Ishwar K. Puri
Encyclopedia
Ishwar K. Puri is N. Waldo Harrison Professor and Head of the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics
(ESM) at Virginia Tech. There, he also directs and mentors the Multiphysics Research Group (MuRG).
from Delhi College of Engineering
of Delhi University, Delhi
in 1982. Thereafter, he completed his M.S. (1984) and Ph.D (1987) degrees in Applied Mechanics
from University of California, San Diego
.
at Virginia Tech where he also directs the Multiphysics Research Group.
He was a postdoctoral researcher and then as Assistant Research Engineer at the University of California, San Diego from 1987-90. In January, 1990, he was appointed as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering
Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago
(UIC). This was converted to a tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor in August, 1991. He was thereafter promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure
in 1994, and to the rank of Professor
in 1999. He continued to serve at UIC as Director of Graduate Studies of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering programs from 1994–97, and also 1999-2000; as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies from 2000–01, and finally as Executive Associate Dean of Engineering (2001–04). At UIC, he also served on the steering committee of the UIC Institute for Environmental Studies; and helped facilitate several of UIC's micro- and nanotechnology initiatives.
In 2004, Puri moved to Virginia Tech to assume the position of Professor and Department Head of Engineering Science and Mechanics
. As department head, he played a leading role at Virginia Tech in the reoccupation of Norris Hall, where his department is housed, after the tragic shootings initiated by a mentally disturbed student. He has helped move the Engineering Science and Mechanics
program into new convergences at the intersections of the life and physical sciences, and engineering mechanics, and promoted transformative scholarship, particularly through several new faculty hires.
of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME) and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS). He serves as Secretary of the American Academy of Mechanics. In 2010, his alma mater, St. Xavier's School, Delhi
, where he did his schooling from 1964-76 honored him with the Xaverian Excellence Award for his outstanding achievements, pioneering spirit, leadership and public service.
He was invited through the Swiss Leonard Euler Center of the European Research Community of Fluid Turbulence and Combustion in 1998 and 1999 to visit the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
, Zurich
(ETHZ). He was an Environmental Fellow in 1993 through the American Association for the Advancement of Science
-Environmental Protection Agency (AAAS-EPA) program, and in 1992 he was a NASA
/Stanford University
Center for Turbulence Research Fellow.
At UIC
, he established a European-US consortium to conduct engineering student exchanges at the undergraduate and graduate levels that was funded through the US Department of Education FIPSE program. He leads an interdisciplinary program in engineering ethics. He posts a regular twitter
outreach feed on technical
and academic matters. Puri's outreach also includes e-seminars on nanotechnology and future energy scenarios. He serves the profession by organizing workshops and meetings, for instance the 2009 Joint ASCE-ASME-SES Conference on Mechanics and Materials.
Puri is the author of over 300 archival and conference publications, reports, and book chapters in the field of combustion
, energy
and transport phenomena
, thermomagnetic convection
and magnetic fluid
transport, and the cancer stem cell
hypothesis
that have been cited
over 1200 times with an H-index
of 18. He has edited a book on the environmental implications of combustion processes, a textbook on advanced thermodynamics engineering, now in its second edition, and another on combustion science and engineering. He also writes on issues related to science and academia.
However, his first archival publication was neither scientific nor technical, instead it was a collection of poetry written in English in the late 1970s.
Engineering science and mechanics
Engineering Science and Mechanics is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary engineering program and/or academic department at the Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, or University of Alabama. B.S., M.S., M.Eng., or...
(ESM) at Virginia Tech. There, he also directs and mentors the Multiphysics Research Group (MuRG).
Early years
Ishwar Kanwar Puri was born in 1959. He graduated with a B.Sc in Mechanical EngineeringMechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
from Delhi College of Engineering
Delhi College of Engineering
Delhi Technological University , formerly known as Delhi College of Engineering, is a government university located in New Delhi, India...
of Delhi University, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
in 1982. Thereafter, he completed his M.S. (1984) and Ph.D (1987) degrees in Applied Mechanics
Applied mechanics
Applied mechanics is a branch of the physical sciences and the practical application of mechanics. Applied mechanics examines the response of bodies or systems of bodies to external forces...
from University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
.
Career in engineering science
Puri serves as N. Waldo Harrison Professor of Engineering Science and MechanicsEngineering science and mechanics
Engineering Science and Mechanics is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary engineering program and/or academic department at the Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, or University of Alabama. B.S., M.S., M.Eng., or...
at Virginia Tech where he also directs the Multiphysics Research Group.
He was a postdoctoral researcher and then as Assistant Research Engineer at the University of California, San Diego from 1987-90. In January, 1990, he was appointed as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
(UIC). This was converted to a tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor in August, 1991. He was thereafter promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure
Tenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
in 1994, and to the rank of Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in 1999. He continued to serve at UIC as Director of Graduate Studies of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering programs from 1994–97, and also 1999-2000; as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies from 2000–01, and finally as Executive Associate Dean of Engineering (2001–04). At UIC, he also served on the steering committee of the UIC Institute for Environmental Studies; and helped facilitate several of UIC's micro- and nanotechnology initiatives.
In 2004, Puri moved to Virginia Tech to assume the position of Professor and Department Head of Engineering Science and Mechanics
Engineering science and mechanics
Engineering Science and Mechanics is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary engineering program and/or academic department at the Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, or University of Alabama. B.S., M.S., M.Eng., or...
. As department head, he played a leading role at Virginia Tech in the reoccupation of Norris Hall, where his department is housed, after the tragic shootings initiated by a mentally disturbed student. He has helped move the Engineering Science and Mechanics
Engineering science and mechanics
Engineering Science and Mechanics is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary engineering program and/or academic department at the Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, or University of Alabama. B.S., M.S., M.Eng., or...
program into new convergences at the intersections of the life and physical sciences, and engineering mechanics, and promoted transformative scholarship, particularly through several new faculty hires.
Accomplishments
Puri is a FellowFellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
(ASME) and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
(AAAS). He serves as Secretary of the American Academy of Mechanics. In 2010, his alma mater, St. Xavier's School, Delhi
St. Xavier's School, Delhi
St. Xavier's School, Delhi, India, is a Roman Catholic Christian, co-educational school from prep to grade 12 founded and run by Jesuits. The school is located on Raj Niwas Marg in the Civil Lines area of Delhi, India...
, where he did his schooling from 1964-76 honored him with the Xaverian Excellence Award for his outstanding achievements, pioneering spirit, leadership and public service.
He was invited through the Swiss Leonard Euler Center of the European Research Community of Fluid Turbulence and Combustion in 1998 and 1999 to visit the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
(ETHZ). He was an Environmental Fellow in 1993 through the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
-Environmental Protection Agency (AAAS-EPA) program, and in 1992 he was a NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
/Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
Center for Turbulence Research Fellow.
At UIC
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
, he established a European-US consortium to conduct engineering student exchanges at the undergraduate and graduate levels that was funded through the US Department of Education FIPSE program. He leads an interdisciplinary program in engineering ethics. He posts a regular twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
outreach feed on technical
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and academic matters. Puri's outreach also includes e-seminars on nanotechnology and future energy scenarios. He serves the profession by organizing workshops and meetings, for instance the 2009 Joint ASCE-ASME-SES Conference on Mechanics and Materials.
Puri is the author of over 300 archival and conference publications, reports, and book chapters in the field of combustion
Combustion
Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame...
, energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
and transport phenomena
Transport Phenomena
Transport Phenomena is the first textbook that is about transport phenomena. It is specifically designed for chemical engineering students...
, thermomagnetic convection
Thermomagnetic convection
Ferrofluids can be used to transfer heat, since heat and mass transport in such magnetic fluids can be controlled using an external magnetic field.B. A...
and magnetic fluid
Ferrofluid
A ferrofluid is a liquid which becomes strongly magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field.Ferrofluids are colloidal liquids made of nanoscale ferromagnetic, or ferrimagnetic, particles suspended in a carrier fluid . Each tiny particle is thoroughly coated with a surfactant to inhibit clumping...
transport, and the cancer stem cell
Cancer stem cell
Cancer stem cells are cancer cells that possess characteristics associated with normal stem cells, specifically the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a particular cancer sample. CSCs are therefore tumorigenic , perhaps in contrast to other non-tumorigenic cancer cells...
hypothesis
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. The term derives from the Greek, ὑποτιθέναι – hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it...
that have been cited
Citation
Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source . More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source). More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated...
over 1200 times with an H-index
H-index
The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar. The index is based on the set of the scientist's most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received in other publications...
of 18. He has edited a book on the environmental implications of combustion processes, a textbook on advanced thermodynamics engineering, now in its second edition, and another on combustion science and engineering. He also writes on issues related to science and academia.
However, his first archival publication was neither scientific nor technical, instead it was a collection of poetry written in English in the late 1970s.