sept-2017

42 43 drifting snow, drifting sand, wind, solar impacts, noise – the list goes on. Some of our tools have remained remarkably similar over time; we just moved into a brand-new facility last year and it includes a new open channel water flume, not unlike the one at the university in 1972. But of course, we use much more advanced technology as well.We’ve developed computer software that simulates wind, and we use three-dimensional computer models to conduct wind and envi- ronmental impact studies.We also continue to do lots of model simulations of wind and other environmental impacts using physical models in our five state-of-the-art wind tunnels – three in Canada, one in the UK, and one in India. “So, our niche has grown from snow to wind to every aspect of environmental study. Our mete- orological capabilities are, at this point, proba- bly our greatest strength.We can re-create past meteorological occurrences; we do forensic work to understand– if an accident has occurred or a structure has been damaged–how exactly those results have come about.We can also make ex- tremely accurate predictions. Understanding the RWDI predictability of meteorological conditions in giv- en surroundings, we can use physical and com- puter-aided modeling to predict future impacts of the environment on developments and people.” Soligo reports that RWDI’s clients include de- velopers, governments, architects, and engineers. “Those would be the primary ones, but we really work with anyone who’s interested in understand- ing the relationship between the environment and any type of development –high rise build- ings, low rise buildings, medical facilities.We do a lot of work for laboratories and hospitals; they have particular needs with respect to managing their exhaust – so we help them answer ques- tions like: ‘Where are those exhausts going to go? Are they going to come back into the building? What’s the concentration of them? Are they going to meet government standards? Are they going to create health issues?’ “We do work for the oil and gas industry be- cause when they’re drilling new wells, sour gas can often emerge first, and depending on the directionality and strength of the wind, that gas can carry toxins to neighboring towns and cities and create very strong environmental impacts.We generate detailed predictions of wind conditions at the particular drill site at particular times so they can optimize their drilling schedules. The result is that they don’t go out there and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and then get