‘FATHER OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING’
TURNS 90, STILL TEACHING AT UH
Neal Amundson, Mind Behind the Math to Help
Nuclear Subs Keep Their Cool, Honored with Lecture Series
Thanks to the work of one University of Houston professor, scientists
have a way of keeping nuclear submarines safe following a power
failure.
This is just one of many innovations from the past seven decades
that earned Neal Amundson, UH Cullen Distinguished Professor of
Chemical Engineering and Mathematics, credit as the “Father
of Modern Chemical Engineering.” Amundson, who turns 90 this
year, will be honored with a three-day lecture series Dec. 12-14
in the Shamrock Ballroom at the Hilton UH Hotel and Conference Center.
“Dr. Amundson rapidly altered and advanced the field of chemical
engineering by being the first to incorporate advanced mathematics
into chemical engineering research and education,” said John
Bear, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM).
“He has had an unprecedented reach of influence on future
generations of chemical engineers.”
Hosted by NSM’s mathematics department and the Cullen College
of Engineering’s chemical engineering department, the event
will consist of three interrelated lectures presented by Martin
Feinberg, professor of chemical engineering and mathematics at Ohio
State University. Through three lectures – “The Strange
Relationship of Mathematics and Chemistry,” “Understanding
Bistability in Complex Enzyme-Driven Reaction Networks” and
“An Unsolved Problem in Chemical Engineering” –
Feinberg will discuss Amundson’s contributions to the development
of innovative mathematical methods applied to complex problems in
engineering and chemistry.
Among his important intellectual contributions, Amundson was the
first person to apply the principles of non-linear mechanics to
lumped constant chemical reactor systems, enabling him to explain
chemical reactor instability, oscillatory behavior and parametric
sensitivity. Amundson also established the field of chemical reactor
engineering, being the first to couple reaction with diffusion.
With the threat of the essential use of coal, Amundson initiated
a systematic and exhaustive development of the gasification of coal
char, the products of which would have been used in fuel synthesis.
Through this, he realized that the physical geometry of convective
natural circulation could be applied to the emergency cooling of
nuclear submarines in case of power failure. He constructed a physical
and mathematical model and participated in the design of that system
in the first nuclear submarine – the Nautilus.
A three-time graduate of the University of Minnesota, Amundson
received his B.S. in chemical engineering in 1937, M.S. in chemical
engineering in 1941 and Ph.D. in mathematics in 1945. Upon receiving
his degrees, he remained at the university teaching both chemical
engineering and mathematics, as well as serving 25 years as head
of the chemical engineering department. He joined UH’s chemical
engineering department in 1977, served as provost and vice president
of UH from 1987-89 and is still teaching today. He is a member of
the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering
and American Academy of Arts and Science. The chemical engineering
building is named Amundson Hall at the University of Minnesota.
WHO: Neal Amundson –
“Father of Modern Chemical Engineering”
WHAT: Three-day Lecture Series Honoring
Amundson’s 90th Birthday
WHEN: 3-4 p.m., Dec. 12-14
WHERE: Hilton UH Hotel and Conference Center,
Shamrock Ballroom (Entrance 1)
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