28th in the W.
John Thomas Funeral Home, 244 Victoria St. E. Alliston. If so
desired, memorial donations made to the Stevenson Memorial Hospital
Foundation (Cardiac Critical Care Unit), 200 Fletcher Cres. Alliston,
Ontario L9R 1W7 or to Walton Memorial United Church, 2489 Lakeshore
Rd. W. Oakville, Ontario L6L 1H9 would be appreciated.
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