Commander James Patrick Hutton - University of Victoria

Graduate Studies at the University of Victoria

Quality Time with Grandpa in Victoria 1986

UVic Graduate Student in 1979

When I started at RRMC in 1979 there was an adjustment period as I adapted to a rigorous academic program. Although I was never in jeopardy of failing I was closer to the bottom of the class than to the top. However, over the following three years I rapidly increased my standing and by the end of third year I was well established as one of the top three in my class. The final results in fourth year had me virtually tied in first place and I graduated with Distinction.

Early in my fourth year, I was very much enjoying the academic run I was on and I didn't want it to stop. So I applied for a little known military program - Post Graduate Training on Scholarship (PGTS). This program was really a long shot in that they only selected one candidate for the program every two or three years. Well, to my surprise, I not only landed the Prestigious Scholarship required to qualify for the program, I was accepted into the program. I believe I was the first candidate they accepted in 3 years.

In September 1979 I began a program of study in the Physics Department at the University of Victoria. I was also fortunate to secure a sponsor for my research project. Defence Research Pacific (DREP), hired me to research intricacies of underwater acoustics in ice covered waters. I found myself the envy of other graduate students because DREP provided me the the latest in sophisticated test equipment and secured the use of the Psychology department's Anechoic chamber to conduct my research.


Psychology Dept Anechoic Chamber		Nicolet Spectrum Analyzer		Sound Source in Anechoic Chamber

Above are photos of my equipment setup in the anechoic chamber. It involved a rotating sound source above various irregular surfaces that emulated the underside of sea ice in the arctic. The reflected sound was picked up by sensitive microphones and analyzed with a spectrum. The objective of my research was to determine the best signal processing technique for tracking moving sound sources in the presence of irregular surfaces that you find in ice covered Arctic waters.

Master of Science 1981

My studies at UVic weren't all fun - there was also a demanding academic program that I had to complete in order to graduate. I recall one course that was particularly demanding - Electromagnetic Field Theory. At the beginning of the year the Professor said, I thought jokingly, that this course required students to bring a lunch to exams. Well, he wasn't joking. For the Christmas exam I wrote for five (5) hours and wasn't the last one finished and at the final exam I wrote for over six (6) hours.

After completing all course requirements and defending my thesis before a Board of Academic Scholars, I was awarded a Master of Science degree at the University of Victoria Fall Convocation in 1981. However this wasn't the end of my academic studies. I still had another two years of engineering studies in the Navy, before I could to the job I had been waiting to do since beginning my studies at NSIT in 1974.