George N. Hatsopoulos

George N. Hatsopoulos

George Hatsopoulos, 2011, Chemical Heritage Foundation.
Born January 7, 1927
Athens, Greece
Fields Mechanical engineering
Institutions Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Notable awards John Fritz Medal (1996)

George Nicholas Hatsopoulos (born January 7, 1927) is a Greek American mechanical engineer noted for his work in thermodynamics. Hatsopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in 1927[1] and is linked to the family of the former rector of the Athens Polytechnic School, Nicolas Kitsikis. He attended Athens Polytechnic before entering MIT, where he was awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in 1950, and the professional degree of Mechanical Engineer in 1954, gaining his Doctorate of Science in 1956.[2] In 1965, he and Joseph Keenan published their famous textbook Principles of General Thermodynamics, which restates the second law of thermodynamics in terms of the existence of stable equilibrium states.[3] Their formulation of the second law of thermodynamics states that:

“ When an isolated system performs a process after the removal of a series of internal constraints, it will reach a unique state of equilibrium: this state of equilibrium is independent of the order in which the constraints are removed. ”

The Hatsopoulos-Keenan statement of the Second Law has been rigorously shown[4] to entail the well-known Clausius, Kelvin-Planck, and Carathéodory statements of the Second Law. Moreover, it has provided a basis to extend the traditional definition of entropy to the non-equilibrium domain.

In 1976, Hatsopoulos also contributed to a pioneering formulation of a unified theory of mechanics and thermodynamics, which can be viewed as a precursor of the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics.[5]

Overview

While at MIT, Hatsopoulos was head of the Engineering Division of Matrad Corporation (New York).[2] Matrad Corporation and MIT financially supported his doctoral thesis, The Thermo-Electron Engine.[6] In 1956, Hatsopoulos co-founded the Thermo Electron Corporation (NYSE: TMO).[7] Thermo Electron became a major provider of analytical instruments and services for a variety of domains under the development of George Hatsopoulos, John Hatsopoulos, and Arvin Smith.[8] In 1965, George Hatsopoulos was president of the Thermo Electron Engineering Corporation and Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at M.I.T..

In 1996, Hatsopoulos won the John Fritz Medal, which is the highest American award in the engineering profession and presented each year for scientific or industrial achievement in any field of pure or applied science. In 1997 he was awarded the 3rd Annual Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment.[9] Mr. Hatsopoulos is also a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence. In 2011, along with Arvin Smith and John Hatsopoulos, he was awarded the 2011 Pittcon Heritage Award from the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 MIT. (1956) Appointments To Administrative Positions And Four Faculty Changes Announced. The Tech. LXXVI No. 15, 3 http://tech.mit.edu/V76/PDF/N15.pdf
  3. ↑ Hatsopoulos, George, N.; Keenan, Joseph, H. (1965). Principles of General Thermodynamics. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCN 65-12709.
  4. ↑ Gyftopoulos, Elias, P.; Beretta, Gian Paolo (2005). Thermodynamics. Foundations and Applications. Dover Pu., Inc. ISBNN 0-486-43932-1.
  5. ↑ See, e.g., http://www.quantumthermodynamics.org
  6. ↑ Hatsopoulos, George Nicholas. (1956). The Thermo-Electron Engine. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12098
  7. ↑ It Don't Mean a Thing If You Ain't Got that Green: HBS and the Birth of Venture Capital. HBS Bulletin Online, December 1996. http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/1996/december/start.html
  8. ↑ "George and John Hatsopoulos, and Arvin Smith". Chemical Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  9. ↑ The Heinz Awards, George Hatsopoulos profile

External links