Wind tunnel testing

Wind engineer Dr. Nicholas Isyumov chose to study engineering at Western in London, his home town, and became interested – in the days before computers – in the use of physical models. His first job, in 1960, was with the Timber Mechanics Section of the Forest Products Laborator in Ottawa. While testing roof trusses, he had many technical discussions with Bill Schriever, a snow engineering expert with the Division of Building Research at the National Research Council. He took a paid leave of absence to return to Western to start a Masters degree, supervised by Alan G. Davenport, researching snow loads on roofs. After a busy year conducting model tests in a water flume to simulate the effect of wind on snow drifting, he returned to Ottawa to resume full-time work. In 1965, Davenport invited him back to Western to work at the new Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory (BLWTL), and complete his snow research to earn a PhD degree. The BLWTL became a world-renowned facility, developing the science of testing models in turbulent winds to detect potential structural instabilities and dynamic responses. The wind tunnel projects included Toronto's CN Tower, CIBC Commerce Court, the Bank of Montreal, Scotia Bank, Canada Trust Centre. International projects included the Sears Building – now the Willis Tower – and McCormick Place in Chicago, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Canary Wharf structures in London, England. Their clients included Skidmore Owings and Merrill in Chicago, Carruthers and Wallace in Toronto.