Professor Emeritus Gordon R. Slemon (ECE), former Dean of U of T Engineering, was a visionary engineer. He recognized the need and market for electric cars and magnetic trains long before they were considered “green.”
Recognized worldwide as an authority on the analysis, design and development of electric machines and controlled drive systems, his main research focus was magnetics as applied to electric machinery. He made major contributions to the development of permanent magnet motors and high-speed, magnetically levitated and propelled interurban vehicles.
As Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering at U of T from 1966 to 1976, and Dean from 1979 to 1986, he was loud and clear in his warnings that government funding cuts were resulting in universities that were ill-equipped to provide training on modern equipment with modern techniques.
“We in engineering schools are woefully short of resources because of budget constraints,” he told The Globe and Mail in 1982. “We need to get into arrangements which are income earners because we’re not getting the resources we need from the provincial government.”
Professor Slemon passed away on September 26 at the age of 87. The Globe and Mail takes a closer look at the legacy he leaves behind.
