Professor McClure joined McGill University’s Department of Civil engineering and Applied Mechanics in 1991. She studied civil engineering at École Polytechnique de Montréal (B.Eng. 1980), and after some professional practice, she completed her master’s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SM 1984) and her PhD at École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989. Her doctoral thesis set out a novel computational mechanics modeling approach for the study of transient effects of conductor failures on overhead transmission lines.
Professor McClure returned to Hydro Québec in 1988 and initially managed a research project on conductor ice shedding at their research institute (IREQ). This was the starting point of more than 25 years of collaborative work on this rich topic, including fruitful collaborations with Professor Masoud Farzaneh of UQAC. Her academic record includes training of over 100 research students and more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. With numerous collaborators, students and seasoned researchers, Professor McClure has led and participated in several experimental studies that form a physical basis for ice shedding models amenable to finite element analysis. Her most recent work has closed the loop by modelling ice fragment detachment from conductors, enabling detailed simulations of the transient mechanical response of line sections subjected to various shock loads that cause ice shedding. The practical industrial applications include development of safe field protocols for novel ice shedding methods and design of reinforced towers that withstand the expected dynamic loads.
In 2016, Professor McClure received the Masoud Farzaneh Award for her contributions to computational modelling of ice shedding effects on overhead power lines.
Professor Farzaneh is an IEEE Fellow, IET Fellow, EIC Fellow and CAE Fellow. A specialist in the effects of icing and pollution on power network equipment, he has been President of IEEE DEIS (2013), chair and contributor to IEEE 1783, P1820 and author of 10 position papers related to insulator icing and pollution. He has been Member of CIGRE Canada executive committee, Convenor of CIGRE WG B2.44, B2.29 as well as contributor to TB 179, TB 256, TB 291, TB 322, TB 438, TB 631 and TB 645. He has authored or coauthored about 700 technical papers, 3 books and 15 book chapters. He has served as Professor at the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi, teaching courses related to power engineering, high-voltage and physics of discharges. As mentor, he has trained more than 240 highly qualified personnel, including 47 PhDs, 44 Masters and 38 Postdoctoral. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of IET High Voltage Journal and Convenor of CIGRE B2.69 on Coatings for power network equipment.
His contributions and achievements in research and teaching have been recognized by several prestigious prizes and awards at national and international levels. In recognition of his outstanding contribution and impact, the Masoud Farzaneh Award was established in 2010 by University of Quebec in Chicoutimi in his honour.