Omond McKillop Solandt

Solandt, Omond McKillop

Omond McKillop Solandt, research director (b at Winnipeg, Man 2 Sept 1909; d at Alliston, Ont 12 May 1993). He studied at Toronto and began a research career in physiology under C.H. BEST before winning a scholarship to England for advanced training in 1939. When running a London blood bank in 1940 Solandt was asked to investigate why army tank crews were fainting in action. It turned out that when the gun fired, its gases went back into the tank rather than outside. His success led to his becoming one of the chief British army advisers on scientific methods, and he became superintendent of the British Army Operational Research Group, with the rank of colonel.

In 1946 Solandt was recruited by the Canadian government to plan postwar military research, and in 1947 he became the founding chairman of the DEFENCE RESEARCH Board. He was later VP for research and development at CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS, 1956-63, and at DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT, 1963-66; he was chancellor of U of T, 1965-71. From 1966 to 1972, Solandt was chairman of the SCIENCE COUNCIL OF CANADA and thus one of the most influential voices in the SCIENCE POLICY debate of those years. His last annual report as chairman proposed the foundations of the CONSERVER SOCIETY movement. In retirement, Solandt remained active as a company director and consultant, specializing in agricultural research in a number of developing countries (eg, Peru, Kenya and Bangladesh). See alsoINDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.