Another bang for UTIAS!

You might recall that the original UTIA officially opened with a bang (the bang that almost didn’t happen) at the Downsview base back in 1950. With that bang, UTIA, under the directorship of its founder Dr. Gordon N. Patterson, became the first Institute in Canada dedicated to Aerophysics.

But Patterson’s dream didn’t stop there. By 1958, just 9 years after opening its labs at Downsview, UTIA had become a world leader in research. However, they were so strapped for space that, as you can read and see below, “one of the labs was suspended from the roof of the engineering machine shop to gain extra floor space.” And, despite the growing number of applicants, the lack of space limited the number of students UTIA could accept. These were signs of great success, but they were also cause for concern about the institute’s viability.

A long shot of a few men in the workshop at the Royal Canadian Air Force Downsview location of the Institute of Aerophysics. Scientific equipment is everywhere in the split level room.

Newspaper article titled "$550,000 Grant Will Give New Lab for Aerophysics"

But Patterson was on the case and grants from multiple sources were obtained to fund the building of a permanent home for the institute.

The institute’s new home opened officially in October 1959 and, you guessed it, it opened with a bang! The bang was not caused by the breaking of the sound barrier with the 40-foot-tall sphere wind tunnel as in 1950, rather, this bang was caused by the firing of a “unique shock tube, or hypersonic shock tunnel.” Prof. I.I. Glass referred to this piece of equipment as “another pioneering apparatus...designed and built at the institute.”

Newspaper article titled "U of T Space Lab Will Open With a Bang: 150 Experts to See $600,000 Space Lab", as well as ticket to the UTIA Decennial Symposium mounted on the side.

Dr. Gordon N. Patterson was very strategic with the opening of the new building. In fact, he delayed the opening for almost a year so that it could be part of a Decennial Symposium that he organized. This impressive symposium included the first ever meeting in Canada of the Canadian Aeronautical Institute, The Royal Aeronautical Institute (U.K.), and the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences (U.S.) – a wonderful audience for the institute’s new state-of-the-art labs.

A large group of people attending the official opening of the Institute of Aerophysics look through a research laboratory.

Flyer for the Institute of Aerophysics Decennial Symposium, October 14-16, 1959.

An invitation to the formal opening of the new building for the Institute of Aerophysics, October 16, 1959.

In November of 1959, the U of T President’s Report included a 5 page review of the institute’s new facilities stating, “The completion of the building for the Institute of Aerophysics will give greatly improved facilities for this flourishing division, whose work is increasingly attaining international distinction...In the nearer future, the gleaming 40-foot sphere of a supersonic wind tunnel, landmark of the Institute’s first home at Downsview airport, will be carried in sections to the new location.”

It would be another 4 years before the sphere could be reunited with the institute... but that is a story for another day...

Interested in more story details? We are preparing to launch our microsite which will feature many of the news clippings, documents, and mementos that were collected by Dr. G.N. Patterson’s wife, Alberta Patterson, from 1931 – 1974. The clippings inform these musings and comprise a veritable treasure trove of UTIAS history. So, keep your glasses handy and prepare to go down some rabbit holes in the not too distant future!