David Wood

Professor

Enmax/Schulich Professor of Renewable Energy

PEng

• Telephone: (403)220-3637
• Fax: (403) 282-8406
• Email:dhwood@ucalgary.ca

Bachelor of Engineering (BE), Sydney University, 1974
M Eng Sc, Sydney University, 1976
PhD, London University, 1980
Diploma of Imperial College (DIC), 1980

Personal webpage

Dr. Wood's main research interests are in small wind turbines. He is writing a book on the subject to be published by Springer in early 2011. 

Prior to joining the U of C in February 2010, he was part-owner and technical director of Aerogenesis Australia, a company commercialising the small wind turbine technology he helped to develop over many years at the University of Newcastle. 

At the U of C, he has started a project to monitor, model, and predict the urban wind resource to support the installation of small wind turbines in Calgary and other urban areas in Alberta.

Other research areas include generator and control system modeling and development, multi-dimensional optimisation of turbine design, and remote power systems. He has a strong interest in renewable energy for developing countries and has worked with a company in Nepal on the use of local timbers for making turbine blades, and a company in Kenya which makes traditional waterpumping wind mills. 

Recent Publications

Wind Turbines: Analysis, Design, and Application, due to be published by Springer, April 2011.

Wood, D.H. (2010) Small Wind Turbines, in Advances in Wind Energy and Conversion Technology, Mathew, Sathyajith; Philip, Geeta Susan (Eds.), Springer-Verlag.

Wood, D.H., Freere, P. Stand-Alone Wind Energy Systems, to appear in Technology of stand-alone and hybrid wind energy production and storage, J. K. Kaldellis (ed.), Woodhead Publishing.

Clifton-Smith, M., Wood, D.H., Wright, A.D., Optimising design and construction for wind energy systems in low wind environments, to appear in Wind Energy Systems: Optimising design and construction for safe and reliable operation, J. D. Sørensen, J. N. Sørensen (eds), Woodhead Publishing.

Wilson, S. V. R, Clausen, P. D. and Wood, D. H. (2008). "Gyroscopic Moments on Small Wind Turbines Blades at High Yaw Rates", Trans IE Aust, Aus. J. Mech. Engg, 5, 1 - 9.

Wood, D.H. (2009). Using the IEC Simple Load Model for Small Wind Turbines, Wind Engineering, 33, 139 - 154.

Clausen,  P.D., Freere,  P., Peterson, P., Wilson, S.V.R., and Wood, D. H. (2009) The Shape and Performance of Hand-carved Small Wind Turbine Blades, Wind Engineering, 33, 299 - 304.

Hitz, K.L., and Wood, D.H. (2010) On Blade Matching Following Batch Production, Wind Engineering, 34, 325 - 333.

Wood, D.H. (2010) Small Wind Turbines for Remote Power and Distributed Generation, Wind Engineering 34, 241 - 254.

Clifton-Smith, M.J., Wood, D. H. Optimisation of Self-Supporting Towers for Small Wind Turbines, submitted to Wind Engineering.

Wood, D.H. (2008). Low Cost Small Wind Turbines: the interaction of materials, design, and manufacturing, International Workshop on Low Cost Materials in Wind Energy Technologies, Nepal (keynote presentation).

Wood, D.H. (2009). Small wind turbines for urban areas, Changzhou Wind Power Forum, China, (invited presentation).

Wood, D.H. (2009). Small wind turbines for developed and developing countries,  Iinternational Workshop on Small Scale Wind Energy for Developing Countries Nairobi, Kenya (keynote presentation).

Professional Activities

• Editor for aerodynamics and small turbines, Wind Engineering
• Technical Director, Aerogenesis Australia
• ex-University of Newcastle representative on Standards Australia committees for wind energy
• ex-Australian representative on MT88 which produces IEC Standard 61400-2:2006 for the safety of small wind turbines
• holder of international pending patents on blade and controller designs for small wind turbines