Written by Floyd Toole (BScE'60)

I just read the latest Alumni News Direct, about two people who figured significantly in my life and career: James Dineen (BScE’40, MScE’45) and Kenneth Cox (BScE’42, DSc’75). 

As an undergraduate electrical engineering student in 1957-58, I had summer jobs with NBTel, one of which involved setting up and testing backup power supplies at microwave repeater sites. This was advanced technology at the time — as mentioned in the piece about Ken Cox, for whom I worked part of the time. I remember him as a friendly, accessible supervisor who provided helpful guidance to me when I was not yet certain where my life would lead. My Interest developed to the point where, at his suggestion, I applied for a summer job at Bell Canada in Montreal the next year, and I did the same the last summer as a student. I recall being paid as an engineer, even though I had no degree at the time — I was doing well, and Bell wanted me to stay on after graduation, with the potential of climbing the corporate ladder. 

I graduated with a BSc in electrical engineering in 1960, with excellent grades and was debating my future — carry on with Bell or pursue post-graduate studies. One day, Dean Jim Dineen invited me to his office to discuss my future. His guidance was that I should continue my education and, more than that, apply for scholarships. He was a remarkable advisor. I applied for two: the Beaverbrook Overseas Scholarship and the Athlone Fellowship. I got both and chose the Beaverbrook because it seemed a little more generous. I chose Imperial College because it offered a strong program in transistor circuit design, and the prospect of living in the UK was enticing. The transistor had just been invented, and I thought it would be good to be at the forefront of this new technology. 

When I arrived to register for my studies, I was told in a crude, matter-of-fact manner that the course had been oversubscribed and that those from the “colonies” would have to find something else to study. As a 22-year-old, alone in a foreign country, being rejected from my chosen career path was a true test of my character. I persevered and, luckily, encountered a just-retired professor, Dr. Colin Cherry, whom I had read about in the course of my audio hobby. He was interested in stereo and binaural hearing — how two ears and a brain perceive a three-dimensional acoustic world as a unified whole — and in sound localization. In stereo, it was to explain how sounds could appear to “float” between the two loudspeakers. I was intrigued, and he encouraged me to think about it. My advantage, according to him, was that I could design transistor and tube circuits to generate special signals to interrogate the hearing system in ways that traditional experimental psychologists had not been able to. He was right. 

While this was happening, I was falling in love with my future wife, whom I had met on arrival at Heathrow airport and who was also on a Beaverbrook Overseas Scholarship, a one-year educational scholarship. She had studied at UNB, but had no degree. We courted and were married on the last day of her scholarship, as two scholars could not marry. Her last course ended at 2 p.m., and we were married at 5 p.m. We were happily married for 58 years before she passed away in 2019 after a long illness. I have remarried.

My research at Imperial College was successful: three papers were published, and I was invited to join the National Research Council as a research scientist after receiving my PhD in 1965. My research there was also successful, and it helped establish the nucleus of the Canadian loudspeaker industry, which is now a significant factor in the global marketplace. As a result of my contributions to the understanding of loudspeaker technology and psychoacoustics, I was headhunted in 1991 to become Corporate vice-president of acoustical engineering for Harman International in California, the world's largest audio company. In addition to my prime job, I set up and managed a research group to continue the NRC research. It resulted in a measurement protocol for describing loudspeaker performance that is now the world standard. One for headphones followed. All is described in books I have authored, all translated into Chinese and now in their fourth edition. Sound Reproduction: the Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers, Rooms and Headphones, this time with my fellow researchers, Olive and Welti, as co-authors. 

So, one way or another, UNB and its graduates have played significant roles in my life. I have not been active in alumni activities, but I never forget UNB and hesitate to promote it. As I sit here in Ottawa at 87 years old, having returned to my roots, I am very satisfied with my career and life. I have established a perpetual scholarship to help other students at UNB have the opportunities I had. As a recent title of an Alumni News item said, “the world needs more UNB.” 

Thanks for stimulating some rewarding memories.