"Julian Rowan was born in Edmonton in 1925. Turned down for service in the Air Force for medical reasons, he pursued his interest in aviation by studying plastics engineering at the Plastics Industries Technical Institute in Los Angeles, graduating in 1946. The new material of plastics was rapidly advancing in the field of aircraft production. He established Rowan Industrial Designs in Toronto in 1952. In 1962 he was a founding partner of Dudas Kuypers Rowan, later known as KAN Industrial Designers, the longest running industrial design firm in Canada. Rowan retired from the firm in 1969."