Hassan Aref

Hassan Aref (28 September 1950 – 9 September 2011) was the Reynolds Metals Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, and the Niels Bohr Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Denmark.

Hassan Aref
Born(1950-09-28)September 28, 1950.[1]
Alexandria, Egypt[1]
DiedSeptember 9, 2011(2011-09-09) (aged 60)[1][2][3]
De Land, Illinois, United States[1]
Alma materUniversity of Copenhagen, Cornell University
Spouse(s)Susanne Aref (1974-2011)
Scientific career
FieldsFluid mechanics
InstitutionsBrown University, University of California, San Diego, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Virginia Tech
ThesisTurbulence and vortex dynamics in two dimensions[4]
Doctoral advisorEric Dean Siggia[5]
Doctoral studentsGretar Tryggvason

Education

He was educated at the University of Copenhagen Niels Bohr Institute, graduating in 1975 with a cand. scient degree in Physics and Mathematics. Subsequently he received a PhD degree in Physics from Cornell University in 1980.

Career

Academia and research

Prior to joining Virginia Tech as Dean of Engineering in 2003-2005 Aref was Head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a decade from 1992-2003. Before that he was on the faculty of University of California, San Diego, split between the Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Science and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics 1985-1992. Simultaneously, he was Chief Scientist at the San Diego Supercomputer Center for three years 1989-1992. Aref started his faculty career in the Division of Engineering at Brown University 1980-85.

Editorial work

Throughout his career Aref was involved in editorial work. He was Associate Editor of Journal of Fluid Mechanics 1984-94, founding editor with David Crighton of Cambridge Texts in Applied Mathematics, and served on the editorial board of Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics and as co-editor of Advances in Applied Mechanics. He served on the editorial boards of Physics of Fluids,[6][7] Physical Review E, and Regular and Chaotic Dynamics.

Notable research

Chaotic Advection

Aref is particularly well known for having developed the concept of chaotic advection[8] in fluid mechanics. The notion that regular, laminar flows can produce chaotic particle trajectories is now understood as a cornerstone of fluid flow kinematics and the term chaotic advection is used as a classifying keyword by leading journals of the field and for major conferences. Applications of chaotic advection range from mixing by atmospheric and oceanographic flows to mixing in microfluidic devices. Aref received the 2000 Otto Laporte Award from the American Physical Society for this work and for his work on vortex dynamics for which he is also well known.[9]

Fluid mechanics

Aref was the author of some 80 articles in leading journals in the field of fluid mechanics. He has also authored chapters in several books, edited two collections of papers, and given presentations at conferences and universities around the world.

Positions on scientific committees

Aref served as chair of the Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society. He chaired the US National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and has served on advisory boards for several professional societies. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Congress Committee of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM), a member of the National Academies Board on International Scientific Organizations, and a member of the Board of the Society of Engineering Science. He served as Secretary for the Midwest Mechanics Seminar, 1994-2003.

Aref was president of the 20th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics held in Chicago in 2000.[10] In the 70+ years of these significant congresses they have been held three times in USA: In 1938 in Boston, MA, with MIT and Harvard University as the host institutions, in 1968 with Stanford University as the host, and in 2000 with a consortium led by University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign as the hosts.

Personal life and death

Hassan Aref was born in Alexandria, Egypt. Previously a citizen of Canada, he acquired U.S. citizenship in 1998. He died from an aortic dissection.[1][3]

Honors and awards

References
  1. "Hassan Aref Memorial".
  2. Sanderson, Claire (September 12, 2011). "Former engineering dean died". Collegiate Times. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  3. "Former TAM department head passes away". September 13, 2011. Archived from the original on 2 June 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  4. OCLC 6716360
  5. Hassan Aref at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  6. "Physics of Fluids 1999 Masthead" (PDF). Retrieved 30 October 2011. Associate Editors...  Term ending 31 December 2001 H. Aref (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL) ...
  7. "Physics of Fluids 2004 Masthead" (PDF). Retrieved 30 October 2011. Associate Editors Term ending 31 December 2004 H. Aref (Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA) ...
  8. Aref, Hassan. "Chaotic advection". Archived from the original on 2013-01-02. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  9. "2000 Otto Laporte Award Recipient".
  10. "The 20th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics". Archived from the original on 11 August 2004.
  11. "Hassan Aref of Virginia Tech receives the G.I. Taylor Medal for research activities". 21 January 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  12. "Hassan Aref Receives the G. I. Taylor Medal for Research". 18 January 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  13. "DTU Honorary Doctorates". Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  14. "New Members of the WIF". Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  15. "Midwest Mechanics Seminar Speakers". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
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