Fall Convocation - Students - University of Saskatchewan

Earned Doctor of ScienceRandall G. GilliesDr. Randy Gillies was born and raised on a farm in the Silent Calldistrict of northern Saskatchewan. He received his early education ina one-room country school and completed high school in the villageof Debden. He went on to the University of Saskatchewan wherehe obtained his B.E. (Chemical Engineering) in 1973 and M.Sc. in1975. He joined the staff of the Saskatchewan Research Council in1975 and became the manager of the SRC’s Pipe Flow TechnologyCentre in 1980.While maintaining a full workload at the SRC, Dr. Gillies returned tothe University of Saskatchewan as a part-time student and obtainedhis Ph.D. in 1993. The pipeline flow of coarse-particles slurries wasthe subject of his doctoral thesis.Over the years, Dr. Gillies’ research has continued to focus on the transport of mixtures in pipelines.He has maintained close ties with faculty members in the University of Saskatchewan’s Department ofChemical Engineering including a long and productive collaboration with the late Dr. Clifton Shook andan ongoing collaboration with Dr. Robert Sumner. The Canadian oil sand industry has been the majorsupporter of the work carried out by Dr. Gillies and his fellow researchers. This work has also been usedin the design and operation of pipeline transport systems for other Canadian industries including thosethat produce metallurgical minerals, potash, uranium, and heavy crude oil. The work by Dr. Gillies andhis team has received international recognition and found application in several countries includingAustralia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.Dr. Gillies’ wife, Patricia, is a lab coordinator in the Department of Chemistry at the University ofSaskatchewan. Randy and Pat have two sons, Rob and Dan. Currently, both sons are students at theUniversity of Saskatchewan.Dr. Randy Gillies is a Professional Engineer in the Province of Saskatchewan and a member of theChemical Institute of Canada. His previous honours have included a Distinguished Engineer appointmentby the Saskatchewan Research Council and an Alberta Science and Technology Award for work that heand his team carried out in developing slurry pipelining technologies for the oil sand industry.University of Saskatchewan 9 Fall Convocation 2006