AWARDS

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THE ; - ST- S L. LARSON MEMORIAL AWARD was established in 1; ; ; and honors
; ustus L. Larson; Fellow and founder of Pi Tau Sigma. It is awarded to the engineering
graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering
within 10 to 20 years following graduation.
KENNETH T. CHRISTENSEN; Ph.D.; assistant dean of faculty development; and
professor and collegiate chair in fluid mechanics; - niversity of Notre Dame; Ind.;
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Dr. Christensen is a professor and the collegiate chair
in fluid mechanics at the - niversity of Notre Dame;
Ind.; with a ;oint appointment in the department of
aerospace and mechanical engineering; and the department
of civil and environmental engineering and earth
sciences. He also serves as assistant dean of faculty
development in the College of Engineering.
At Notre Dame; Christensen directs a research program
that pursues experimental studies of turbulence;
geophysical flows and microfluidics with significant
practical importance in engineering applications. He is
also a World Premier Institute principal investigator in
the Carbon Dioxide Storage Division of the International
Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research
;I2CNER; based at Kyushu - niversity ;Fukuoka;
;apan;.
Previously Christensen was a member of the faculty at the - niversity of Illinois at
- rbana-Champaign ;200; –1; ;; where he held positions including professor; Kritzer
faculty scholar and associate head for undergraduate and mechanics programs in the
department of mechanical science and engineering; with affiliate appointments in aerospace
engineering and geology. Earlier he was an assistant professor ;2002–0; ; at the
- niversity of New Mexico; AlbuCuerCue.
Christensen has published more than ; 0 archival ;ournal articles and ; 0 conference
papers as well as seven book chapters. He serves on the editorial boards of !B:/!3!/n!!
3n !l!3.!and ! /a!!!/!/n!!-3/n-/ an. &/-2n9l91C. He will begin a five-year term as
editor-in-chief of ! /a!!!/!/n!!-3/n-/ an. &/-2n9l91C in ;anuary 201; .
An ASME Fellow; Christensen is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society; an
Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and a
member of the American ; eophysical - nion and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
His honors include a 1 oung Investigator Award ;200; ; from the Air Force Office of
Scientific Research; a CAREER Award ;200; ; from the National Science Foundation;
the François Frenkiel Award for Fluid Mechanics ;2011; from the American Physical
Society;s Division of Fluid Dynamics; and the Dean;s Award for Excellence in Research
;2012; from the - niversity of Illinois; College of Engineering.
Christensen earned his bachelor;s degree in mechanical engineering from the
- niversity of New Mexico in 1; ; ; and his master;s degree in mechanical engineering
from the California Institute of Technology; Pasadena; in 1; ; ; . He earned his Ph.D.
in theoretical and applied mechanics from the - niversity of Illinois at - rbana-
Champaign in 2001.
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