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Architecture students will be able to study how their model structures contend with the elements thanks to the donation of a wind tunnel.

The 20-foot long, $250,000 tunnel has been installed in the Department of Architectural Science building and is available for use by students and faculty. Aiolos Engineering, the world's leading wind tunnel design and construction experts, donated the heavy piece of machinery enabling students to get one step closer to understanding the structural dynamics of their building designs. Ryerson is believed to be the only university in Canada to have a wind tunnel in its architectural science department.

A wind tunnel is used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects. Small-scale models are placed inside and air is moved through the tunnel using a single fan creating a highly turbulent airflow. Wind tunnels were first proposed to test airplanes in free flight and have since evolved into a testing mechanism for other manmade structures.

"This is a generous and worthwhile donation that will benefit students and faculty tremendously," said Kendra Schank Smith, chair of architectural science. "Providing our students with top-quality equipment only advances their education to a level that prepares them for the professional world."

Architecture students will get valuable use out of the wind tunnel as a means to determine how strong winds will affect tall buildings. Although the machine tests small-scale models, results are easily transferrable to the full-scale structure.

"It has a wide application base. Wind engineering on architectural design; aero acoustic research; structural dynamics; and wind turbine performance are some of the relevant applications the wind tunnel can be used for," said Ramani Ramakrishnan, architectural science professor.

Ramakrishnan worked as a consultant with Aiolos, participating in some basic aero acoustic research projects which allowed him to bring graduate students on board. Ramakrishnan's partnership with Aiolos secured the donation which he thought would be beneficial for students and faculty.

"Aiolos built and used the tunnel to test specs for two full-scale tunnels built for Daimler in Stuttgart, Germany. Once that was done they wanted to donate to an Ontario university instead of disassembling them and throwing out the wood pieces. I initiated the process with Ryerson and my department decided to accept the gift," Ramakrishnan said.