Omond Solandt
| Omond McKillop Solandt | |
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1948 drawing of Omond Solandt from U.S. government Research and Development Board biography on Solandt
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| Born |
September 25, 1909 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Died | May 12, 1993 (aged 83) Alliston, Ontario |
Omond McKillop Solandt, CC OBE CD FRSC (September 25, 1909 – May 12, 1993) was an important Canadian scientist who was the first Chairman of the Canadian Defence Research Board.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he graduated in medicine from the University of Toronto. He served his internship at Toronto General Hospital and following post-graduate work at the London Hospital, he accepted a permanent position on the staff of the Department of Physiology at Cambridge University, England.
In January 1941, he was appointed Director of the Medical Research Council Physiological Laboratory at the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School at Lulworth, England. He researched problems with tank design and physiological problems of tank personnel.
He was appointed Deputy Superintendent of the Army Operational Research Group in 1943 and Superintendent in May 1944.
Dr. Solandt joined the Canadian Army in February 1944 with the rank of Colonel and continued as Director of the Army Operational Research Group until 1945 when he was appointed Director of the Operational Research Division, South-East Asia Command, and scientific advisor to Lord Louis Mountbatten, then Commander-in-Chief S.E.A.C.
Returning to England in June 1945, he was soon appointed to the War Office as a member of the joint Military Mission sent to Japan to evaluate the effects of the atomic bomb.
The Canadian government appointed him Director General of Defence Research on December 28, 1945, and Solandt helped plan postwar military research. In 1947 he became the founding chairman of the Defence Research Board and served as such through 1956. His Chairman position was at the same level as the Canadian Military Chiefs of Staff, and the Deputy Minister of National Defence.
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