Scruton lecture 2023: winds of change

Overview

The 2023 Scruton lecture will be delivered by Gordon Breeze, former head of wind engineering at the Building Research Establishment, who has held a distinguished career examining the nature of wind and experimental methods on structures.

The title of the lecture, winds of change, is a metaphor for not just the wind, but for the more general changes and challenges experienced during the speaker’s extensive wind engineering career. In other words, a changing world of wind engineering will be examined through the speaker’s lens of experiences.

The lecture itself is intended to be enjoyed by a wide (technical and non-technical) audience. Some wind engineering topics covered will include present-day issues of controversy, but the intention of the lecture is to be neither overtly controversial nor confrontational.

To be able to understand the changes that have occurred, the nature of the wind and experimental methods will first be described. Since the speaker’s distinguished career was mainly built upon commercial wind tunnel testing, there will be an emphasis on this subject. Nevertheless, because of their increasing importance over time, the subjects of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and wind energy will also be considered. Comments will also be made concerning the UK wind loading code of practice.

The lecture will then consider a range of subjects which rarely (if ever) are considered to be worthy of note, but nevertheless are very important in today’s commercial working environment. In particular, over the speaker’s career-span, the consultancy environment of wind engineers has changed out of all recognition. More general trends – which might only be noticed over a long career – and ‘game-changers’ will also be noted and described.

Following Gordon’s address, an audience Q&A will be chaired by Stefano Cammelli, chair of the Wind Engineering Society.

Programme