John Alexander Hopps

John Alexander "Jack" Hopps (1919 – November 24 1998) Canadian, was one of the pioneers of the artificial pacemaker and is known as the "father of biomedical engineering in Canada".

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Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he received a B.Sc.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1941. He joined the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in 1942.

Beginning in 1949, he worked with Dr. Wilfred Bigelow and Dr. John Callaghan at the Banting Institute in the University of Toronto, developing the world's first external artificial pacemaker in 1951. (The first internal pacemaker was implanted in a human body by a Swedish team in 1958.)

Hopps was the founding president of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society and the President of the Ontario Heart Foundation (Ottawa Chapter).

In 1985, his autobiography, Passing Pulses, the Pacemaker and Medical Engineering: A Canadian Story, was published.

In 1986, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

References

• NRC, City of Ottawa to Commemorate Local Whose Inventions Helped Saved Millions of Lives Around the World. Retrieved on January 3, 2006.
• In Memorium Dr. John A. Hopps 1919 - 1998. Retrieved on January 3, 2006.