Doug Chapman

Douglas Gerald Chapman, P.Eng.(SM), PhD., FEC, Past President of EGM (1994)

Doug Chapman became registered with the Association on March 5, 1974, and has been an active member with the Association ever since. He was the inaugural chair of the Heritage Committee in 2007 and has continued to support its activities and efforts to preserve the Association’s Heritage.

Education

Doug was born in 1946 and grew up and was first educated in West Kildonan area of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Dr. Chapman obtained his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1968 (Gold Medal winner) and a Ph.D. in Automatic Control from the University of London and a DIC (Diploma of the Imperial College of Science and Technology) in 1973.

Doug was attracted to engineering though his uncle Ken Chapman, B.Sc. (EE), University ofManitoba 1949, who was the engineer in charge of the Viscount aircraft with Air Canada in Winnipeg at the time, later to become chief engineer at Air Canada in Montreal. He also had a long-time interest in electronics (kits from Heathkit, in particular) and physics.

Doug's summer positions were at Manitoba Telephone System (MTS) and then antenna engineering at the National Research Council of Canada (Ottawa). During his last few years at the U of M he took up flying at the Winnipeg Flying Club and continued it while in Ottawa.

His travel to the UK was supported by an Athlone Fellowship (this was support provided by the British Government to support British industry by making Canadian engineers aware of such). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlone_Fellowship He had later support from Canada through the National Research Council and his wife.

Manitoba Hydro Career

Doug worked over 35 years in power system planning and operation with Manitoba Hydro as Principal Planning Engineer, HVdc and System Controls, System Planning and, at the end of his career, Manager, System Performance. He retired from Manitoba Hydro in 2004.

Post Manitoba Hydro Career

For several years, starting in 2006, Doug worked part-time for TransGrid Solutions, Inc., a Winnipeg based power system consulting company – with involvement in projects in New Zealand, Chile, northern USA and Canada, related to HVdc transmission and to generation control.

Association Activities

Since joining EGM, Doug has had significant involvement in many EGM committees. Doug has served on Council, the Executive & Finance Committee, the Board of Examiners, the Awards Committee, the University Liaison Committee, the Nominating Committee, the Salary Research Committee, the Research and Development Committee, the Investigation Committee, the Heritage Committee, the Academic Review Committee, the Appeal Committee and was President for the Association in 1994. Doug was recognized for his long service and was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in 2011. https://www.enggeomb.ca/pdf/Awards/Received/2011_HonoraryLifeMembership.pdf

Professional Activities

Doug was a past director of Engineers Canada and is a Life Member of the IEEE. He was an adjunct professor at the University of Manitoba and a past member and chair of a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Grant Selection Committee. He is the joint author of over 15 IEEE, Cigre´, and EPRI publications.

Personal Background

Doug has been married to Monica since 1971. They have two sons, Stephen, a civil engineer with KGS in Winnipeg, with wife Jen, an engineer with the Province of Manitoba (Highways) and two grandsons; and Michael, a doctor in Vancouver, with wife Maggie, working in risk management, a granddaughter and grandson.

He and Monica have undertaken several interesting overseas trips. He has filled his time with activities with his grandchildren, maintaining the family cabin at Laclu, Ontario fixing whatever comes his way, woodworking and computing[GC1.1],

Volunteering and Community

Since retirement Doug has volunteered annually for the Christmas Cheer Board of Winnipeg – working on the hamper production line. Doug continues to give back to EGM and remains involved in many committees and undertakes whatever task comes his way.