Curriculum Vitae - Christopher E. Brennen

---

---

Current and Recent Positions:

• Richard L. and Dorothy M. Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 2005-present. (On the faculty at Caltech since 1969.)
• Professor of Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1982-present.
• Vice-President for Student Affairs, California Institute of Technology, 1998-2002.
• Executive Officer for Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1993-1998.
• Dean of Students, California Institute of Technology, 1988-1992.
• Master of Student Houses, California Institute of Technology, 1983-1987.

Past Employment:

• Junior Research Fellow, National Physical Laboratory, London, 1966-1968.
• Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, Research Associate, and then Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1969-1982.

Degrees:

• B.A. (1963) (First Class Honors, Engineering Science),
• M.A. (1967) and D.Phil. (1967), all at the University of Oxford, England (Balliol College).

Personal:

• Date and place of birth: Dec. 3, 1941, Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Nationality: United States citizen.
• Widowed with three children (one deceased) and four grandchildren.
• Recreational interests include hiking, mountain climbing, woodwork, painting and writing.

Honors (partial list):

• Fulbright Scholar, 1969-71
• Twice winner (1978, 1981) of the ASME R.T.Knapp Award for the best paper in the ASME Fluids Engineering Division.
• U. N. Consultant to India, 1980.
• NASA New Technology Award, 1980.
• ASME Centennial Medallion, 1980.
• Caltech students award for teaching excellence, 1982.
• Honorary Member of Alumni Association, Caltech, 1988.
• Christensen Visiting Fellow, St. Catherine's College, Oxford Univ., 1992.
• ASME Fluids Engineering Award, 1992.
• General Editor, Oxford Engineering Science Series, Oxford University Press, 1992-1999.
• Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 1993.
• Midwest Mechanics Seminar Speaker, 1994-95.
• Graduate student award for teaching excellence, 1994-95.
• Undergraduate student award for teaching excellence, 1995-96.
• Editor, Physics of Fluids (APS), 1998-2000.
• Chair CAV2001, 4th International Symposium on Cavitation, 2001.
• Fluids Engineering Award, Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2002 (first non-Japanese recipient).
• Fluid Science Award, Fluid Science Foundation, Japan, 2003 (first non-Japanese recipient).
• 2005 Richard Feynman Prize, Caltech's most prestigious teaching honor, given for ``exceptional ability, creativity and innovation in both laboratory and classroom instruction''.
• 2006 John Wesley Powell Award from the American Canyoneering Association given for ``pioneering contributions to the sport of canyoneering''.
• 2008 ISROMAC-12 Award for ``.. research contributions in the area of cavitation and hydrodynamics of rotating machinery''.
• JAXA Visiting Professor of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 2008.

Professional Activities:

• Taught core courses in Mechanical Engineering at the graduate and undergraduate levels, usually in the thermosciences.
• Graduated 28 PhD students.
• Research interests in cavitation and multiphase flows, in turbomachinery and in granular material flows. Research contracts with NSF, ONR, NASA and other private and government agencies.
• Active participant in Institute activities, serving as a member or chairman of a number of committees and working groups. For example, past chair of the Administrative Committee on Affirmative Action and of the Faculty Committee on Convocations, chair of faculty committee to review undergraduate graduation requirements and chair of the committee which produced the Brennen Report on minority admissions. Member of other faculty committees including those on admissions, student housing, student health and undergraduate research (SURF).
• Active in ASME (past chair of the Fluids Engineering Division).
• Current and past consultant to both government and private agencies on a wide range of engineering issues. List (available on request) includes the United Nations, NASA, U.S.Navy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Brookhaven Nat. Lab., Lawrence Livermore Lab., Batelle (Hanford), IBM, Rockwell International, McDonnel-Douglas, Aerospace Corporation, Allied Signal, and many other smaller companies.
• Chair and Member of a number of academic visiting committees including the University of Toronto Mechanical Engineering Department, Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
• Chair CAV2001, Fourth International Symposium on Cavitation.
• Member of Research Evaluation Committee, Japanese National Research Project on "Smart Control of Turbulence".

Research and Publications:

• Research Interests
• Books
• Papers
• Conference Presentations
• Video and Television
• Other talks outside Caltech

Last updated 6/10/06.

---

Christopher E. Brennen, brennen@caltech.edu