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Dr. John Downie passed away in Kingston recently. He was a 25-year member of the Kingston Chess Club, but had not been active in club chess in recent years. He retained his daily habit of chess analysis until the end, however. John leaves his wife of 60+ years, Mary Alice, and their three daughters, all graduates of Queen's University in Kingston.
John was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1931. He began chess as a schoolboy, and represented both his high school and Strathclyde University in team matches. John earned his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Strathclyde in Glasgow, in his early 20s, and emigrated to Canada soon afterwards. He worked as a chemist in Montreal for a few years, then completed his Masters and Doctoral degrees, also in Chemical Engineering, at the University of Toronto. John was a regular in Montreal chess circles during his years in that city, and then at the Hart House Chess Club at U of T during his years there. John pursued post-doctoral research in Pittsburgh at what is now Carnegie -- Mellon University, then joined the faculty of Queen's University in Kingston, in 1962, where he spent the rest of his career. He served as Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, earned the Canadian designation of Professional Engineer, attained the rank of full Professor, and retired in the late 1990s as a Professor Emeritus. John published extensively across several specialized areas of Chemical Engineering, particularly in Fluid Mechanics and Dynamics.
John was a member of KCC, and made friends all round, with his sharp, interesting play, and charming conversation. He played team chess for Kingston in the old Eastern Ontario Chess League.
I played several games with John, scoring well, but do not have any to hand right now. I may offer one later. He encouraged my chess interest, but was always concerned that academic progress was paramount, despite the fascination chess had for both of us!!!
John was a particularly important collaborator for my late father, Professional Engineer Donald Frank Dixon (1932-2014), during Dad's team's work on a project which eventually produced a completely new valve system designed for the CANDU nuclear reactor, for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Nothing had been previously invented, anywhere in the world, that would solve the new problems which the new reactor design presented. Dad was researching, consulting and travelling round the world, searching for help. Previous experts had tried and failed, for nearly a decade, at AECL, to solve the problem, the last major one remaining before the CANDU design could be commercialized to produce power. The leakage rates of heavy water (deuterium oxide) were far too high, and unsafe, starting with the Douglas Point design (200 megawatts planned) on Lake Huron in the mid-1960s. They needed an new invention, which could handle the flow of steam under exceptionally high pressure, channeling steam from the callandria nuclear reaction vessel (where the refined uranium fuel rods were immersed in heavy water, which, with its dual neutrons, moderated the reaction) to the turbines, for electrical power generation, and then transmission to the power grids. The CANDU system concept was primarily the invention of W. Bennett Lewis (1908-1987), who lived a couple of blocks away from my family in Deep River, Ontario (townsite for the Chalk River research facility. Dr. Lewis ranks very high on any list of the most accomplished Canadian scientists and engineers. My Dad's team's solution of a 'ball valve' was a dramatic step forward, and made the CANDU system both the most efficient and the safest yet seen among nuclear reactors worldwide. Dad received a multitude of job offers from around the world, at much higher pay, but chose to stay with AECL until his retirement in the early 1990s. The first commercial CANDU reactors opened at Pickering, Ontario, near Toronto, in the early and mid 1970s, in the 500 to 600 MW versions, and the CANDU remains well respected today. Dad once told me that he wasn't sure the problem would have been solved, as well as it eventually was, if not for Professor Downie's contributions!!!
Rest In Peace, Dr. John Downie.
Respectfully submitted,
Frank Dixon
NTD, Kingston
John was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1931. He began chess as a schoolboy, and represented both his high school and Strathclyde University in team matches. John earned his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Strathclyde in Glasgow, in his early 20s, and emigrated to Canada soon afterwards. He worked as a chemist in Montreal for a few years, then completed his Masters and Doctoral degrees, also in Chemical Engineering, at the University of Toronto. John was a regular in Montreal chess circles during his years in that city, and then at the Hart House Chess Club at U of T during his years there. John pursued post-doctoral research in Pittsburgh at what is now Carnegie -- Mellon University, then joined the faculty of Queen's University in Kingston, in 1962, where he spent the rest of his career. He served as Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, earned the Canadian designation of Professional Engineer, attained the rank of full Professor, and retired in the late 1990s as a Professor Emeritus. John published extensively across several specialized areas of Chemical Engineering, particularly in Fluid Mechanics and Dynamics.
John was a member of KCC, and made friends all round, with his sharp, interesting play, and charming conversation. He played team chess for Kingston in the old Eastern Ontario Chess League.
I played several games with John, scoring well, but do not have any to hand right now. I may offer one later. He encouraged my chess interest, but was always concerned that academic progress was paramount, despite the fascination chess had for both of us!!!
John was a particularly important collaborator for my late father, Professional Engineer Donald Frank Dixon (1932-2014), during Dad's team's work on a project which eventually produced a completely new valve system designed for the CANDU nuclear reactor, for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Nothing had been previously invented, anywhere in the world, that would solve the new problems which the new reactor design presented. Dad was researching, consulting and travelling round the world, searching for help. Previous experts had tried and failed, for nearly a decade, at AECL, to solve the problem, the last major one remaining before the CANDU design could be commercialized to produce power. The leakage rates of heavy water (deuterium oxide) were far too high, and unsafe, starting with the Douglas Point design (200 megawatts planned) on Lake Huron in the mid-1960s. They needed an new invention, which could handle the flow of steam under exceptionally high pressure, channeling steam from the callandria nuclear reaction vessel (where the refined uranium fuel rods were immersed in heavy water, which, with its dual neutrons, moderated the reaction) to the turbines, for electrical power generation, and then transmission to the power grids. The CANDU system concept was primarily the invention of W. Bennett Lewis (1908-1987), who lived a couple of blocks away from my family in Deep River, Ontario (townsite for the Chalk River research facility. Dr. Lewis ranks very high on any list of the most accomplished Canadian scientists and engineers. My Dad's team's solution of a 'ball valve' was a dramatic step forward, and made the CANDU system both the most efficient and the safest yet seen among nuclear reactors worldwide. Dad received a multitude of job offers from around the world, at much higher pay, but chose to stay with AECL until his retirement in the early 1990s. The first commercial CANDU reactors opened at Pickering, Ontario, near Toronto, in the early and mid 1970s, in the 500 to 600 MW versions, and the CANDU remains well respected today. Dad once told me that he wasn't sure the problem would have been solved, as well as it eventually was, if not for Professor Downie's contributions!!!
Rest In Peace, Dr. John Downie.
Respectfully submitted,
Frank Dixon
NTD, Kingston
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