Silvester, P. P. (Peter Peet)

• Silvester, Peter Peet

Peter (Peet) Silvester, born January 1935 in Tallin, Estonia, was the only son of Helga Peet Silvester and Robert Silvester. When he was 12 years old, Peter Silvester immigrated with his mother to Canada. They settled in Edmonton, Alberta, where he attended the Victoria Composite High School from which he graduated in 1952. Later, Peter Silvester moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. Following his graduation in 1956, Peter Silvester went on to obtain his Masters in Applied Science from the University of Toronto in 1958. At this time, he married his wife, Elisabeth. In 1964, Peter Silvester obtained his PhD from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Silvester remained at McGill University until 1995, when he retired and moved to Victoria, British Columbia where he passed away in October of 1996.

Dr. Silvester’s professional career began in 1957 when he was hired as a Senior Demonstrator at McGill University. Over the next few years, Dr. Silvester progressively moved to more senior positions, which included receiving tenure in 1971 and full professorship in 1972. He also held administrative posts as the chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering and established the department’s Computational Analysis and Design Laboratory. Aside from his term at McGill University, Dr. Silvester held several appointments as a visiting lecturer, researcher and fellow at universities in London (UK), Florence and Grenoble. Dr. Silvester also played a key role in developing and launching Canada’s first degree program in computer engineering. Other career highlights include his role as the founding director of Infolytical Corporation, a software firm engaged in the development and marketing of finite element software for the use in electrical engineering industry, and his consulting work with various public and private organizations, such as General Electric, Xerox, National Research Council and Rutherford Laboratory, to name a few. Following his retirement from McGill University in 1995, Peter and Elisabeth Silvester moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where he held an honorary professorship at the University of British Columbia and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria. He held both these positions up until his death.

Peter Silvester is best known for his research on the Finite-Element Method (FEM) and his contributions toward the development of numerical-modeling methods applied to electro-magnetic problems. Additionally, his early work on eddy currents also earned him a gold medal at the first Pan-American Conference on Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. This, along with other research, led Dr. Silvester to work with a small group of researchers on the area of using high-speed computers as a tool for use in engineering design, and ultimately to the development of software engineering. Dr. Silvester wrote and co-authored several books as well as articles, all based upon his research. His fundamental book, “Finite Elements for Electrical Engineers” is commonly regarded as the standard reference book in its field, and has been translated into four different languages. He was also the editor of six other books and the journal Electrosoft, a publication for work in software for electrical engineering applications. In 1994, Dr. Silvester was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada for his contributions and service in the field of computational and electrical engineering. He was also awarded the Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (New York) and the Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (London). From 1965 until his death, Dr. Peter Silvester had a long and distinguished career as a teacher, mentor and researcher.

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