PROFESSOR REIN LUUS Ph.D, P.Eng.

LUUS, Ph.D, P.Eng., PROFESSOR REIN March 8, 1939 - July 28, 2021 At rest, following a brief battle with pneumonia. Rein was born in Tartu, Estonia, and was the youngest of three of Edgar and Aili Luus, and is remembered by family and friends, colleagues in the academic community, and friends in the Toronto Estonian community. He is survived by his wife, Hilkka, son, Brian, daughter, Niina and her family, sister, Ivi Patterson (David), nieces and nephews, cousins and other family members in Canada, USA, Estonia, Sweden and Finland. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Dr. George Luus. Rein began elementary education in Germany. The family immigrated to Canada in 1949 and Rein graduated from Sault Ste Marie Collegiate. He completed BSc and MSc programs in Chemical Engineering/Engineering Physics at University of Toronto, and a PhD in Chemical Engineering and post graduate studies in optimal control at Princeton University. Rein joined the University of Toronto Department of Chemical Engineering in 1965 as Assistant Professor, advanced to Associate Professor, and to Professor in 1973. Since 2005 he has been Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of Toronto. His many achievements include the Steacie Prize, the ERCO Award in Chemical Engineering, Best Professor Award and Outstanding Teacher Award. Rein's passion was scientific research in the fields of optimization, optimal process control, iterative dynamic programming and mathematical modelling. He published about 200 papers in scientific journals, in refereed conference proceedings, chapters in several books on optimization and co-authored with his thesis supervisor, Professor Leon Lapidus, a book based on his post-doctoral research and a book on his later work in iterative dynamic programming. For his research, Rein had continuous financial support from NSERC for 42 years, and guided many Master's and PhD students. Over the years, Rein shared his scientific insights in consulting engagements with several large companies. Besides his academic interests, Rein enjoyed sailing and learnt to play the violin. In earlier years he played tennis and continued to follow pro tennis. He was a keen squash player at U of T for several years past his retirement. He enjoyed doing sudoku puzzles, collected detailed statistics on items in his life and in the news, and loved feeding the squirrels on his walks in the park. He was an active member of the Estonian EUS fraternity. A Funeral and Celebration of Life will be held at St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 817 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto, ON M4P 2L1. For details and to indicate your intent to attend, please email: reins.funeral@gmail.com