Detlef Lohse, Professor of Physics of Fluids at the University of Twente, will receive the prestigious Fluid Dynamics Prize of the American Physical Society (APS). It is a prize for world's top scientists in the field.
APS grants the prize to scientists with an outstanding role in fluid dynamics. The list of winners shows renown names, but until now, not many of them come from outside the USA. The jury about the reasons for granting the prize to Prof Lohse: “For profound and wide-ranging contributions to our understanding of fluid turbulence, multiphase flow, and granular flows; for outstanding contributions to the teaching and training of future fluid dynamicists; and for long-standing service to the international fluid dynamics community.”
APS is, with 53,000 members, one of the largest organisations for physicists in the world. APS wants to unlock and share knowledge of physics, via a large number of journals, meetings and conferences. Apart from the Prizes and Awards, APS also appoints Fellows – a great honour as well. Detlef Lohse was appointed APS Fellow in 2002.
Driven by curiosity
Prof. Detlef Lohse (1963) was appointed Professor of Physics of Fluids at the University in Twente in 1998. From then on, he has built one of the leading groups in the world. His research ranges from the behavior of one single bubble on a surface, via many bubbles in liquids to phenomena like turbulence. He is well known for his work on ‘sonoluminescence’: a bubble in a fluid can emit light under the influence of ultrasound. Lohse’s fundamental and curiosity driven research on bubble formation and behavior, opens up surprising applications. Bubbles can transport medicine in the body or they can improve the performance of ships. Better understanding of the fundamentals of bubbles, already led to a long-term cooperation with Océ, manufacturer of printers and copiers, for research on inkjet printing. The work of Lohse’s group is characterized by a theoretical approach that is very thorough, in combination with – often visually attractive – experiments.
In March of this year, the Max Planck – University of Twente Center for Complex Fluid Dynamics opened its doors. Thanks to cooperation with two Max Planck Institutes, this new Center – an initiative of Detlef Lohse – concentrates cutting-edge fluid dynamics research in Europe.
Earlier on, Detlef Lohse received the Dutch Spinoza Prize, he was appointed Simon Stevin Master and he received the George K. Batchelor Prize – also a prestigious fluid dynamics prize. He was appointed Member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) recently, he is also a Member of the academies in The Netherlands (KNAW) and Germany (‘Leopoldina’). He managed to acquire an Advanced Grant twice, of the European Research Council, and he is involved in a major Dutch research programme on multi scale catalytic energy conversion (MCEC). In 2005, the University of Twente appointed him Distinguished Professor (‘universiteitshoogleraar’) and in 2010 he received the royal distinction of Knight in the order of the Dutch Lion.
Professor Lohse will receive the APS Fluid Dynamics Prize in November in Denver, during the annual conference on fluid dynamics. The Prize consists of $10,000, a certificate and ‘the floor’ during the conference for a key note contribution.
