It was in the year 1931 that Jock was born in the town of Rossland, which is situated in the geographic region of British Columbia. His mother, Judith (née Larson), and his father, Bill McKay, who was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, were the parents of three sons. He was the second of the three sons who were born to them. Because Jock and his siblings were the children of a police officer, their father instilled in them the information and talents necessary to protect themselves against bullies through the use of pugilism combat techniques. Jock’s father was a police officer.
Their mother, Judith, on the other hand, served as a tutor for them in the areas of science and mathematics, and she assisted them with their homework. As a result of her unshakable commitment to the education of her children, she made it a point to ensure that each and every one of her boys attended college, which was an incredibly rare occurrence in those days.
Jock eventually met Denise Miles, the lady who would go on to become the love of his life, after he and his family had lived in a number of smaller places. Before that, Jock had lived in a number of smaller towns. This gathering was held at Trail, which is located in British Columbia.
Jock received a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 1954. He graduated with this degree. It was a degree that he graduated with. During his time in school, he tied the knot with Denise, and shortly after he had his diploma, he started working for Stelco. It was Denise who he was married to. After everything was said and done, he made the decision to accept the post of Director of Research and Development at Stelco, which he remained in until the year 1987, when he retired from the company. Despite the fact that Jock had retired from his prior position, he continued to serve as the Executive Director of Project Bessemer Inc., a steel research partnership, for a period of three years.
From the time he was a little child, he had the ambition to become a scientist who specialized in doing practical research. He was able to accomplish this objective while he was employed at Stelco. He treated the blast furnaces that Stelco owned as if they were his very own large laboratory. He was privileged to have access to them. Jock was the one who was responsible for reimagining the process of continuously annealing steel strip, which is currently the foundation for the construction of annealing facilities all over the world. The fact that Jock was responsible for this is just one of the many remarkable accomplishments that he has accomplished.
Jock and his colleague George Sibakin were able to accomplish a sixty percent increase in the amount of iron that was produced thanks to the re-engineering of the operations for the blast furnace. At the same time, they were able to achieve a fifteen percent reduction in the amount of fuel (coke) that was consumed. Prizes were awarded to both of these ideas by the American Institute of Metallurgical Engineers (AIME), which is an organization that acknowledges exceptional accomplishments in the fields of technology and technological research. Notable accomplishments were recognized with these awards, which were presented to the recipients. Lock served on a variety of technical advisory groups for major universities in Canada throughout his entire professional life.
In addition, he was a member of the Research Council of Canada for the entirety of his professional life. The steel industry bestowed upon him a variety of honors; however, the most significant distinction that he received was a bound book of his monthly bulletins that was presented to him by his staff during his retirement party. This book was the most significant honor that he received after his retirement. It was the most significant accolade that he received that he was awarded this book. The inside of the envelope contained an inscription that read, “Presented to Jock McKay. by the men and women of the Research and Development Department whom he led with distinction, supported with pride, defended with passion, and loved with sincerity.” This was written on the inside of the envelope.
