Ken Johnson elected Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Engineering

Ken Johnson, Elected Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE) June 2018

Ken beside the grave of Albert Johnson (no relation) in Aklavik, NWT

Ken Johnson has recently been elected Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), one of the highest professional honours accorded a Canadian engineer. Fellows, such as Ken, have distinguished themselves in different sectors including business, academia and government and in different roles such as business management, executive management, technical, and university faculty. Fellows of the CAE are nominated and elected by their peers (current CAE Fellows) to honorary fellowship in the Academy in view of their distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession.

Individuals can not apply for fellowship in the CAE and, thus, there are no application forms for fellowship. The procedure for nomination and election of fellowship candidates begins with a search by present Fellows of the CAE for outstanding engineers. Ken has made substantial contributions to engineering in Canada, with a significant impact on society in the following areas: • Significant contributions to the promotion of knowledge associated with cold regions engineering through the publication of over 100 papers, articles, and posters over the past 30 years associated with cold regions water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), community planning and the history of northern

development. Ken has been the champion to the dedication of six historic civil engineering projects in the far north over the past 25 years, including the White Pass and Yukon Railway, the Alaska Highway, the Town of Inuvik, and the Iqaluit airfield. Ken was recently awarded the Gordon Plewes Award by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering for his contributions to the study of civil engineering history in Canada.

• Significant contributions to the art and practice of cold region water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in Canada, and internationally (Alaska, and Greenland) through his publications, presentations, and establishing himself as a public intellectual on cold regions water, sanitation, and hygiene, and the history of northern development. Ken’s contributions in this regard have been independently recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) with his recent award of the ASCE Can-Am Civil Engineering Amity Award for three decades of professional services to Cold Regions engineering across northern Canada and Alaska, focusing on infrastructure improvement in remote indigenous communities.

• Significant contributions to organizations associated with the cold regions engineering knowledge, including the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (cold regions technical committee chair, Edmonton Section chair, history committee member, and conference contributor for 30 years), the Northern Territories Water and Waste Association (board member, conference organizer, conference contributor, and magazine editor for life), Western Canada Water (board member, editorial committee member, and regular article contributor on cold regions water and sanitation engineering), the National Research Council of Canada (technical advisor to NRC Arctic Program), and the Canadian Standards Association (member of the Technical Committee on Northern Built Infrastructure, and chair of the working group that developed a northern community drainage standard).

One of his greatest contributions has been the continuous effort over the past 30 years to improve the quality of life in cold regions through development and demonstration of new and better engineering techniques in the fields of water, sanitation and hygiene. His work is widely recognized not only for its technical quality and cost-effectiveness, but also its inclusiveness of local and indigenous expectations.

Ken’s contributions have surpassed what would normally be considered a successful career in water, sanitation, and public health engineering.