Features
The Right Time, the Right Place
After a distinguished career at McGill, clock-collecting engineer relocates to Guelph and finds his timing was just right
BY RACHELLE COOPER
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| Prof. John Gruzleski, who did his PhD with former U of G president Bill Winegard, brings a wealth of knowledge in engineering to his new position at Guelph. Photo by Martin Schwalbe |
Prof. John Gruzleski has no excuse for being late for work. The new director of the School of Engineering has been collecting old clocks for more than three decades, so he's always well aware of what time it is when he's at home.
Out of compassion for his wife, however, he doesn't keep them all going at once.
“Occasionally, I get very enthusiastic and wind up a few,” he says. “One of the things I've always wanted to do is set all the clocks to go off at midnight on New Year's Eve, but I haven't done it because I'd end up with a divorce.”
Gruzleski says his passion for antique clocks probably stems from his interest in engineering. “The only kind of clocks I'm fascinated with are mechanical ones with springs and a whole bunch of gears. Electrical clocks and quartz clocks run by a battery don't interest me at all.”
The oldest clock in his collection dates from 1780, and the newest are from the 1950s. For the past 30 years, he's been raiding antique markets, flea markets and auctions for unique timepieces.
“As you build a collection, you keep looking for the unusual things and they become much more difficult to find,” he says.
Although mechanical, antique clocks are a far cry from Gruzleski's professional area of expertise. Since the early 1970s, he has helped transform the aluminum casting process, which was essential to the automotive industry for making lighter vehicles. His research interest lies in liquid-solid transformation in metals and how knowledge of that transformation can be applied to the casting industry.
“A lot of the technology I developed with my graduate students is used around the world today in aluminum foundries,” he says.
Throughout his prolific career, Gruzleski has published hundreds of scientific papers, articles, books and proceedings and has supervised more than 40 master's and PhD students.
A faculty member at McGill University from 1969 to 2005, he was chair of the department of mining and metallurgical engineering for 11 years and served as dean of engineering from 1999 until he retired in 2005.
He has received several awards and distinctions throughout his career, including the University-Industry Synergy Award and McGill's Engineering Alumni Award for outstanding teaching, and was named a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and of ASM International.
Gruzleski is a member of many professional, technical and scientific societies, including the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the American Foundry Society, and serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Cast Metals Research and Aluminum Transactions.
After retiring from McGill, Gruzleski moved to Guelph with his wife to be closer to family. His roots in the city run deep — both his parents' sides of the family had settled here by 1900. The fact that the School of Engineering was looking for a new director after Gruzleski had already settled in Guelph was “serendipity,” he says. “I wasn't looking for a job, but when this opportunity presented itself to me, I couldn't pass it up.”
He also has strong ties to the University. His father graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College in 1931, and Gruzleski's PhD supervisor at the University of Toronto was Bill Winegard, who would go on to become president and vice-chancellor of U of G.
An early interest in freezing or solidification of metals had led Gruzleski to Winegard, who was “one of the world's gurus in metal solidification.” Gruzleski began his PhD with Winegard in 1965 and continued to be part of his research group after Winegard assumed the presidency of U of G in 1967.
“We used to come up to Guelph every Saturday morning and give him progress reports on our research,” says Gruzleski. “We'd meet at the President's House, and his wife would give us coffee and sandwiches and cookies after the meeting. It was incredibly civilized, and it really worked well.”
Who could have predicted that 40 years later he'd be back on campus in an administrative role? Certainly not Gruzleski, but he says he's happy to be here and excited about having a chance to help the School of Engineering move to its next stage of development.
“The school has an excellent group of programs that have been built from the ground up,” he says. “I'm looking forward to helping develop the existing programs and create new ones.”