Wikipedia

Clement Bowman

Clement Willis Bowman CM FCAE PEng (January 7, 1930 – October 7, 2021) was a Canadian chemical engineer, the founding chairperson of the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority. He was a Member of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Global Energy Prize.[1][2][3]

Clement Bowman
Born
Clement Willis Bowman

(1930-01-07)January 7, 1930
Toronto, Ontario
DiedOctober 7, 2021
(aged 91)
Sarnia, Ontario
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
OccupationChemical Engineer
EmployerImperial Oil Limited
Known forFounding chairperson of Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority
Member of the Order of Canada
Laureate of the Global Energy International Prize
Inductee of the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame
Parent(s)Clement Willis Bowman Sr.
Emily Bowman
Scientific career
FieldsChemical engineering
ThesisMass transfer from disperse particles. (1960)
Websiteclembowman.info

Career

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After graduating from the University of Toronto as a chemical engineer in 1952, Bowman worked for several years with DuPont Canada on the production of nylon in Kingston, Ontario.[4][5] He then returned to the University of Toronto in 1957 for postgraduate work. In 1958, he attained a MASc and then a PhD in 1961.[5]

After receiving his PhD, Bowman joined Imperial Oil Limited, an affiliate of Exxon Corporation, at the Esso Research Centre in Sarnia, Ontario. In 1964, he was assigned to a test of bitumen separation on the oil sands formation in Alberta.[4] He worked for Syncrude Canada Limited for the next six years, conducting studies on the molecular and interfacial properties of the oil sands and the mechanism of the Clark hot water separation process, leading to a paper presented at the Seventh World Petroleum Congress in Mexico City in 1967.[6]

In the late 1960s the government of Alberta decreased the rate of oil sands development, and Bowman returned to Imperial's research department in Sarnia,[3] and was later promoted to senior researcher.[3]

In 1975, Bowman was appointed the first chairperson of the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA).[7] AOSTRA is a crown corporation with a fund of US$100 million (worth US$600 million today).[8] He was responsible for starting a project to obtain access to the deep oil sands deposits by sinking a shaft and drilling horizontal wells by directional drilling, now the basis of the widely adopted method of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD).[9]

In 1984, Bowman returned to Imperial Oil as Vice President—Research of its division Esso Petroleum Canada, with responsibility for the Sarnia Research Centre.[10] In 1986, he returned to Alberta as President of the Alberta Research Council, an Alberta crown corporation. At the Council, he led the organization into joint research ventures with the private sector, with the oil sands and their environmental issues remaining a priority.[11] He left the Alberta Research Council in 1991 to open his own consulting practice.[12][better source needed] In 1989, five years after leaving AOSTRA, he received the Karl Clark Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to AOSTRA,[4] and the funds led to a $10,000 endowment to the University of Alberta for a scholarship in his name.[13][14]

Bowman was a key adviser to Premier Lougheed on energy issues throughout the 1970s and 1980s.[15]

In 1991, Bowman developed a decision-making methodology, called ProGrid, based on the work of Alex Lowey and Phil Hood in their book The Power of the 2×2 Matrix. AOSTRA used it for practical decisions such as selecting research projects, choosing corporate strategies,[16][17] and making decisions on proposals, grant applications and awards in a number of Canadian research institutions and Centres of Excellence, such as Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Centres of Excellence.[18][19][20]

From 2005 to 2015, Bowman chaired the Energy Pathways Task Force for the Canadian Academy of Engineering, which published four reports and two books and held many workshops presenting energy options for Canada.[21][22] He received the CAE Distinguished Service award in 2007 for his work on the task force.[20]

Recognitions and awards

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During his career, Bowman held the office of President or Chairperson at the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, the Chemical Institute of Canada, and the Canadian Research Management Association.[23] He received University of Toronto's 25-year Meritorious Service Medal in 1977.[4] In 1991, he received the Canadian Research Management Association's Medalist Award and the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Award. He was a Member of the National Research Council and served on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Association for the World Petroleum Congresses. In 1993, he became an Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, and in 1994 was installed as a Member of the Order of Canada.[24] In 2014, he was selected as an Honorary Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.[25]

Bowman was awarded the 2008 Global Energy International Prize by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.[5][26]

In 2010, the University of Western Ontario named a CA$50 million national centre for technology commercialization, the Bowman Centre for Sustainable Energy, after him.[27] The Bowman Centre is housed at the university's Western-Sarnia-Lambton Research Park campus.[28] In 2015, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce presented the Canada’s Resources Champion Award to the Bowman Centre.[29]

Bowman was inducted to the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame in 2013.[9]

  •  
    2008 winners of the Global Energy International Prize Clement Bowman and Oleg Favorsky at a press conference in 2008.
  •  
    President Medvedev and Bowman at the podium

Personal life

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Bowman was born on January 7, 1930, in Toronto, Ontario.[5] After high school, he enrolled in the University of Toronto where he graduated as a chemical engineer in 1952, and later earned his MASc and PhD.[5]

After his retirement, Bowman lived in Sarnia. He remained active with the Bowman Centre and was named to the Mayor’s Honour’s List in 2008. Bowman died in Sarnia on October 7, 2021, at the age of 91.[30][31]

Publications

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  • Intangibles: Exploring the Full Depth of Issues, FCIC, Grafiks Marketing & Communications, ISBN 0-9739339-0-9

References

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  1. ^ "Environmental solutions are critical to oil sands future". Global Energy International Prize. June 15, 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2010. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  2. ^ "39th Parliament, 2nd Session". Parliament of Canada. May 5, 2008. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Movers & Shakers" (PDF). The PEG. December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d Pasternak, I.S. (June 1991). "C.W. (Clem) Bowman, FCIC: for the love of research. - The Free Library". Canadian Chemical News. Chemical Institute of Canada. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Clement Bowman (Canada) 2007". The Global Energy Association. 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  6. ^ Bowman, C. W. (April 2, 1967). "Molecular and Interfacial Properties of Athabasca Tar Sands. -- Paper presented at the 7th World Petroleum Congress". Mexico City, Mexico: OnePetro: WPC-12257. Retrieved October 10, 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Yakabuski, Konrad (April 6, 2013). "Wanted: Vision and the latest oil sands extraction methods". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  8. ^ Hester, Annette; Leah Lawrence. "Project: Public-private for innovation and export diversification and upgrading" (PDF). United Nations. p. 22. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  9. ^ a b "Clement Willis Bowman". Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  10. ^ "Dr. Clement Bowman". University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  11. ^ Boswell, Randy (April 30, 2008). "'National will' required to make oilsands development sustainable: expert". Dose.ca. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  12. ^ "Progrid.ca - All you need to know about Progrid".
  13. ^ "Dr CW Bowman Scholarship in Chemical Engineering - ScholarshipsCanada.com!". ScholarshipsCanada.com. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  14. ^ "Dr CW Bowman Scholarship in Chemical Engineering - Canadian Scholarships". www.canadian-universities.net. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  15. ^ Boswell, Randy (April 30, 2008). "Oilsands could 'hit a wall,' expert warns PM". The Calgary Herald.
  16. ^ "Caprice Versus Standardization in Venture Capital Decision Making" Brent Mainprize, Kevin Hindle, Brock Smith, and Ron Mitchell, The Journal of Private Equity Winter 2003, Vol. 7, No. 1: pp. 15-25 doi:10.3905/jpe.2003.320060 [1]
  17. ^ "Clement Bowman, Energy leader". The Globe and Mail. September 30, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2021. Mr. Bowman is currently chairman of the board at ProGrid Ventures Inc., a project he developed - ProGrid is a creative evaluation method to measure intangible concepts like beauty, intelligence and art in order to assist companies with key evaluations, the marketing of new technologies and strategic decision making.
  18. ^ "Alternative Technologies to Transform Biomass into Energy" (PDF). Western Sarnia-Lambton Research. December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  19. ^ Bowman C W. Intangibles : exploring the full depth of issues. WorldCat. OCLC 62129890.
  20. ^ a b Babbin, Malcolm (June 2008). "WINNER OF GLOBAL ENERGY INTERNATIONAL PRIZE SAYS ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS CRITICAL TO OIL SANDS FUTUR". Automotive Industries.
  21. ^ "Clem Bowman, HFCIC, has been named the first recipient of the Canadian Academy of Engineering Distinguished Service Award for his outstanding leadership of the CAE's Energy Pathways Task Force". Canadian Chemical News. September 1, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  22. ^ "CAE Workshop Pushes "Big" Sustainable Energy Projects". Innovation Anthology. October 12, 2007. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  23. ^ "International Review Committee Members". Government of Alberta. March 6, 2003. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  24. ^ "Order of Canada - Clement W. Bowman, C.M., Ph.D., F.C.I.C., P.Eng". archive.gg.ca. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  25. ^ "Forty-nine new Fellows and two Honorary Fellows inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering" (PDF) (Press release). Canadian Academy of Engineering. June 26, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  26. ^ ""Global Energy Awards Winners Named", Kommersant, Apr. 17, 2008". Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  27. ^ "Dr. Clement Bowman: Looking to the Future" (PDF). SusChemAlliance. Winter 2010–11. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  28. ^ "Western-Sarnia-Lambton Research Park". Western Research Parks. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  29. ^ Morden, Paul (November 13, 2015). "Bowman Centre honoured by Chamber of Commerce". Sarnia Observer. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  30. ^ Morden, Paul (October 7, 2021). "Founder of Sarnia's Bowman Centre has died". Sarnia Observer. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  31. ^ Irwin, Melanie (October 7, 2021). "Bowman Centre founder dies". BlackburnNews.com. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
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