The Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation has donated $500,000
to the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of British
Columbia for the creation of the Weyerhaeuser Industrial Research
Chair in Computational Fluid Dynamics.
Computational fluid dynamics is the process of setting up
equations, repeating iterations on a computer and interpreting
the results to describe how fluid, suspended particles and
thermal energy will move in a process, a piece of equipment,
or other setting.
“Research into computational fluid dynamics has the potential
to significantly increase the efficiency of recovery boilers
used in the pulp and paper industry,” said George Weyerhaeuser
Jr. “The Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation is pleased to support
the creation of this new chair at UBC to advance and accelerate
that research.”
The foundation’s donation will be released to the university
in $100,000 increments over five years and will be used to
support computational research on phenomena related to the
manufacture of pulp and paper.
The university has named Martha Salcudean, a professor of
mechanical engineering, to the chair effective July 1, 1996.
“Prof. Salcudean is an internationally recognized expert
in computational fluid dynamics,” said Applied Science Dean
Axel Meisen. “There is nobody better qualified in Canada,
and probably North America, to undertake computational fluid
dynamics work related to the pulp and paper industry.”
Meisen said Salcudean, along with mechanical engineering
Prof. Ian Gartshore and Zia Abdullah, who leads the transfer
of technology to industry, as well as other collaborators,
has made key advances in research using computational fluid
mechanics.
Salcudean, who came to UBC in 1985, has served as head of
the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; associate vice-president,
Research; and acting vice-president, Research. She is carrying
out her research in collaboration with the Pulp and Paper
Centre, where she is a faculty associate.
Her recent research related to the pulp and paper industry
is focused on recovery boilers used in the pulp and paper
process. The results of her research have already been put
to use in several mills in Canada and the United States.
“We calculate the process completely and then visualize it
through computer graphics so that the operator can actually
see everything happening. It creates a virtual reality based
on a real representation of the process,” Salcudean said.
Weyerhaeuser Company is one of North America’s largest producers
of forest products. In recent years the Weyerhaeuser Company
Foundation has also supported the creation of UBC’s Chair
in Forest Products Biotechnology and the Fellowship in Wood
Building and Design.
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