William M. Williams (25 February 1927 – 28 January 2011) was a Welsh-born

metallurgical engineer Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

and Birks professor of metallurgy at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Education

Williams was born in

Tonypandy Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town was ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, the son of a coal miner. In 1944, he won a scholarship to study at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1948 and later a Master of Science in physics. In working to earn his master's degree, he studied stereo micro-radiography at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, under the direction of

Cyril Stanley Smith Cyril Stanley Smith (4 October 1903 – 25 August 1992) was a British metallurgist and historian of science. He is most famous for his work on the Manhattan Project where he was responsible for the production of fissionable metals. A graduate ...

. Around the same time, he also took up a position as a metallurgist with the

Revere Copper Company The Revere Copper Company is a copper rolling mill in the United States. It operated North America's first copper rolling mill. It was started by Paul Revere in 1801 in Canton, Massachusetts, and developed a commercially viable process for manufac ...

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the Central New York, central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Ro ...

. In 1960, Williams earned his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Career

Williams commenced lecturing at

in 1960, and was selected to be the Chairman of the Department of Mining and Metallurgy in 1966. As Chairman, he was instrumental in expanding the department at a time when only six degree programs in Metallurgical Engineering were being offered in Canadian universities, among which McGill's department was the oldest. During his tenure, seven new faculty members were added to the department, with the new faculty primarily focusing its research on extractive (hydro and pyro),

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

and

physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

metallurgy. Ties between the department and Canadian industries were also strengthened during this time. Throughout his career, Williams conducted research on a variety of topics ranging from esoteric studies of grain shape to the practical aspects of abrasion resistant cast irons for mineral

comminution Comminution is the reduction of solid materials from one average particle size to a smaller average particle size, by crushing, grinding, cutting, vibrating, or other processes. In geology, it occurs naturally during faulting in the upper part of ...

. Williams held the position of Chairman until 1980, and retired from teaching in 1992. From 1972 to 1973, he was President of the Metallurgical Society of CIM. As a specialist in

failure analysis Failure analysis is the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of a failure, often with the goal of determining corrective actions or liability. According to Bloch and Geitner, ”machinery failures reveal a reaction chain o ...

, Williams was consulted to investigate numerous engineering failures including such notable events as the 1965 LaSalle Heights disaster, the Mississauga train derailment of 1979, and the crash of

Quebecair Flight 255 Quebecair Flight 255 was a scheduled flight from Quebec City to Montreal. On March 29, 1979, the Fairchild F-27, registered CF-QBL, that was operating the flight crashed minutes after takeoff when an engine exploded. All three crew and 14 of the ...

. From 1990 to 2000, he was a consultant metallurgist for

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

. Williams also served as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in about 40 court cases in Canada and the United States, and was twice appointed Judge's Expert by justices

James K. Hugessen James Cornelius Knatchbull-Hugessen (born July 26, 1933), known professionally as James K. Hugessen, is a judge currently serving on the Federal Court of Canada. He is the son of the senator Adrian Knatchbull-Hugessen. Born in Montreal in 1933 ...

and Antonio Lamar respectively.

Publications

* "A Study of Grain Shape", ''Journal of Metals'', July 1952, 775. * "Stereoscopic Microradiography", ''Metallurgia'', 63, 95, 1961. * "Careers in the Canadian Minerals Industry", ''Northern Miner'', December 1980. * “An Historical Sketch of the Canadian Steel Industry.” In ''All That Glitters: Readings in Historical Metallurgy'', edited by Michael L. Wayman, 143-146. Montreal: Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1989 * "Observations on an Old Broad Axe - An Example of Steeling", ''Bulletin of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy'', Vol. 83, No. 934, pp. 93–95, January 1990.

Patents

* "Alloy White Cast Iron" U.S. Patent 3623922, November 10, 1971. * "Annealing Process Control Method and Apparatus", U.S. Patent 4595427, June 17, 1986. * "Annealing Process Control Method and Apparatus", Canadian Patent 1,225,522, August 18, 1987.

Education

Career

Publications

Patents

References

Further reading