Alexander Beverly Thornton-Trump
B.A. Sc. (1964), UBC
M.A.Sc. (1967) Waterloo
Ph.D. (1973) Waterloo
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Manitoba, Canada
Additional Certificates and Courses
Automotive Accident Reconstruction Certificate University of Southern Cal. Dissection Anatomy Course, U of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine Physiology for Engineers, U of M, Electrical Engineering Industrial Design Institute Certificate Course, U of M Microelectronics, U of M Electrical Engineering 92
Professional Society Memberships
Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society Canadian Society for Biomechanics American Society for Engineering Education Society of Automotive Engineers Fellow of the Society for Intelligent Robotics and Engineering Systems Member of APEM
Research Experience:
Over twenty-seven years, over $ 750,000.00 have been brought in, both as an individual and as co-investigator. This funding has led to the graduation of more than a dozen students at the M. Sc. and Ph. D. level. Of the twelve, five have gone on to take their Ph. D. at various institutions including the University of Waterloo. Research publications have included more than a dozen in journals that include the Journal of Biomechanics, the ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics, the International Journal of Engineering Education and the International Journal of Control. In addition to the above, many papers have been presented at conferences.
Of particular interest is the fact that publications cover a very large spectrum of the discipline of Mechanical Engineering. Fluid mechanics, stress analysis, dynamics of human locomotion, human factors of computer software, undergraduate teaching and of course, automatic control are all areas where journal publications have resulted from research. It is because of this breadth of activity that an understanding of the differences and similarities of research in various areas was developed.
Teaching Experience
The first subjects taught while attaining my Ph.D. were polymer processing and fluid mechanics. A graduate course in turbulent boundary layer behaviour and undergraduate courses in fluid mechanics constituted the early teaching career. Shortly after arriving at the University of Manitoba, courses in undergraduate mechanics of machines were developed. An elective course in mechanism synthesis was developed and taught, and a new course in stress analysis was developed. In the last decade courses and laboratories in Automatic Control were developed and taught. A new course in Automotive Engineering Design 25.481 has most recently been developed. Introduction to Industrial Engineering was altered to include projects where groups of four students perform a feasibility study on establishing a world-scale plant to manufacture products in Manitoba. Each group researches a different product, interacts with local companies and submits a report worth 50% of their course grade.
In the graduate area, the courses have included turbulent boundary layer development, biomechanics, passenger safety aspects of heavy vehicle design and classical stress analysis.
Several awards for teaching have been received over the years, including the SAE Teeter Award . I have twice been the recipient (1994 and 1995 ) of the award for most influential undergraduate teacher, as selected by a top graduating student in the Department. For many years, I have been advisor to Design course groups two of which have won first prize in Canada-wide competition. I have also been advisor to the SAE student competition design teams that build vehicles to compete with team from North America and beyond. (No first prizes have yet been won by the teams I have supervised, though U of M has won a first prize for its 1973 car with Prof Chant and Prof Alexander as Advisors..)
Industrial Experience
1989 Design and development of a work boot tread for the Construction Safety Association of Ontario 1985 Development of a Gas Cloud Dispersion Prediction System for DND and Emergency Preparedness Canada 1984 Development of computer system and design, Trump Industrial, Ala. USA 1979 Development of a rail boxcar metal recovery system for Mandak Metals 1965 Research and Development group, Dupont of Canada, Kingston, Ont. Much earlier manufacturing experience was gained during summer work with Trump Ltd. in B.C. manufacturing aircraft de-icing equipment and a full range of orchard equipment in the Okanogan valley. Several products designed there are now still manufactured by Allied Equipment here in Winnipeg. De-icers were sold over the world. During this time I witnessed many other successful new products developed. In later years I designed elements of several new products as well as working in product testing and evaluation with DND inspection teams. This previous design and fabrication experience has led to the sharing of the teaching of the Engineering Design course 25.486 This information is posted in hopes of attracting governments and industry to the considerable resources and facilities that exist at the University of Manitoba for research activities if you require further information please E-mail: Dr. A. B. Thornton-Trump