Biography

Leonhard Martin Wedepohl

Education and Early Industrial Experience 1953-1964

Martin Wedepohl was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1933. He matriculated from Grey College, Bloemfontein, South Africa in 1949, was awarded the Dux medal as top matriculant and was recipient of the Orange Free State history prize. In 1953 he graduated with the degree B.Sc.(Eng)(Rand) cum laude from the university of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

He joined the British General Electric Company (GEC) in 1954 as a graduate apprentice and during the period 1954 to 1957 was with A. Reyrolle in the North of England as a research engineer. During this time he developed the world's first transmission line protection system based on the emerging transistor technology. He was awarded the degree doctor of philosophy (PhD) for this work by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in 1957.

He became the telecommunications planning engineer for the South African Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM) from 1957 to 1961 and was on secondment to GEC in Coventry, England and Brown Boveri in Switzerland until 1959. During this time he was responsible for the specification and design of power line carrier (plc) communication networks in the Rand, Eastern Transvaal and Cape Western undertakings of ESKOM.

After a period as Branch Manager of the Swedish L. M. Ericsson telephone company in Pretoria, South Africa he re-joined A. Reyrolle and Company from 1962 to 1964 as head of protection research and development. During this time he was responsible for the development of a number of solid-state protection systems which were commercially successful.

Academic and Industrial Experience in the United Kingdom 1964-1974

In 1964 he was appointed to the staff of the electrical engineering department of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). He was promoted to senior lecturer in 1966, professor of power systems in 1967 and professor and chairman of department from 1969 to 1974.

His main area of research was in the theory of wave propagation in multi-conductor transmission lines. This theory was used in the solution of a number of problems of importance to engineers concerned with power transmission lines. His lectures at both undergraduate and graduate level have been wide ranging and include electric circuit theory, information theory, analogue electronics, power system protection, wave propagation, electromagnetic field theory, electric machine theory, complex variable theory and engineering analysis.

During his term as chairman of the electrical engineering department at UMIST he created a joint master's

course in electric power transmission, high voltage and machines. This allowed students from UMIST, Liverpool, Glasgow, Leeds, Aston and Brunel to receive common lectures before returning to their host universities. The program, the first of its kind in the UK, was recognized by the Science Research Council who provided significant funding to allow it to become ongoing.

His wide-ranging interests and achievements resulted in consultancy contracts with various companies, most notably the following,

a) A. Reyrolle & Co. Ltd from 1965 to 1974 as power systems protection consultant,

b) GEC from 1966 to 1974 as telecommunications consultant,

c) The North Western region of British Gas from 1966 to 1974 as telecommunications consultant

d) Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) to develop the software for analyzing the transient response of the Kingsnorth-Beddington high voltage direct current cable in the Thames estuary.

e) Brown Boveri Co. as telecommunications consultant.

In this latter role he was instrumental in specifying the power line carrier communications system for the Cabora Bassa high voltage direct current transmission line from the Zambezi River to Pretoria. The transmission line had the unusual feature of having a ground conductor insulated from ground. This was the only way in which a useable communication channel could be established.

From 1970 to 1974 he was the British regular member, study committee 35 telecontrol, of the Conference Internationale Grande Reseaux Electricite (CIGRE). He was chairman of the subcommittee "Mathematical Modeling of Transmission Lines". In 1974 he was appointed to the board of directors of the British National Committee of CIGRE.

He was appointed a member of the Electrical and Systems Engineering Committee of the UK Government's Science Research Council in 1966 and remained a member until his departure from the UK in 1974.

He was the organizer and lecturer of an M.Sc. course in Havana, Cuba, run jointly by UMIST and the universities of Toronto and Waterloo in Canada in 1972.

Academic and Industrial Experience in Canada 1974-1998

In 1974 he became professor and Dean of Engineering at the University of Manitoba, Canada. He was appointed to the Board of Manitoba Hydro Electric Corporation in 1975 and became Vice Chairman and pro tem Chairman of the board from December 1978 to October 1979. His term as Dean was marked mostnotably by the following personal successes,

a) The creation of the Manitoba High Voltage Direct Current Research Laboratory, which has since achieved international recognition, and the Manitoba Micro-Electronics Institute.

b) The successful recommendation to the Government of Manitoba for a major increase in the budget for the faculty of engineering.

c) His role as faculty advisor and sponsor to the students of the Engineering Faculty of the University of Manitoba in a North American engineering student car competition. The Manitoba team won first prize out of 96 universities and several ancillary prizes at the General Motors proving ground at Pontiac Michigan in July 1979.

d) The establishment in 1977 of a series of once-yearly lectures by distinguished speakers at the University of Manitoba.

e) His role as master of ceremonies at the inauguration of Long spruce, a 1000 Mega-Watt hydro electric power station, in Northern Manitoba and also the 1,000,000 Volt direct current transmission line for transmitting power from the Nelson river to Winnipeg.

f) Invited to Japan in 1977 by Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Toshiba to give lectures on the philosophy of the design of transistor electric power protection systems. Culminated in an invited lecture to the Japanese Institute of Electrical Engineers in Tokyo.

g) Establishment of the Manitoba Micro-Electronics Center.

He was appointed Dean of Applied Science at the University Of British Columbia (UBC) from 1979 to 1985. This included the schools of engineering, architecture and nursing. The highlights of this senior position were as follows,

a) He was chairman of the task force which prepared a report for the government of British Columbia on major expansion of the University School of Engineering.

b) He was chairman of the planning committees which specified a new mining engineering building and the building for the western division of the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada.

c) He was appointed as a member of the steering committee which successfully recommended to the Government of British Columbia the establishment of an engineering faculty at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.

d) He argued successfully to the Federal Government for a $15 million grant to the British Columbia Institute of Science and Technology. This led to the establishment of a laboratory for training technologists in the field of robotics.

e) He supervised the development of a computer program for power transmission line simulation for IIE (Institute Investigaciones Electricidade) in Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1981 - 1982.

f) He was appointed a member of the Science Council of British Columbia from 1981 to 1985 and a member of the Arts, Science and Technology Council of British Columbia from 1982 to 1985. The latter led to the establishment of the British Columbia Science Center in Vancouver.

g) He was faculty advisor and sponsor to his students of an international engineering student car competition which won first prize at the World's Fair in Vancouver in 1986.

He was appointed to the board of the British Columbia Hydro Electric Corporation from 1980 to 1984 and chairman of the energy sub-committee of that board. After completing a term as Dean of Applied Science, he became professor in the department of electrical engineering at UBC 1985.

In 1985 he was appointed chairman of a task force by the Federal Minister of State for Science and Technology to make recommendations for the use of a new $35 million dollar building in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His report submitted in 1986 led to the establishment of CIIT (Canadian Institute for Industrial Technology) and established a major presence of the National Research Council in Western Canada.

He was appointed the Canadian Regular Member of CIGRE study committee 35, telecontrol, from 1975 to 1986.

He spent two years in England 1996-1997 as head of protection research and development for the Rolls Royce Industrial Power Division in Newcastle, England. During this time he saw into commercial production a digital protection system for high voltage power lines.

Post Retirement

Upon retirement in 1998 he was conferred with the titles Dean of Applied Science Emeritus and Professor of Electrical Engineering Emeritus at the University of British Columbia. He was appointed an adjunct professor at the University of Manitoba in 2003, a position which he still holds. He is still active in research cooperating with the Manitoba High Voltage Direct Current Research Laboratory, as well as staff and graduate students at the universities of Manitoba and Stellenbosch. He still gives graduate courses at the University of Manitoba.

In 2000 he became the chairman of U2000, an organization which persuaded the government of British Columbia to establish a university at Kelowna in the Okanagan valley. The University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBC-O) admitted its first students in September 2005. He is a member of the board of directors of the Okanagan Partnership in Kelowna, British Columbia, co-chair of the Knowledge Cluster group of that organization and co-chair of the Faculty of Engineering Advisory Committee to UBC-O (University of British Columbia-Okanagan). This committee was successful in persuading the government of British Columbia to establish an engineering faculty at UBC-O and its first engineering students were admitted in September, 2005.

He was contracted by Eskom in South Africa to provide software required to analyze the high frequency performance of the power line carrier communications system of the Cabora Bassa transmission line from Pretoria to the Zambezi river in 1992. This general purpose program is used by Eskom in all its power line carrier communication systems. The programs he developed for simulating the steady state and transient performance of electric power transmission systems are in use by utilities, research institutions, manufacturers and universities in several different countries. He gave advice on the transient performance of the 200 km high voltage direct current undersea cable between the mainland and the island of Tasmania in Australia to a team of engineers in the UK, Italy and Australia in 2004.

International Recognition and Awards

He has given graduate courses in countries throughout Eastern and Western Europe as well as Australia, Singapore, Japan, Egypt, Sudan, Mexico, Brazil and Zimbabwe. He has been on the board of several companies and acted as external examiner in many universities and colleges.

He is the author of more than 30 papers in the Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) in London and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) in New York. He has contributed papers to many conferences around the world. He has supervised a large number of Ph.D. and M.Sc. students to completion.

His principle affiliations and awards are,

a) Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and Chartered Engineer in the UK.

b) Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada.

c) Registered Professional Engineer in the Province of British Columbia.

d) Honorary Citizen of the city of Winnipeg (in recognition of the high esteem in which he is held by the people of Winnipeg, Manitoba).

e) Recipient of the Award of the Bison from the Government of Manitoba (in recognition of his outstanding contribution and service to the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board).

f) Citation from the University of Manitoba Faculty of Engineering Liaison Committee ('Creativity-the man and his credo that helped shape the future of a province').

g) In 2006 he received a Science and Technology Leadership award from OSTEC (Okanagan Science and Technology Center).