PETERBOROUGH -- Documents, drawings, patent applications and research notes from Winnett Boyd of Bobcaygeon, Ontario have been donated to the Trent University Archives. Trent's Archives has previously been the recipient of other materials from Mr. Boyd's ancestors who settled in Bobcaygeon, approximately 50 km. from Peterborough. University Archivist, Bernadine Dodge, says the Winnett Boyd collection will be of inestimable value to researchers interested in the early days of jet engine development, nuclear power, and the career of one of Canada's most prominent design engineers.

Boyd was the Chief Designer and Assistant Chief Engineer of Turbo Research Limited. He conceived and designed both the Chinook and Orenda engines for A.V. Roe Canada Ltd. (Gas Turbine Division) in the 1940s. The Chinook was the first jet engine designed and built in Canada. The more powerful Orenda engine first ran in 1949 and eventually powered the CF-100 fighter plane (Canuck) from 1953 until 1981.

Boyd resigned from Avro at the end of 1950 and founded a consulting company, Winnett Boyd Associates, and a sales company, Winnett Boyd Ltd. He went on to join the C.D. Howe Company as chief mechanical in 1951. Where there, he supervised the design of the NRU (National Research Universal) nuclear reactor. This reactor is still in operation at Chalk River, was the first liquid cooled and moderated rector designed for on-load re-fuelling, and the precursor of the Candu. The NRU is still running and producing medical-grade isotopes. Notes, design drawings, maintenance manuals and test reports for the NRU are located in the collection. The Winnett Boyd papers also include many files and drawings of an alternative nuclear reactor, the Daniels-Boyd Nuclear Steam Generator.

The papers measure 5.25 cubic metres, and the group also includes 100 drawings and plans. It covers Boyd's entire career. Many files relate to issues that he discussed in his recently-published autobiography, Rebel Engineer.

-30-

Distribution: Peterborough, Regional