Thurb Cushing Scholarship

In memory of Thurb Cushing

Thurb Cushing began his career during the Second World War designing VHF radios at the National Research Council. After a brief stint at Spilsbury-Hepburn, a leading manufacturer of radio communication equipment for the maritime trade, Thurb was hired by NorthWest Tel, the wireless arm of BC Tel. He was put in charge of finding a microwave route for BC Tel from the Alberta border to Vancouver - which became the TD2 Microwave system (that is still in service today).

His contributions to the telecommunications industry in British Columbia were enormous. Not only did he make important technical contributions to BC Tel's wireless infrastructure and help to train a generation of engineers skilled in the development and deployment of toll-quality wireless communications equipment, but his role in establishing Lenkurt Canada as a design and manufacturing operation also laid the seeds for BC's high tech explosion of the 1970's, 80's and 90's. One of the first contracts that John MacDonald and Vern Dettwiler secured for their fledgling company MDA, was to develop an improved operating system for Lenkurt's pioneering System 51 remote monitoring system.

As a memorial to Thurb, an IEEE scholarship was set up in his name. It is still administered by the Vancouver Section.