MechSE Professor Moshe Matalon was awarded the Numa Manson Medal from the Institute for the Dynamics of Explosions and Reacting Systems (IDERS) at the 26th International Colloquium of the Institute held at the Harvard Faculty Club in Boston on August 3. He was nominated by Professor David Kassoy from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The medal, honoring a scientist distinguished by lifetime accomplishments, was given for his “contributions to mathematical modeling of combustion physics, in particular systematic development of a theory for flames and their dynamics.”
Matalon, a College of Engineering Caterpillar Professor, has made seminal contributions to numerous areas of combustion science including the derivation and formulation of a hydrodynamic theory of premixed flames, a general description of the reaction zone structure of diffusion flames, studies of flame instabilities (linear and nonlinear) in various configurations, contributions to liquid droplet and solid particle combustion, understanding combustion at the microscale, and theories of turbulent flames in the flamelet regime of turbulent combustion.
“I am extremely honored and humbled to accept the Numa Manson Medal and join the distinguished list of past recipients, people who I have long admired and respected,” said Matalon. “Thanks also goes to many of my friends, collaborators, and particularly my students and postdocs for the long hours that we have debated issues and learned from each other.”
Matalon’s worldwide reputation has been recognized by numerous recognitions. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in the division of Fluid Dynamics in 1995, Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 1999 and Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in 2012.
He was named an Associate of the University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study in 2008, and was recipient the AIAA Pendray Aerospace Literature Award in 2010 and the AIAA Fluid Dynamics Award in 2016. Matalon serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and is Editor-In-Chief of Combustion Theory and Modelling, two highly prestigious journals in the thermo-fluid area.