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Materials Science & Engineering Professor Torstein A. Utigard.

Professor Torstein A. Utigard passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning of April 11 after a long battle with cancer. The 57-year-old Materials Science & Engineering faculty member was surrounded by his immediate family.

Professor Utigard received his MASc and PhD from the University of Toronto under the supervision of the late Professor Emeritus and former Materials Science & Engineering Department Chair James M. Toguri in 1983 and 1985, respectively. After serving several years as a metallurgical research engineer in Switzerland and then at the Falconbridge Technology Centre in Sudbury, Ontario, he returned to the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor of Metallurgy and Materials Science in 1989.

Over his career, Professor Utigard established an international reputation as an outstanding researcher and educator in the science and technology of pyro-metallurgical processing of non-ferrous metals. With more than 150 publications and 11 patents, Professor Utigard pioneered numerous developments pertaining to the physical chemistry aspects of metals refining. At the University of Toronto, Professor Utigard supervised 22 MASc and eight PhD graduates, as well as seven researchers and post-doctoral fellows, along with numerous undergraduate students in the areas of mineral processing, thermodynamics, kinetics and the sustainable extraction and processing of metals.

Professor Utigard held the Gerald R. Heffernan Chair in Materials Processing since 1999, and was a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, as well as a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.

“We are very sad to hear the news of Torstein’s passing,” said Professor Jun Nogami, Chair of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering. “He was not only a colleague and friend, but also a role model in the way he both lived and worked. Our thoughts are with his wife Kathy, and his two sons Eric and Brian.”

“On behalf of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, I wish to express our sincere condolences to Professor Utigard’s family, colleagues and students,” said U of T Engineering’s Acting Dean, Professor Yu-Ling Cheng. “We have lost a valued and respected member of this Faculty. Torstein made significant contributions to this Faculty and to his research community through his teaching and scholarly work. He will be greatly missed.”

A celebration of Professor Utigard’s life will be held on Tuesday, April 17 at 1 p.m. at the Trinity College Chapel (6 Hoskin Avenue) on the University of Toronto’s St. George campus. Donations to the Canadian Cancer Society are being accepted in Professor Utigard’s memory.

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