NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2008 -- William K. George, Ph.D., a resident of Gothenburg, Sweden, and professor of turbulence at Chalmers University of Technology, was honored by ASME. He was recognized for his paper titled Is There an Asymptotic Effect of Initial and Upstream Conditions on Turbulence. He received the Freeman Scholar Award.
Established in 1926 and given biennially, the award is bestowed upon a person with wide experience in fluids engineering. The recipient is expected to review a coherent topic in his or her specialty, including a comprehensive statement of the state of the art, and suggest future research needs. The award was presented to Dr. George during the Fluids Engineering Summer Conference which was held in Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 10-14.
George joined the department of applied mechanics at the Chalmers University of Technology in September 2000 as professor of turbulence. He is also director of the Turbulence Research Laboratory and previously served as co-director (2001-07) of the International Master’s Program on Computational and Experimental Turbulence.
Prior experience includes serving on the faculty at Pennsylvania State University, University Park (1968-74), where he held positions in both aerospace engineering and the Applied Research Laboratory; and at the State University of New York at Buffalo (1974-2000) in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering, where he was promoted to full professor in 1980.
George has supervised 25 Ph.D. students, all of whom hold responsible positions as professors, researchers or engineers in leading establishments throughout the world.
George has authored several hundred papers, mostly on turbulence and its many applications. In addition to his work on both theoretical and experimental turbulence, his contributions range from measurements in gas turbines and automotive components to the development of optical flow diagnostic techniques. One of his most important contributions was as the editor and translator of Wind Atlas for Denmark, which became the model for predicting wind generator performance around the world.
He has lectured extensively and presented invited talks; and has served on the organizing committees for several international symposia related to turbulence, and heat and mass transfer.
An ASME Fellow, George has participated in various ASME conferences. He received the Fluid Engineering Division’s Robert T. Knapp Award for Best Paper in 2002.
Among his most recent honors, George was an Otto Moensted visiting professor at the Danish Technical University (Lyngby, Denmark) from April to June 2007 and he received Chalmers University of Technology’s Best Ph.D. Supervisor Prize (2006).
George earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering physics in 1967 and his Ph.D. in 1971 at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
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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