Wind Engineering Expert To Lead Historic Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Chris Letchford
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Chris Letchford’s Research Includes Wind Power
Generation, Wind Climatology
Wind engineering expert Chris Letchford will join Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute next month as professor and head of the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“Dr. Letchford is a world-class researcher, a gifted
educator, and an effective and passionate leader who will guide
the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering toward
even greater recognition and success,” said
David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at
Rensselaer. “Rensselaer has a long history and rich tradition
in civil and environmental engineering, and Dr. Letchford will
ensure the Institute’s ongoing leadership and influence in this
important field.”
Letchford joins Rensselaer from the University of Tasmania,
Australia (UTAS), where he has served since 2007 as professor
and head of the School of Engineering. Prior to UTAS, he served
as professor, senior associate dean, and associate director of
the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center from 1999-2007
at Texas Tech University. He served as faculty member from
1987-99 at the University of Queensland in Australia. Before
his career in academia, he was a structural engineer at Ove
Arup & Partners in London, where he worked on the designs
for the Old Vic Theatre refurbishment in London and the Menil
Collection Museum in Houston.
A global leader in wind engineering and aerodynamics,
Letchford has published more than 140 peer-reviewed journal and
conference papers. His research projects range from wind power
generation and modeling, to studying how wind and ocean waves
interact, to investigating the long-term impacts of climate
change on infrastructure, transportation, and energy
production. His other research interests include wind loads on
structures, vortex-induced vibrations, wind climatology, debris
flight mechanics, and experimental methods. At Texas Tech, he
developed several innovative systems to model and simulate
thunderstorm downdrafts and tornado winds.
“It is fitting that I will now join the upstate New York
community, the same region where Eleanor Roosevelt — an
educator role model of mine — lived and worked,” Letchford
said. “In 1927, Roosevelt said ‘the main thing in education is
the interest aroused in a young mind by a vivid stimulating
personality.’ In joining Rensselaer at this significant stage
of its history, I would like to continue the tradition of being
that vivid stimulating person, not only for our students, but
also for the broader wind engineering research community.”
Active and highly regarded in his field, Letchford was
elected the Asia-Pacific representative of the International
Association of Wind Engineering (IAWE). He is also a member of
the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and sits on its
wind effects, aerodynamics, and tall buildings committees. He
is a fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, and is
a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng). He currently
chairs the Centre for Engineering Leadership & Management
in Tasmania and is a member of the Tasmanian Division Committee
of Engineers, Australia. From 2003-06 he held a leadership role
at the American Association of Wind Engineering (AAWE), and
from 1995-99 and 2007-09 chaired the Australasian Wind
Engineering Society (AWES).
Letchford obtained his bachelor’s degree in civil
engineering from the University of Queensland, and went on to
earn his doctoral degree in wind engineering from Oxford
University.
He is the second senior faculty member recruited by the
Rensselaer School of Engineering this year into the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering. Hydrology and soil science
pioneer Philippe
Baveye joined the Institute in August as the Kodak Chair in
Environmental Engineering.
This year marks the 175th anniversary of civil
engineering at Rensselaer. In October, the university
celebrated this important milestone and its place in history as
the first university in the United States to issue a degree in
civil engineering. Rensselaer hosted a weekend of events
looking back at the world-changing innovations of the
Institute’s civil engineering graduates and faculty, and
looking forward to the challenges awaiting today’s civil
engineering students.
For more information on Civil and Environmental
Engineering at Rensselaer, visit:
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Published
December 15,
2010 |
Contact: Michael Mullaney
Phone: (518) 276-6161
E-mail: mullam@rpi.edu |
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