Students seeking information on the effects of natural winds on traffic safety found expert perspective Tuesday.

Dr. Hrvoje Kozmar, a Fulbright Scholar visiting NIU from the University of Notre Dame, spoke before a gathering of students and engineering faculty in the Engineering Building about his studies on the effects of wind barriers proposed for a series of viaducts in his home country of Croatia. Kozmar is a member of the Department of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Zagreb, which is Croatia’s largest university.

Kozmar said Croatia experiences some of the highest wind velocities in Europe on the Maslenica bridge, which are similar to those experienced in Boulder, Colo. He said that overturned trucks are big problems on the bridge.

Kozmar said studying airflow structure and atmospheric boundary layers are useful in both air pollution distribution studies and urban high rise development.

Kozmar simulated atmospheric boundary layer experiments at the Munich Institute of Technology. To simulate friction in air flow experiments, he utilized Lego bricks. Kozmar said he spent a lot of time crawling around on his knees in the wind tunnel.

“At Notre Dame, I carry out wind tunnel experiments about the effects of wind gusts on vehicles on bridges,” Kozmar said.

Kozmar believes the U.S. has been good for him as well as others.

“I find America is a very supportive environment,” said Kozmar. “It’s a great benefit, not just for me, but for my whole family.”

Kozmar said his children are going to school in the U.S., and his wife is a biochemist who studies at Notre Dame.

Kozmar said he enjoys the NIU environment and enjoys what he does on campus.

“It’s very nice here; I like your campus very much,” he said. “It has a lot of green. I think you guys enjoy studying here.”

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