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Honoring the Contributions of George Gavalas† “Let no one ignorant of Mathematics enter here” (ΑΓΕΩΜΕΤΡΗΤΟΣ ΜΗ∆ΕΙΣ ΕΙΣΙΤΩ) is said to have been written above the doorway to Plato’s Academy (for an expanded description, see ref 1). While Professor George R. Gavalas of Caltech had no such restriction for the students who sought his guidance, all who have studied at Gavalas’ academy leave with a deep appreciation of the role that sophisticated mathematical tools can play in solving engineering problems. † David Allen wrote this on behalf of the students and collaborators of George Gavalas.
George Gavalas began his life’s work in chemical engineering at the National Technical University in Athens. After receiving his Diploma there in 1958, George moved to the University of Minnesota, where he studied under Rutherford Aris, completing his Ph.D in 1964. His record at the University of Minnesota is still the stuff of legend, and his landmark publication “On the Theory of Reactions in Continuous Mixtures”,2 with Rutherford Aris, became the starting point for decades of work by George and others on the analysis of complex reacting systems and continuous mixtures.
10.1021/ie0401051 CCC: $27.50 © 2004 American Chemical Society Published on Web 05/13/2004
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Joining the faculty at Caltech in 1964, George continued to make important advances in the application of advanced mathematical tools to chemically reacting systems. His monograph on Nonlinear Differential Equations of Chemically Reacting Systems3 and his analysis of pore growth in reacting systems4 are just two of many contributions that have had a significant impact on the field of chemical reaction engineering. Increasingly over the past several decades, George’s work has involved a significant level of experimentation. His work on zeolite membrane systems5 and his framework for modeling reactions in porous media6 have been widely cited. Not the least of George’s contributions has been the mentoring he has provided to generations of students at Caltech. As I reflect on what George taught me, my mind always returns to the lessons I learned on the use of mathematical models in testing our understanding of reacting systems. George taught me to use mathematical models to simplify, to identify critical parameters, and to map out the directions of experiments. They are lessons that I have used often. This year marks the 40th anniversary of George’s arrival in Pasadena, and on this occasion, we celebrate his contributions to chemical reaction engineering with this special issue of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. The issue contains contributions from many of George’s former students and past and current collaborators. The papers represent the broad range of fields to which George has made contributions, from coal chemistry to inorganic membranes and from computation and theoretical studies to materials synthesis. It has been reported that Socrates said, “Employ your time improving yourself by other men’s writings so that
you shall come easily to what others have labored hard for.” For 40 years, we have all gained much insight from George’s writings; we offer the contributions in this issue of Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. in the spirit of repaying that debt, and we note that, perhaps, what should be written above the door to George’s academy at Caltech is “Let no one leave here ignorant of mathematics”. Literature Cited (1) Fowler, D. H. The Mathematics of Plato’s Academy: A New Reconstruction, 2nd ed.; Clarendon Press: Oxford, U.K., 1999. (2) Aris, R.; Gavalas, G. R. On the Theory of Reactions in Continuous Mixtures. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 1966, 260, 351-393. (3) Gavalas, G. R. Nonlinear differential equations of chemically reacting systems; Springer-Verlag: Berlin, 1968. (4) Gavalas, G. R. A Random Capillary Model with Application to Char Gasification at Chemically Controlled Rates. AIChE J. 1980, 26, 577-585. (5) Yan, Y. S.; Davis, M. E.; Gavalas, G. R. Preparation of Zeolite ZSM-5 Membranes by In-Situ Crystallization on Porous R-Al2O3. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 1995, 34, 1652-1661. (6) Sahimi, M.; Gavalas, G. R.; Tsotsis, T. T. Statistical and Continuum Models of Fluid Solid Reactions in Porous Media. Chem. Eng. Sci. 1990, 45, 1443-1502.
David Allen Department of Chemical Engineering c0400 Ctr Energy/Environmental Res., M/C R7100 10100 Burnet Rd., Bldg.133 University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78758-4497 IE0401051
