Raymond Viskanta facts for kids
Professor Raymond Viskanta (born July 16, 1931 – died December 27, 2021) was a very important engineer and professor. He taught at Purdue University. He spent his career studying how heat moves, which is called convection and radiation heat transfer.
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Who Was Raymond Viskanta?
Early Life and Moving to America
Raymond Viskanta was born in Marijampolė, Lithuania. In 1944, during World War II, his family had to leave Lithuania. They moved to a town called Nienburg in Germany.
After the war, his family lived in a displaced persons camp in West Germany. These camps were places for people who had to leave their homes because of the war. In 1949, his family moved to the United States.
Education and Becoming an Engineer
Raymond Viskanta eventually moved to Chicago. There, he worked in a factory during the day. At night, he went to high school to finish his studies. He earned his high school diploma in 1951.
After high school, he became a full-time student at the University of Illinois at Navy Pier. He earned his first college degree, a bachelor's degree, in 1955. He then went to Purdue University and completed his master's degree in 1956.
He worked as a mechanical engineer at Argonne National Laboratory. He also received a special scholarship from the United States Atomic Energy Commission. After this, he went back to Purdue to get his PhD, which is a very advanced degree.
His Work and Discoveries
Teaching and Research at Purdue
In 1962, Dr. Viskanta joined the faculty at Purdue University. He became a professor in mechanical engineering. In 1986, he was given the special title of W.F.M. Goss Distinguished Professor of Engineering. This showed how important his work was.
Dr. Viskanta published many research papers. He wrote over 540 publications in 50 different science journals. These journals were in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. His work helped many other scientists and engineers.
Awards and Recognition
Raymond Viskanta was recognized as a highly cited author in engineering. This means many other scientists used his work in their own research. Several awards are now given in his honor.
Purdue University has the Viskanta Fellowship Lecture. Also, a science journal called Elsevier gives out the Raymond Viskanta Award. These awards celebrate his important contributions to engineering and science.
