A former Rimbey-area resident will be receiving a very prestigious award from the University of Alberta.
Dr. Garry M. Lindberg, formerly of the Hoadley district, will be receiving the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award at a ceremony later this month. It is in recognition of his many years of work with the Canadian Space Agency and more specifically, the development of the Canadarm, which has become an integral part of both the Space Shuttle Program and the Space Station.
“I was the project manager of the Canadarm for the Space Shuttle Program,” Lindberg said from his summer home near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia during a telephone interview last week. “Now there is a Canadarm II which is on the Space Station. The original is still flying on the space shuttles and you can often see the Canadarm I taking something out of the payload bay of the orbiter and handing it off to Canadarm II to put somewhere on the Space Station.”
In looking back, Lindberg said he was thrilled to be part of the cutting-edge technology of the time and the planning and development of both the Space Shuttle and the Space Station, along with the contributions made to the programs by Canadians.
“It was a very exciting time dealing with the National Auronotics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US, the other international partners, dealing with companies across Canada and then having to deal within government to get all the approvals and all the funding, so it was a busy time; an exciting time and a fun time,” he said.
“It is considered the most complex sub-system of the orbiter vehicle and has performed flawlessly over these years, so it really is a Canadian engineering and science icon,” Lindberg added. “It’s used as the example of what Canadian engineers and scientists can do.”
In making their selection for the award, the U of A said Lindberg was at the forefront of one of the most outstanding accomplishments by Canadian scientists in the realm of space technology and was a pioneer in Canada’s Space Program.
After graduating from the university, he received an Athlone Fellowship to attend Cambridge University, where he completed his PhD in engineering mechanics. When he returned to Canada in 1964, he joined the National Aeronautical Establishment of the National Research Council (NRC).
In 1974, Dr. Lindberg was named project manager of the Space Shuttle Attached Remote Manipulator System – better known as the Canadarm which many in the field say is the most well known Canadian accomplishment in space. Making its debut on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1981, the Canadarm enabled the country to become a major player in human space flight and a leader in robotics innovation.
Dr. Lindberg went on to serve as the director of the National Aeronautical Establishment, where he oversaw the creation of the Canadian Astronaut Program. He became the executive director of the space division of the NRC in 1986 and played a key role in establishing the Canadian Space Agency in 1989, serving as its vice-president of research and applications until his retirement in 1997.
While he has enjoyed a long and productive time working on various projects involving human space flight, Lindberg said his work of the Canadarm was the highlight of his career.
“Certainly, that was one. Helping to establish the Canadian Astronaut Program was fun, getting involved with creating the Canadian Space Agency and working there for 10 years was another significant chapter in my life and of course, before I got involved with the Canadarm, I did some aerospace engineering research at the National Research Council for the first 10 years of my working career, so I’ve had a number of interesting opportunities and challenges in my life but if I had to single one out, it would probably be the Canadarm,” he said.
And while his career has taken him to many places throughout the world, Lindberg said he has never forgotten his prairie roots and how important his early education was in paving the way.
“I’m very pleased and glad I’ve got my farming roots,” he said. “I was raised north of Rimbey near Hoadley and went to a one-room country school until it closed and then was bussed into Bluffton. It was a great start to life coming out of a farming background.”
Retired for the past 10 years, Lindberg now lives in Ottawa and said he still avidly follows various space programs and enjoys traveling with his wife in his spare time.
Lindberg will be one of seven individuals to receive the award at a ceremony to be held this Thursday in Edmonton and added that while he still has many friends in the area, he will not be paying a visit to Rimbey during this trip, but has returned to his roots on previous trips back to Alberta.
As for the award itself, Lindberg said it will be an honour to be acknowledged by his alma mater.
“This is a very significant one because where you start your higher education is a major step, so it’s really nice to be recognized by the University of Alberta,” he concluded.