NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2008 – Ari Rabl, Ph.D., a resident of Bures sur Yvette, France, and consultant on environmental impacts, will be honored by ASME.  He is being recognized for more than three decades of outstanding and innovative research in diverse areas including solar ponds, concentrator optics, collector design, collector testing, radiation analysis, system design, and environmental impacts to quantify the benefits of solar energy.  He will receive the Society’s Frank Kreith Energy Award.

The award, established in 2005 for initial bestowal in 2006, recognizes an individual for significant contributions to a secure energy future through innovations in conservation and/or renewable energy technology; it was endowed by the Kreith family to honor Dr. Frank Kreith’s contributions to the fields of heat transfer and energy.  The award will be presented to Dr. Rabl during the 2008 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, which is being held in Boston, Oct. 31 through Nov. 6.

Rabl was a senior scientist at the Centre d’Energétique of the Ecole des Mines de Paris from 1988 until his obligatory retirement in 2007.  Since then he has been working as a consultant on environmental impacts for Ecole des Mines and others.

Concurrent with his position at Ecole des Mines, Rabl was a research professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder (1996-2001).  He was a research scientist and lecturer at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton University, New Jersey (1980-89).  Among his other professional experience, Rabl worked at the Solar Energy Research Institute (Golden, Colo.), now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (1978-81); the University of Chicago, Ill. (1976-80); and Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois (1974-80).

Rabl has been active in energy research, particularly solar energy and energy conservation.  Since 1992, his specialty is the assessment of environmental impacts and health risks of pollution.  He is one of the principal participants of the ExternE Project series (External Costs of Energy) of the European Commission Directorate-General Research, for which he has coordinated several research projects.

Rabl has published well over a 100 journal articles and review papers, with a comparable number of conference presentations, and holds 10 patents.  He is the author of the book Active Solar Collectors and Their Applications (Oxford University Press, 1985) and co-author of the book Heating and Cooling of Buildings: Design for Efficiency (McGraw Hill, 1994; second edition, Kreider and Associates, 2005).

An ASME member, Rabl presented an invited lecture titled Environmental Impacts and Costs of Energy at the ASME Energy Sustainability Conference in June 2007.

Rabl received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics at Beloit College, Wisconsin, in 1963.  He earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in physics at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1965 and 1969, respectively.

Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization promoting the art, science and practice of mechanical and multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences.  ASME develops codes and standards that enhance public safety, and provides lifelong learning and technical exchange opportunities benefiting the global engineering and technology community.

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