Eugene Bolstad turns 100

 

Eugene Bolstad turns 100

 

Eugene Bolstad was among the first, if not the first, consulting acoustic engineer in the province of Alberta.  He turns 100 years of age on September 18^th of this year.

Eugene started his career in the field of Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) as a “mechanical draftsman”, and soon found that there were few others locally looking into the acoustic aspects of this area.  He was a member of the American Society covering HVAC issues (which became the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineering, aka ASHRAE).  He was a strong member and supporter of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta (CEA) as well as the Canadian Acoustical Association (CAA), helping host its annual conference three times.  He founded Bolstad Engineering operating from Edmonton and mentored many who subsequently found a niche in the fields of acoustics and noise control.

Eugene made to Corjan Buma many years ago about his motivation to get into acoustics and noise control which was “I designed all these noisy monsters [mechanical systems], so I figured I’d better DO something about that”. 

Eugene was also instrumental in expanding acoustical practices in Alberta.  He constructed the first ASHRAE-compliant acoustical testing lab in western Canada, which in the 1980’s was sold to the University of Alberta and operated as the Mechanical Engineering Acoustics and Noise Unit, providing acoustical testing services to academia and industry.  Several individuals made use of the Lab’s facilities to attain advanced degrees.  He participated in the early versions of the Noise Directive regulating energy-related noise in Alberta, which, to this day, is a frequently-referenced document well beyond Alberta’s borders.

Among other novel projects to his credit, Eugene designed a silencer to reduce the noise emissions from the blower on an asphalt mixing drum, and produced a simplified model for predicting the noise emissions from small compressor stations.  He assisted with introduction of noise walls along Edmonton roadways and with the control of noise propagation around Edmonton International Airport.

During the conferences of the Alberta Acoustics and Noise Association (“AANA”; the pre-cursor to AANViS), student scholarships were given for student presentations, and named in honour of Eugene.

We wish Eugene continuing good health and prosperity.