Hugh Fraser Full Interview

Hugh Fraser is an agricultural engineer who grew up in rural Quebec and completed a year as an agriculture student at the University of Guelph before switching into the engineering program there. He attributes his interest in agricultural to his teenage summers working on his family's dairy farm, working field machinery, bailing hay, wrangling steers and picking rocks. His interest in engineering came from his interest in mathematics and science and their applications to baseball statistics, "Magic Brain" Calculators, and board games. While in university, he spent two summers helping to deliver a year's worth of goods to communities on Baffin Island and in northern Quebec, a third working for the Ontario Department of Agriculture conducting surveys to support farmers who were installing tile drainage, and learning to troubleshoot, and a fourth working for a John Deere parts plant in Grimsby. His first job was at the John Deere factory in Welland, reviewing warranty claims, and a year later rejoined the Ministry of Agriculture as the county extension engineer for Brant and Hamilton-Wentworth Counties based in Brantford. He became an expert in Minimum Distance Separation, which stipulates the minimum distances between livestock barns and neighboring homes, transferring the implementation from paper-based rules to electronic computer programs in the '80s. He did work on the post-harvest handling of fruits and vegetables, developing standards for forced-air cooling based on experimental work, and introduced reusable plastic shipping containers to the agriculture industry in Ontario. He mediated disagreements between farmers and their neighbours, in accordance with the Ontario Farming and Food Production Protection Act, and also worked with the Ontario Dead Animal Disposal Act. In retirement, his interviews with farmers between St. Catherines and Beamsville about their irrigation needs, has led to a proposal to create a pressurized pipeline system to irrigate grapes, tender fruit, and other crops. He is currently President of Ontario Barn Preservation, an organization that finds ways to save old barns, has written a book on old barns, and is currently working on a second book. He describes the transitions in his professional career, offers advice to high school students considering a career in engineering, and presents a list of 13 recommendations to new engineering graduates who want to improve their careers.