Int. J. Iteat Mass Transfer. Vol. 26. No. 2. pp. 161-162, 1983
9 Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain

PROFESSOR
ONHIS

D.

BRIAN

60TH

SPALDING

BIRTHDAY|A

PROFESSORD. BRIANSPALDINGis an editor and one of
the founders of this journal. It is, therefore, appropriate
here to reflect upon his contributions to heat and masstransfer on the occasion of his 60th birthday, which wason 9 January 1983. He has made a significant impact on
this field of science through his creative ideas andsplendid vision. Many of his writings have become
classics in their own right and have served as aninspiration to many researchers.
While examining his research contributions, one isamazed at the variety of subject areas to which he has
made a substantial contribution. His research has led tomajor advances in heat transfer, thermodynamics,combustion, mass transfer, boundary layer theory,
turbulent flows, numerical methods, and multiphase
phenomena. Even more fascinating is the nature of hiscontributions. In almost every field he has touched, he
has made a breakthrough, opening the road to many
scientific opportunities that did not exist before. All hispioneering papers (and there are many of these) are.Mr 26:2 - A

characterized by a creative brilliance that produces aquantumjumpin the prevailing scientific capability. He
considers himself to be a generalist rather than aspecialist, and yet, upon entering a new subject area, hehas been able to overcome some major difficulties thathave plagued the specialists in that area for a number ofyears.
His research in engineering sciences has all along
been strongly motivated by its practical relevance. He
has been interested in devices and techniques formaking predictions. His early work on thermodynamic
charts, analog devices, and simple formulas forconvective mass transfer can be traced to his desire for apredictive capability, which has now culminated in thedevelopment ofgeneral-purpose numerical techniques.
The strength of his approach lies in his ability togeneralize and extend a given concept, formula, ortechnique. He sees all thermo-fluids phenomena
through a general framework and thus has been able totransfer his experience from combustion to turbulence,
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PROFESSOR D. BRIAN SPALDING

heat exchangers to two-phase flow, and so on. It is an
important tribute to his pioneering work that over thepast decade the engineering industry has started using
computational models for multi-dimensional heattransfer and fluid flow in the analysis and design ofcomplex equipment such as combustion chambers,
furnaces, heat exchangers, cooling towers, and steam
generators.
Professor Spalding was born on 9 January 1923, in
New Malden, England. He obtained his BA and MA
degrees from the University of Oxford and his Ph.D. in1952 from Cambridge. He joined the Imperial College,London as a reader in 1954 and became Professor ofHeat Transfer in 1958--a position that he has held eversince. He has been a strong influence on his many
students, colleagues, and associates. It is true to say thatthe majority of researchers working today in the field ofcomputational heat transfer have been either directly
or at least indirectly influenced and inspired byProfessor Spalding.
In addition to being a professor at Imperial College,
he heads a company called Concentration, Heat andMomentum Limited, which provides a mechanism forthe speedy application of the results of academic
i'esearch to engineering practice. He is an editor of thisjournal and the Editor-in-Chief of Physicochemical
Hydrodynamics.In addition, he serves on the editorial
boards of a number of international journals. He has
been active in international meetings and conferences
and taken a major role in the activities of theInternational Center for Heat and Mass Transfer.

He is a prolific writer and has authored or coauthored eight books and numerous journal articles.
His writings and speeches are very clear, fluent, lucid,and entertaining. They are enlivened by his sense ofhumor and by his interests in music, languages, andpoetry. He is a warm and sensitive individual with akeen sense of friendship and concern for others.
His professional excellence has been widely
recognized through a number of honors and awards.
These include the Max Jakob Award in 1978, the Gold
Medal from the French Institute for Energy andCombustion in 1980, and the Bernard Lewis Medalfrom the Combustion Institute in 1982.
During the last two years, Professor Spalding hasembarked upon the construction of a highlysophisticated and refined computer program for thesimulation of heat transfer and fluid flow. The programis intended to be an ultimate in generality, economy,and reliability. The aim is to prepare a single computer
program suitable for situations of any dimensionality
and time-dependence, for single or multi-phase flows,
and for a variety of thermo-fluid processes that arise inengineering practice. The engineering community will
be watching with great expectation and interest thedevelopment of this magnificent endeavor.
On the occasion of his 60th birthday, his students,
colleagues, and friends throughout the world join withthe editors of this journal to wish Professor D. Brian
Spalding a happy life, continued good health, and many
more productive years.
SUHAS V. PATANKAR