Inr. J.

Pergal

ON I8 MARCH t9XO professor
and dwtor Ofengjn~T-ing, Niichi ~j~~~ak~~ celeebrafed his 70th birthday.
Professor ~~sh~~ak~ was born in Hikone City, near
Kyofo, Japan, where he spent his youth, He became
interested in aircraft engine development and, after
receiving his ba&eIor’s degree in mechanical engineering fhere in 1932, he remained at the University ofTokyo as a research associate in the Aer~nauf~~a~
Research Institute. ft was at fhis time that he initiatedhis work in the field of heat transfer and made hisinitial ~ontrjbuf~ons in the development of compact
heat exchangers for airplanes.
During the next decade+ research and development
projects at the Aeronautical Research Institute demanded most of his time. However, he also enrolled in
the graduate program at the University ofTokyo andreceived his doctor of engineering degree in 1947. He
then joined the Department of Mechanical Engitlcering, where he remained as a faculty member until hisretirement in 1970. After fhe retirement, he wasnominated asa Professor Emeritus ofthe University ofTokyo, and is still continuing research work in his own
private company. He expanded his consulting practicethrough this company to undertake projects concerned with the reduction of noise and air pollution.

His s~eilfj~c act~~ties reveal an ~~us~a~~y broad
range WhiGh includes ~x~rimenta~ and analyticat
studies of liquid droplet. evaporation and ~omb~ist~on~heat and mass transfer to and from catalytic surfaces.
band ern~~~v~t~~sof carbon dioxide and water vapor,radiation from ~u~i~~~s Rams, heat tt-ansfer fromkigh Prandtt numbeer fluids, supercriticai state heattransfer, free convection within a confined Iayer,tra~sp~~t~o~ and film cooling, and turbulent heattransfer in irn~in~~n~ jet systems. His papers on“Forced convecfion heaf transfer of fluids near thecritical point flowing in a tube” have been nominatedfor the 1975 Award of the Japan Society of Mechanicat
Engineers. His students and colteagues found Professor Njsbiw~ki to have an wceptional capability for
perL&ving the key or concrolting elements of a problem. His philosophy for research was firstly todevelop a sound physica:a)understanding of the phenomena under study, and fhen to develop the simplest
analytical inferprefafion,
Along with his teaching and research, Professor
Nishiwaki has been BCY
especially prominent adminisfrafor and leader. Hc served his university in various
ndminisfrafive assignments
and also his government asa confiultanf, Hc was one of the founders of the Japan438

Professor

Niichi Nishiwaki

Society of Heat Transfer. He had an essential role inattracting the International Heat Transfer Conference
to Japan in 1974. He organized this conference successfuliy as the chairman, and international recognition of
his outstanding ability and contributions came in hissubsequent election as president of the assembly ofInternational Heat Transfer Conferences.
For these many contributions and achievements inthe area of heat and mass transfer as an educator,

researcher and administrator, dedicated to nationaland international exchange and advance of knowledge,
Professor Nishiwaki was selected as the 1978 recipientof the Max Jakob Memorial Award. He is truly
representative of the rapid development and outstanding progress in heat and mass transfer research andtechnology in Japan.
Y. KATTOand M. HIK~T,~