Three years ago, I wrote how Leaside’s Research Enterprises Ltd. (REL) helped defeat Hitler and fascism by becoming one of the largest producers of radar equipment for the Allied war effort [“How Leaside helped win World War II,” Leaside Life, June 2022]. I omitted mentioning, however, the person most responsible for this achievement: Frank Pounsett was a Leaside resident for over 50 years and one of Canada’s most important and respected engineers.
Born in 1904 in London, England, Frank came to Toronto with his parents when he was still a boy. From the very beginning, he loved everything about radios – even operating his own amateur radio station as a teen. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in electrical engineering, he became an expert in radio receivers and car radios – serving companies such as Ford and Chrysler and designing the first car radio for General Motors Canada. By the late 1930s, he was chief engineer at a major car-parts company in Belleville, Ont.
Given his extensive experience in radio technology, Frank was recruited by REL to run its top-secret radar department soon after World War II began. Moving back to Toronto, he bought a house at 23 Parkhurst Blvd. where he lived for the rest of his life. At REL, he oversaw the work of 450 engineers, most of whom were involved in designing and building radar units for Great Britain and the US.
Filling a need
At the time of his appointment, there were no radar models available in Canada on which REL could base its production design. Frank travelled to Washington, DC, and personally photographed and sketched pictures of a British radar unit there – the only one in North America. Returning to Toronto, he built a radar model so accurate that Canadian engineers used it to make the blueprints that enabled REL to begin production. By the end of the war, REL had produced more than 9,000 radar units and optical equipment valued at over $200 million. In recognition of his wartime achievement, Frank was named a fellow of the Institute of Radio Engineers in 1947 at a ceremony in New York City.
Following the war, Frank served as chief engineer at Stromberg Carlson Co. Ltd. (1945-52); chief engineer and then vice president at Philips Electronics in Leaside (1952-67); and Dean of the Engineering, Technology Division, at Centennial College (1967-71). Throughout this period, he was also deeply engaged in the community life of Leaside. He was a founding member of Leaside Presbyterian Church and an active member of the Leaside Rotary Club. Both his sons attended Leaside High School, and his wife Margaret also participated in community life.
In 1990, the University of Toronto Engineering Alumni Association inducted Frank into its Hall of Distinction. Passionate about radio electronics to the end, one of his last acts was to tap out a Morse code message to a friend. He died in 1997 and is buried with his wife at St. John’s Norway Cemetery in the Beaches area of Toronto.
Frank Pounsett – a man dedicated to his profession, his community, and his country.
