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Professor Pierre Jutras is granted the CSAE/SCGR grade of Fellow, in recognition of his outstanding service to the Agricultural Engineering profession. His contributions have been made in the domains of teaching, research, extension, international, industrial, consulting and community activities. Professor Jutras is known to most of us from his work as CSAE/SCGR Society Manager in the past 5 years. The CSAE/SCGR has benefited from the skills and knowledge accumulated from a remarkable career. After graduation from McGill in 1951, Pierre worked with machinery companies in Québec. He completed his Masters' degree at the University of Maine in 1957. He moved on to Research and Extension at the Citrus Research Station associated with the University of Florida. In 1964 he responded to the call to return to Canada and helped establish a Professional Agricultural Engineering Program at Laval University. While at Laval, Pierre provided inspired leadership in evaluating drainage needs as part of the Québec Royal Commission on Agriculture Study. The Québec Government initiated this study in 1966, at a time when Québec was importing nearly half of its food and much animal feed. Pierre's first graduate students participated with him in this study. Professor Jutras' study showed great potential for growing maize and soybeans after drainage improvements on Québec farmlands. In addition to publishing his findings in the official government report, Pierre presented an excellent summary at the 1967 CSAE meeting in Saskatoon. He published "Extent of agricultural drainage needs in Québec" in Canadian Agricultural Engineering, Volume 9, Issue 2, 1967. Pierre came as an Associate Professor to help develop the professional bachelor's degree, post graduate and extension programs at his Alma Mater, Macdonald Campus, in 1968. Then, in 1970, feeling a responsibility to participate more fully in the implementation of some of the recommendations he had made on how to address farm drainage needs, Professor Jutras embarked on a second industrial career. Pierre designed and organized financing for the first Big 'O' plant to produce corrugated polyethylene drainage pipe in Québec. In 1972, with vision for the industry, the farmers and the contractors, Pierre helped establish "Modern Drainage Systems" to produce plastic pipe and Drainmaster Canada to supply drainage machines and laser grade control equipment to contractors. Professor Jutras fostered a competent group of drainage contractors, trained private and government technicians, solicited politicians and civil servants for providing subsidies to farmers, established quality control over drainage materials and drainage installations, importation and construction of drainage machines and laser grade-control systems. He helped establish the Association des Entrepreneurs en Drainage du Québec. He employed Agricultural Engineering students and graduates. Much of Professor Jutras' activity contributed to changing Québec agriculture from a region of high imports of food, feed and machines, to one of greater food self-sufficiency and exportation of grain, meat and agricultural machine and building products. When assured that the industry was in good hands, Pierre returned to Macdonald Campus in 1977. Professor Jutras began his international work in 1983, on a project in Senegal, to develop the Agricultural Engineering Department at the National Institute of Rural Development. Pierre carried on assisting with agricultural development projects in 15 countries. He is author or co-author of 44 articles in refereed journals, and a large number of Engineering and Development project reports. Pierre's life-long contributions were recently recognized through his induction into the Québec Agricultural Hall of Fame, in August 2002. |