Aviation history was made when the University of Toronto’s human-powered aircraft with flapping wings became the first of its kind to fly continuously.
The “Snowbird” performed its record-breaking flight on August 2 at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ont., witnessed by the vice-president (Canada) of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world-governing body for air sports and aeronautical world records. The official record claim was filed this month, and the FAI is expected to confirm the ornithopter’s world record at its meeting in October.
For centuries Engineers have attempted such a feat, ever since Leonardo da Vinci sketched the first human-powered ornithopter in 1485.
But under the power and piloting of Todd Reichert (EngSci OT5), an Engineering PhD candidate at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS), the wing-flapping device sustained both altitude and airspeed for 19.3 seconds, and covered a distance of 145 metres at an average speed of 25.6 kilometres per hour.
“The Snowbird represents the completion of an age-old aeronautical dream,” says lead developer and project manager Reichert. “Throughout history, countless men and women have dreamt of flying like a bird under their own power, and hundreds, if not thousands have attempted to achieve it. This represents one of the last of the aviation firsts.”
The Snowbird weighs just 94 lbs. and has a wing span of 32 metres (105 feet). Although its wingspan is comparable to that of a Boeing 737, the Snowbird weighs less than all of the pillows on board. Pilot Reichert lost 18 lbs. of body weight this past summer to facilitate flying the aircraft.
With sustainability in mind, Aerospace Engineering graduate students of UTIAS learned to design and build lightweight and efficient structures. The research also promoted “the use of the human body and spirit,” says Reichert.
“The use of human power, when walking or cycling, is an efficient, reliable, healthy and sustainable form of transportation. Though the aircraft is not a practical method of transport, it is also meant to act as an inspiration to others to use the strength of their body and the creativity of their mind to follow their dreams.”
The Snowbird development team is comprised of two University of Toronto Engineering graduate students: Reichert, and Cameron Robertson (MASc 2009, UTIAS) as the chief structural engineer; UTIAS Professor Emeritus James D. DeLaurier as faculty advisor; and community volunteers Robert and Carson Dueck. More than 20 students from the University of Toronto and up to 10 exchange students from Poitiers University, France, and Delft Technical University, Netherlands, also participated in the project.
“This achievement is the direct result of Todd Reichert’s dedication, perseverance, and ability and adds to the already considerable legacy of Jim DeLaurier, UTIAS’s great ornithopter pioneer,” says Professor David Zingg, Director of UTIAS. “It also reflects well on the rigorous education Todd received at the University of Toronto. We’re very proud of Todd and the entire team for this outstanding achievement in aviation history.”
Visit the team’s website and their YouTube channel.
U of T student makes history with human-powered ‘flapping-wing’ plane
Read the Toronto Star story.
Human-powered flight stays airborne
Read the Los Angeles Times story.
When Sukrit Ganguly (ChemE 0T5, MaSc 0T8) finished his undergraduate program, he set out on a traditional career track in oil-and-gas consulting. “The job was very technical,” says the 27-year-old, “and required me to work on models all day long.” Bored after a year, Ganguly wanted to try something new. So he returned to the University of Toronto for a Master of Applied Science degree, this time focusing on applied engineering in banking and setting his sights on Bay Street. “I wanted a job that looked at the bigger picture, and in finance you have to follow what’s going on all over the world,” he says.
The chemical engineer is now working on the trading floor for equity derivatives at TD Securities—on Bay Street. Instead of modelling pipelines and heat exchangers like many of his former classmates, he spends his days structuring financial products, reading international market commentary, and researching the activities of TD’s competitors. And he says an Engineering degree was the best possible training for the job. “As an engineer, you’re taught how to solve problems. The finance part I could learn on the fly.”
Professor Stavros Argyropoulos (MSE) and alumnus Dr. Zhi Li (MSE PhD 0T8) have been selected for a Metallurgical Society (MetSoc) Best Paper Award.
Professor Argyropoulos and Dr. Li’s winning paper was entitled “The Assimilation of Mn-Al Powder Compacts in Liquid Mg: Exothermicity and Recovery Issues,” and was published in the CMQ, Vol. 48, No. 4, in 2009. The award will be presented at the banquet during the Conference of Metallurgists in Vancouver, B.C. on Tuesday, October 5th.
Processed meat generally refers to meats preserved by smoking, curing, salting or otherwise adding chemicals, such as sodium nitrite. Many studies over the years have examined whether they increase risk of cancer and other diseases, and concluded that they have.
In the 1970s, scientists thought the culprit was the additive, sodium nitrite, which gives processed meats their taste and characteristic pink hue, and acts as a preservative. But Professor Levente Diosady, Director of the Food Engineering Program in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto, says sodium nitrite doesn’t pose a health risk directly, though it can react with amines that occur naturally in foods like cheese and meat to form tiny amounts of nitrosamines, which are carcinogens.
But it looks like sodium nitrite itself is not a bad thing—and it exists naturally in vegetables, particularly celery, lettuce, beets, radishes and spinach, which absorb sodium nitrate from the soil.
So what is the problem with processed meats? Scientists are not sure. Says Diosady, “If there were a single cause, science would be on top of it by now. It’s complex.”
Experts say it could be the smoking process in smoked meats, the salt, the fat … This much is known: We should be cautious about how much processed meat we eat.
Follow the link to read the full article in Best Health online.
Toronto mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi’s latest promise is to extend the Allen Expressway underground all the way to the Gardiner Expressway, complete with a subterranean bike lane. Rossi announced Monday that, if elected on Oct. 25, his four-year term would include the start of construction on an eight-kilometre “Toronto Tunnel” toll road starting where the Allen ends at Eglinton Ave. West.
Professor Eric Miller, a transportation planner and director of the University of Toronto’s Cities Centre, called the idea “a complete non-starter.” Gridlock on the Gardiner would back up traffic in the tunnel, creating a new bottleneck without adding capacity to the road system, he said.
“It’s not going to move people any faster,” Professor Miller said. “The only way to seriously reduce congestion on Toronto streets is to get more people on subways, buses and streetcars.”
Follow the link to read the full article on the Toronto Star website.
A group of Canadian companies announced their intention today to form a consortium to help advance electric mobility in Canada.
Code-named “Project EVE,” the consortium represents an effort by companies across Canada with key electric mobility components, such as electric motors and drive trains, battery management systems, lithium battery recycling capabilities, auxiliary power technologies, chargers, smart grid and data grid technologies, cognitive car technologies, advanced materials expertise, rapid prototyping technologies and advanced engineering and design skills to bring together their technologies and improve how they work together in electric vehicles (EVs).
In addition to businesses, the consortium has formed alliances with The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and Red Deer College.
“Project EVE is exactly the kind of ambitious, cross-disciplinary initiative that Canada needs in order to rapidly establish a global leadership position in electric mobility. We look forward to participating in exciting research projects related to power electronics, battery management and advanced materials that will help to develop the next generation of Canadian EV experts,” said Assistant Professor Olivier Trescases (ECE).
Project EVE is an open consortium and discussions are underway with additional participants.
As reported on MuchmorCanada magazine’s website.