On December 18, 2005, Professor Dr.-Ing Dieter

Mewes, editor in chief of this journal for many years,

celebrated his 65th birthday.

Dieter Mewes has set the highest standards in

chemical and process engineering and he is one of the

most outstanding scientists in heat and mass transfer.

His scientific activities in fundamental research cover a

wide field, reaching from heat and mass transfer via

fluid dynamics, multiphase and viscous flow up to the

development of highly sophisticated optical measuring

techniques. In applied research, he has made eminent

contributions to multiphase fluid dynamic research,

especially in his studies on the fluid-dynamic behavior

of slug flow, on thermofluid dynamic behavior during

depressurization of chemical reactors, on the hydro-

dynamics and reaction kinetics of stirred vessels and of

bubble columns as well as on screw displacement

pumps for offshore crude oil processing. He has given

new and very important impetus to the processing of

polymers.

He is one of the leading pioneers in the develop-

ment of holographic methods. His work on tomo-

graphic measuring techniques for studying micro- and

macro-mixing, using the dual wavelength photometry

deserves special mention. These techniques give com-

pletely new and very important insights into mass

transfer in multicomponent fluids with and without

chemical reactions.

Dieter Mewes started his scientific career at the

chair for Process Engineering of the Technical Uni-

versity Berlin, 1976–1973, where he worked with Prof.

Heinz Brauer, a well known scientist in multiphase

flow and mass transfer. In Berlin, Mewes carried out

research in several fields of multiphase flow and in

mass transfer. Together with Brauer, he wrote the

famous book ‘‘Stoffaustausch einschließlich chemi-

scher Reaktion’’ (Mass Transfer Including Chemical

Raction). His theoretical work ‘‘Modellvorstellungen

fur den Verschleißmechanismus bei Prallbeschuss

kristalliner Werkstoffoberflachen’’ (Theory of wearing

of crystalline surfaces due to colliding particles) was

accepted as his Ph.D. thesis by the Technical Uni-

versity Berlin. In 1972 he was awarded the post doc-

toral lecturing qualification at the Technical

University Berlin

In 1973, he joined the company Degussa Hanau, one

of the very first addresses in the German chemical

industry. Here he made a remarkable career. From

head of the department for Process Engineering at

Degussa-Antwerpen via Vice President-Engineering of

Degussa Corporation in Mobile, AL, USA, up to the

F. Mayinger (&)Technische Universitat Munchen,Boltzmannstraße 15, 85747 Garching, Germanye-mail: may@td.mw.tum.de

Heat Mass Transfer (2006) 42:867–868

DOI 10.1007/s00231-006-0137-3

123

LAUDATIO

Franz Mayinger

Published online: 28 June 2006� Springer-Verlag 2006

Director of the department for Engineering-Technol-

ogy at Degussa Hanau.

In 1982, Dieter Mewes was appointed Professor and

Director of the institute for ‘‘Verfahrenstechnik’’

(process engineering) at the University of Hannover.

He has introduced several generations of students to

the secrets of all the facets of chemical engineering,

mainly process engineering, multiphase flow, heat and

mass transfer but also in bio-engineering, in rheology

and in measuring techniques. He has guided a great

number of Ph.D. students through their research work.

He combines outstanding experimental skill with bril-

liant theoretical abilities. More than 200 outstanding

scientific manuscripts have flown from his pen, all of

them published in internationally highly respected and

strictly reviewed journals. In addition, he has contrib-

uted to numerous international conferences.

Dieter Mewes has been also very active in editorial

work. From 1998 until 2005, he was editor in chief of

the international journal ‘‘Heat and Mass Transfer’’

and he is co-editor of the Book series ‘‘Heat and Mass

Transfer, both published by Springer-Verlag. He is a

member of the Board of Associate Editors of the

journal ‘‘Chemical Engineering and Processing’’ and

he serves on the committee of the journals ‘‘Chemie

Ingenieur Technik’’ and ‘‘Chemical Engineering and

Technology’’.

From 1985 to 1987, he served as Dean of the faculty

for Mechanical Engineering at the University of Han-

nover and from 1995 until 1997 he was a member of the

Senate of this university.

He received offers for appointments from the

Technical University Berlin (1991) and from the

Technical University Darmstadt (1992).

Dieter Mewes was and still is very active in inter-

national societies and associations. Only a few of them

will be mentioned here. The following deserve special

mention—his memberships in the Assembly of World

Conferences on Experimental Heat Transfer, Fluid

Dynamics and Thermodynamics (WCEHFT) and in

the European Federation of Chemical Engineering. In

the WCEHFT, he worked for many years in the Nus-

selt-Reynolds Price Committee and since 2005 he has

been chairman of this committee. In the European

Federation of Chemical Engineering, he is the German

Delegate to the ‘‘Working Party of Multiphase Flow’’.

Recently he has been appointed to be a member of the

ASME-Fluid Engineering Division and he was and is

responsible as co-chairman for the ASME-Fluids

Engineering Summer Meetings in Montreal (2001) and

in Miami (2006):

German national committees profit greatly from his

know-how. For four years (1996–1999), he served on

the ‘‘Storfallkommission’’ (chemical hazard commis-

sion) of the German Federal Ministry for Environ-

mental Affairs and from 1999 to 2002 he was a member

of the technical committee for Chemical Plant Safety

of this ministry. From his numerous activities in Ger-

man scientific associations, only his membership of the

Senate of the ‘‘Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft’’

(German research association), the most important

sponsor in Germany for university research will be

mentioned here. In this society, he worked as chairman

of the expert group of thermal and chemical engi-

neering. Finally his membership of the Board of the

German Association for Chemical and Process Engi-

neering (GVT) has to be mentioned.

High ranking awards have paid tribute to Dieter

Mewes’ achievements. For example, he was decorated

with the ‘‘Arnold-Eucken-Medal’’ for his achieve-

ments in Chemical Engineering. He is active in the

‘‘Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissens-

chaften, to which he has been the elected member

since 1995 and he is member of the ‘‘Konvent fur

Technikwissenschaften der Union der deutschen Ak-

ademien der Wissenschaften (acatech)’’.

Many of Dieter Mewes’ research activities have

initiated new trends in science. He is an internationally

highly respected pioneer in chemical engineering sci-

ences and he is highly regarded in process engineering.

He is also very charming and friendly making it a

pleasure to cooperate with him.

His friends, former students, colleagues and

Springer-Verlag would like to take the opportunity of

his 65th birthday, to wish Dieter Mewes all the best,

many healthy, happy and still active years with great

success, but also many relaxing, refreshing and joyful

hours with his charming wife Hannelore and his family.

Munich, December 2005

F. Mayinger

E-mail: may@td.mw.tum.de

868 Heat Mass Transfer (2006) 42:867–868

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