Person

Howes, Frederick Stanley, 1896-

born 1896

F. S. Howes was born in Paris, Ontario. After serving as a signaller and wireless operator in World War I, he entered McGill University, graduating with honours in electrical engineering in 1924 and earning an M.A. in 1926. Howes then went to Imperial College of the University of London, where he received a Ph.D. for a thesis on the subject which would be his life-time research interest, acoustics. He joined the staff of McGill's Electrical Engineering Department in 1929 as a Lecturer, rising to the rank of Associate Professor in 1946 and Professor in 1956. Besides teaching courses in radio engineering, radar and related topics, Howes organized evening graduate programmes in engineering; this activity led to his appointment as Director of McGill's Extension Department (1949-1960). Howes also acted as a consultant to government and industry on acoustical, radio and television problems and to McGill and Sir George Williams Universities on sound levels in buildings. He succeeded in incorporating a sound-proof (anechoic) chamber as an acoustic laboratory into the design of the McConnell Engineering Building. Finally, Howes campaigned for collective bargaining rights for engineers in his capacity as chairman of the Canadian Council of the Institute of Radio Engineers (1948), and he helped to organize the CAUT and MAUT, serving as president of both bodies. He retired from McGill as Emeritus Professor in 1964.