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Engineering’s biggest story of 2010 may well have been that of the “Snowbird” human-powered ornithopter, piloted by EngSci alumnus and UTIAS doctoral candidate Todd Reichert, with Professor Emeritus James DeLaurier acting as faculty advisor. The aircraft with flapping wings, a project of the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, flew for 19.3 seconds during its record-breaking flight on August 2nd, and with its spectacular photos and video clips the story went viral around the world as an engineering first.

BlogTO.com cited a Snowbird video as one of “the top 10 Toronto viral videos of 2010.” The length of flight “may not seem like much until you realize that the contraption has basically turned its creator into one giant bird,” blogger Derek Flack noted.

And Torontoist.com named the Snowbird’s team a “2010 hero.” “For now, Snowbird is just the latest in a long line of Toronto-based ornithopteral breakthroughs,” the Toronto blog noted. “From U of T professor James DeLaurier’s pioneering research in the ’80s and ’90s, to 2006’s “The Great Flapper,” Toronto is fast becoming a centre for man-powered wing-flappy doodads. And if that doesn’t make your civic pride swell like a weather balloon at high altitude, well, maybe you need to get your servo guidance mechanism checked.”

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