Some Canadian Engineers

Alexander Graham Bell Mr. Bell is best known as the inventor of the telephone, though he was also an outstanding figure of his generation in the education of the deaf. Bell moved from Edinburgh, Scotland to Boston, Massachusetts, where the first telephone was built. A.G. Bell's parents lived in Brantford, Ontario, where Alex spent time relaxing and thinking. Bell always said that the phone was conceived in Brantford, and born in Boston. After the success of the telephone, Bell spent much time in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, where he worked on projects concerning sound transmission, medicine, aeronautics, marine engineering, and space-frame construction.
	J. Armand Bombardier J. Armand Bombardier developed a practical vehicle to traverse Canada's winter snow. Bombardier's sprocket wheel and track drive system was created in 1935. The ski-doo still uses this drive system today. At the time of its invention, Bombardier was told by suppliers that his belt drive could not be manufactured. This "problem" led to the beginning of one of Canada's largest engineering and manufacturing companies, as Bombardier decided to build the drive himself.
Sir Sanford Fleming Sir. Sanford Fleming arrived in Canada in 1845 at the age of 18. He became the chief engineer of the Intercolonial Railway which linked central Canada with the Maritimes, and was an early advocate of professionalism in engineering. Throughout his exceptional life, Fleming surveyed Canada from Ottawa to the shores of the Pacific, engineered a great railway, and created a worldwide system of Standard Time. With this past year's flooding in Manitoba in mind, it is interesting that in the nineteenth century, Fleming had advised that the city of Winnipeg be located elsewhere to avoid flooding problems.
	Elizabeth Gregory MacGill (Elsie MacGill) was an impressive Canadian because of her accomplishments both in technology and as a woman in an overwhelmingly male profession. MacGill was the first female graduate in electrical engineering at the University of Toronto in 1927. She continued breaking new ground by becoming the first woman to graduate from the University of Michigan in aeronautical engineering. By 1938, MacGill had become the chief aeronautical engineer for Canadian Car and Foundry Company, managing the production of Hawker Hurricane fighters. She was also responsible for the design of the Maple Leaf Trainer, as well as skis and de-icers for the Hurricanes.
R.H. Mitchell, P.Eng. One of PEO's founding fathers, R.H. Mitchell, P.Eng., became PEO's first president in 1922. Chaired by Mitchell, the association's first Council meeting was held August 8-9, 1922. An Executive Committee were appointed at the meeting, and annual membership dues were set at $5.
Photo Credit: Canadian Space Agency	Dr. Robert Thirsk, P.Eng. Biomedical engineer and medical doctor Dr. Robert Thirsk, P. Eng., became the fifth Canadian in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in June 1996. Part of an international team of seven astronauts, he participated in a 17-day mission focusing on life science and microgravity experiments.