The FDRI was organized
and approved by the University of Windsor, in November 1983 in recognition of the
inter-departmental and inter-faculty interests in the field of fluid
dynamics. The Institute has the
objective of providing a broader training for graduate students working in
theoretical, experimental, and computational fluid dynamics than can be
provided by any one department. In the early years, the FDRI activities
included hosting seminars, discussion groups and international conferences.
Several industrial research contracts as well as Ontario Centres of Excellence,
MITACS and NSERC Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) Grants have been
held by Institute members. In general, the Institute promoted close cooperation
among faculty members with interests in fluid dynamics.
Activities
of the Institute experienced a period of decline due to retirements and
limitations on the hiring of new faculty members. The Institute, however,
survived and continued to hold a small number of meetings, seminars, and other
activities each year. Recently, the Faculty of Engineering hired several new
tenure-track faculty members with expertise in fluid mechanics, heat transfer
and thermodynamics which are areas of interest to the Institute.