Heat Transfer Engineering, 27(5):1–2, 2006
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C Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0145-7632 print / 1521-0537 online
DOI: 10.1080/01457630600559405
editorial
The 30th Donald Kern Award
ARTHUR E. BERGLES
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA
Downloaded by [Tufts University] at 06:32 15 October 2014
The Donald Q. Kern Award for 2004 was conferred on Dr. Ramesh K. Shah at the Summer Annual Heat Transfer Conference,
San Francisco, Calif., on July 19, 2005. Although editorials in Heat Transfer Engineering usually deal with heat transfer
processes or heat exchangers, I would like to use this page to salute an outstanding practitioner of heat transfer. First, a few
words about Don Kern.
Photo 1 Sadik Kakac, Arthur E. Bergles, and Ramesh K. Shah, at the Heat
Transfer Awards Luncheon, ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference, San
Francisco, Calif., July 19, 2005.
Donald Q. Kern (1914–1971) was born in New York City. He
received his Ph.D. from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
(now Polytechnic University) in 1942. He was employed in in-
dustry from 1937 to 1954. In 1950, he published the landmark
Process Heat Transfer, which was the first applied heat transfer
book. Process heat transfer became a recognized specialty within
heat transfer, particularly for chemical engineers. In 1954, Kern
formed his own firm, which consulted in thermal process tech-
nology for a wide variety of clients. His reputation was such
that the AIChE Heat Transfer and Energy Conversion Division
Address correspondence to Dr. Arthur E. Bergles, Department of Mechani-
cal, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy,
NY 12180. E-mail: Abergles@aol.com
1
(now Transport and Energy Processes Division) established their
premier award in his honor in 1973. The award emphasizes
contributions that have significant practical applications. It is
fair to say that Heat Transfer Engineering, which first appeared
in 1979 and has been directed toward the practicing engineer, is
part of Don Kern’s legacy.
Ramesh K. Shah is an outstanding practitioner of heat trans-
fer. After graduating from Gujarat University in India, he came to
the U.S. and earned an M.S., the first of three degrees at Stanford
University. His advisor for the Engineer and Ph.D. (completed in
1971) was Prof. A. L. London, who got him heavily involved
with compact heat exchangers. His studies were interspersed
with industrial positions that emphasized this technology. In
1971, he began a thirty-year career at Delphi Harrison Ther-
mal Systems (formerly Harrison Radiator Division of General
Motors Corporation), Lockport, NY, directing R&D for auto-
motive compact heat exchangers. Throughout this period, he
was adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at the State
University of New York at Buffalo. From 1995–1997, he was
professor and chairman in the Department of Mechanical Engi-
neering at the University of Kentucky. Retiring from Delphi in
2001, he became a research professor at Rochester Institute of
Technology, working primarily in fuel cells. He recently “un-
retired” from industry, moving to India where he oversees heat
exchanger development at Subros Ltd. near Delhi.
What this thumbnail sketch of a career does not tell you is
the great amount of time Ram Shah has put into organizing con-
ferences, presenting short courses, editing, and writing. Most
of this has been done on his own time, as these activities—
with the exception of short courses—are unimportant to in-
dustry. He has been involved with the organization of a dozen
 2 A. E. BERGLES
international conferences and published more than 120 tech-
nical papers and thirty books and edited volumes—including
conference proceedings. He has taught short courses and pre-
sented keynote lectures/seminars in 33 countries. He is widely
recognized as a world-class expert on compact heat exchang-
ers and the associated fluid flow/heat transfer characteristics.
His emphasis has been on practical heat transfer, but he has
not hesitated to use analyses and numerical simulations to get
answers to difficult problems. He was the driving force in es-
tablishing the international journal Experimental Thermal and
Fluid Science. Underpinning that publication is an organiza-
tion: since its inception in 1988, he was co-founder and pres-
ident of the Assembly of World Conferences on Experimental
Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics. He is
also the co-editor-in-chief of the Russian Journal of Engineering
Thermophysics.
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Photo 2 Sadik Kakac, Arthur E. Bergles, and Ramesh K. Shah, at the NATO
Advanced Study Institute on Low Reynolds Number Flow Heat Exchangers,
Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, July 19, 1981.
heat transfer engineering
Ram Shah’s achievements have earned recognitions prior to
the Kern Award. His accomplishments and reputation were al-
ready such that he was the subject of an early interview in HTE
(Vol. 1, No. 3, 1980). He was elected a fellow of ASME in 1984
and of SAE in 1997. He was made the Ramachandran Chair
Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, from
December 1998–January 1999. He received the ASME Heat
Transfer Memorial Award (Art) in 2000. He has been named an
honorary professor at four overseas universities.
With all of this international activity, it is apparent that Ram
Shah is a global engineer. I have had the pleasure of working
with him on various projects over the years in several countries.
We have indeed transferred a lot of heat together, and as they say,
“where there is heat, there is light.” It is appropriate to include
a counterpart to Photo 1. Photo 2 was taken at an international
program 24 years earlier to the very day. Comparing the pictures,
the subjects appear a bit older, but the topic of compact heat
exchangers has also matured.
I can’t think of a more deserving person for the Donald Q.
Kern Award and a more qualified person to present the Kern
Award Lecture on “Advances in the Science and Technology of
Compact Heat Exchangers.” Ram Shah’s Kern Award Lecture
appears next.
Art Bergles has been a contributor to HTE since 1981.
He is a professor emeritus at RPI, and has adjunct ap-
pointments at MIT and the University of Maryland.
He is a fellow of seven societies, was president of
ASME, and is a member of the National Academy
of Engineering, the Royal Academy of Engineering
(UK), the Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenia),
and the National Academy of Sciences (Italy). He
has received the Heat Transfer Memorial Award, the
Kern Award, the Max Jakob Memorial Award, the
Luikov Medal, the Nusselt-Reynolds Prize, and the ITherm Achievement
Award.
vol. 27 no. 5 2006
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The 30th Donald Kern Award

a
Arthur E. Bergles
a
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering , Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute , Troy, New York, USA
Published online: 23 Feb 2007.

To cite this article: Arthur E. Bergles (2006) The 30th Donald Kern Award, Heat Transfer Engineering, 27:5, 1-2, DOI:
10.1080/01457630600559405

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