With great sadness, the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering was informed that Professor Norman Epstein passed away on the 29th of July.
Norman Epstein was a preeminent scholar, a model mentor, a patron of the arts, a fearless and relentless champion of equality and civility, and a friend to everyone he met. For nearly three quarters of a century, Professor Epstein was the soul of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, a true leader in fostering an inclusive departmental and professional community that supports learning and scholarship, societal and professional service, innovation, and compassion.
He leaves us as one of Canada’s best-known chemical engineers due to his long service to the profession and his many seminal research contributions, particularly in the area of spouted beds, for which he is regarded as a thought leader, as well as heat exchanger fouling, liquid-solid and three-phase fluidization, and dynamic particulate processes such as sedimentation.
His family is planning a memorial in his honour around what would have been his 100th birthday on Dec 6.