In partnership with FIU International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC), CEE expands once again in the area of wind engineering and wind/structure interaction, and hires a wind tunnel expert from the internationally known firm, Rowan William Davies & Irwin (RWDI), Inc.

Dr. Girma Tsegaye Bitsuamlak has worked with RWDI for 3 years, executing more than 70 ind induced structural responses and cladding wind load studies for tall buildings and large span roofs in the boundary layer wind tunnel near Toronto, Canada. His notable projects include Freedom Tower, Yankee Stadium, Kowloon Union Square (Hong Kong), Moscow City Site 14 Tower (Moscow), 3344 Peach Tree Tower (Atlanta), Elite Tower (Dubai), Villa Magna Towers (Miami), and China Steel Head Quarter (Taiwan).

Dr. Bitsuamlak received his doctoral degree from Concordia University in Montreal in 2004 on "Evaluating the effect of topographic elements on wind flow: A combined numerical simulation-neural network approach”. His Masters degree was on “Application of artificial neural network for determination of wind pressure distribution in buildings” from the Indian Institute of Technology. He received his BS degree from the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

The formidable wind engineering team of CEE/IHRC now includes Dr.
Simiu, Dr. Chowdhury, and Dr. Bitsuamlak. In addition to the two-fan modular Wall of Wind and the six-fan RenaissanceRe Wall of Wind, the team enjoys a good working relationship with RWDI which has recently built its new wind tunnel in Miramar, less than 15 minutes from FIU Engineering Center. IHRC has also received an additional $2M from the State of Florida to enhance the Wall of Wind facility at FIU.

The Wall of Wind be housed inside a pre-fabricated building at the FIU Engineering campus and after the final expansion will be able to test a moderate two-story house in Category 4 hurricane wind field with wind-driven-rain and debris effects. The full-scale test model will be mounted on a turntable (donated by AIR Worldwide) to do testing at various angles of attack.