MEMSDUKEPRATT School of engineering

Education

  • PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1975
  • MS, MIT (Honors Course), 1972
  • BS, MIT (Honors Course), 1971
Adrian Bejan
  • Office Location: 148A Engineering Building
  • Office Phone: +1 919 660 5309
  • Email Address: dalford@duke.edu
  • Web Pages: http://www.mems.duke.edu/faculty/bejan/const_theory.php , http://www.constructal.org

    • Professor Bejan's research covers a wide range of topics in thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, convection and porous media. More recently, he developed the constructal law of design in nature.

    Professor Bejan is ranked among the 100 most highly cited authors worldwide in engineering (all fields, all countries), the Institute for Scientific Information, 2001. Professor Bejan has received 15 honorary doctorates from universities in 10 countries.

    Adrian Bejan is the author of 23 books and 500 peer-referred articles.

    Specialties
    Thermodynamics
    Heat Transfer
    Constructal Law of Design in Nature

    TEACHING (Fall 2009)

    ME 280.01, CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER, MW 02:50 PM-04:05 PM

    TEACHING (Spring 2010)

    ME 166.01, CONSTRUCTAL THEORY & DESIGN,

    Recent Publications More Publications

    1. Bejan, Adrian and Lorente, Sylvie, Constructal theory of generation of configuration in nature and engineering, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 100 no. 4 (2006), ppt. 041301 - , [1.2221896] [abs]
    2. A. Bejan and J. H. Marden, Constructing animal locomotion from new thermodynamics theory, American Scientist, vol. 94 no. 4 (2006), ppt. 342 -- 349
    3. Lorente, Sylvie and Bejan, Adrian, Heterogeneous porous media as multiscale structures for maximum flow access, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 100 no. 11 (2006), ppt. 114909 - , [1.2396842] [abs]
    4. S. Kim and S. Lorente and A. Bejan and W. Miller and J. Morse, The emergence of vascular design in three dimensions, Journal Of Applied Physics, vol. 103 no. 12 (2008) [abs]
    5. A. Bejan and S. Lorente and J. Lee, Unifying constructal theory of tree roots, canopies and forests, Journal Of Theoretical Biology, vol. 254 no. 3 (2008), ppt. 529 -- 540 [abs]

    Research Interests

      Professor Bejan's research covers a wide range of topics in thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, convection and porous media. More recently, he developed the constructal law of design in nature.
    Books
    • A. Bejan & S. Lorente, Design with Constructal Theory, Wiley, 2008
    • A. Bejan, Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics, 3rd ed., Wiley, 2006.
    • D. A. Nield & A. Bejan, Convection in Porous Media, 3rd ed., Springer, 2006.
    • A. Bejan & S. Lorente, La loi constructale, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2005.
    • A. Bejan, Convection Heat Transfer, 3rd ed., Wiley, 2004.

    Constructal law website: http://www.constructal.org

    website Employment
    • 1989 - present: J.A. Jones Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC.
    • 1984 - 1989: Full Professor with Tenure, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC.
    • 1981 - 1984: Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
    • 1978 - 1981: Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
    • 1976 - 1978: Fellow of the Miller Institute of Basic Research in Science, University of California-Berkeley.
    • 1975 - 1976: Lecturer and Research Associate, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
    Awards and Honors
    • Donald Q. Kern Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), 2008, for "seminal contributions to heat exchange design based on two original methods: entropy generation minimization, and constructal theory."
    • Fluid Science Research Award of the Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, Japan, 21 January 2008.
    • James P. Hartnett Memorial Award, 2007, International Center of Heat and Mass Transfer.
    • Luikov Medal, 2006, International Heat Transfer Conference, Sydney.
    • Edward F. Obert Award, 2004, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, for the paper "Thermodynamic Formulation of the Constructal Law" written with Prof. S. Lorente.
    • Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award, 2001, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, for "outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering by an engineer twenty years or more following graduation."
    • Ralph Coats Roe Award, 2000, American Society of Engineering Education.
    • Max Jakob Memorial Award, 1999, awarded jointly by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, "for highly imaginative and inspiring ideas in the thermal science and design of engineering and nature."
    • Worcester Reed Warner Medal, 1996, of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, "for originality, challenges to orthodoxy, and impact on engineering thermodynamics and heat transfer, which were made through the first three books: Entropy Generation Through Heat and Fluid Flow (1982), Convection Heat Transfer (1984), and Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics (1988)."
    • Heat Transfer Memorial Award, 1994, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, science" category, "for significant and often unconventional contributions to heat transfer, notably in natural convection, thermodynamic aspects of heat transfer, convection in porous media, thermal tribology, solar energy conversion, cryogenics, and transition to turbulence; and for bringing modern research results and methods into heat transfer education."
    • James Harry Potter Gold Medal, 1990, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, for "original and unorthodox ideas, journal articles, textbooks, graphics and lectures demonstrating that engineering thermodynamics is an active and often controversial field of research, and for encouraging others to invest their creativity in the future of the field."
    • Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award, 1988, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, for "demonstrated outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering within ten to twenty years following graduation."
    • Ralph R. Teetor Award, 1980, of the Society of Automotive Engineers.
    • Robert Henry Thurston Lecture, 1999, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, "Shape and Structure in Engineering and Nature: Constructal Theory."
    • ASME Distinguished Lecturer, 2002-2005.
    • Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Honorary Member, 2001.
    • Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, elected in October 1987.
    • Bejan number (Be), proposed as name for the dimensionless pressure difference group in forced convection (S. Bhattacharjee and W.L. Grosshandler, The formation of a wall jet near a high temperature wall under microgravity environment, ASME HTD-Vol. 96, 1988, pp. 711-716).
    • Bejan number (Be), proposed as name for the dimensionless ratio of fluid friction irreversibility divided by heat transfer irreversibility, in convection (S. Paoletti, F. Rispoli and E. Sciubba, Calculation of exergetic losses in compact heat exchanger passages, ASME AES-Vol. 10-2, 1989, pp. 21-29).
    • MIT, Member of Honors Course, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 1970 - 1972.
    • MIT, De Florez Award for ingenuity in engineering design, 1969.

    The mission of Duke's Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science educational programs is to provide the knowledge, skills, and credentials needed to be successful in the practice of engineering; the preparation necessary to undertake professional registration; an educational preparation for graduate or professional study; and an education background that is the basis for professional growth and leadership throughout a career that may encompass a broad range of endeavors, both technical and non-technical.