Pavlos Vlachos named Robert E. Hord Jr. Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Pavlos Vlachos, professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was recently named Robert E. Hord Jr. Professor of Mechanical Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The Robert E. Hord Jr. Professorship of Mechanical Engineering was established by a gift from the late Robert H. Hord Jr. Hord, who earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949 and a master’s degree the following year, both from the College of Engineering, was an enthusiastic supporter of Virginia Tech’s chemical and mechanical engineering programs. The professorship acknowledges and rewards faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering who have shown exceptional merit in research, teaching, and/or service. Recipients hold the position for a five-year term.
Vlachos, who received a doctoral degree in engineering science and mechanics from Virginia Tech in 2000, began his faculty career in 2003. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2007 and to the rank of professor in 2011. In 2011, he also was named the John R. Jones III Fellow in Mechanical Engineering.
His research focuses on experimental fluid mechanics specializing on flow diagnostics using optical methods or development of novel sensors and measurement techniques. He has worked on variety of fluid mechanics topics, including: wakes, boundary layers, aerothermodynamics, and fluid structure interaction. Specific applications include biofluid mechanics for arterial flows and implants; heart diastolic dysfunction; (nano) particle transport for drag delivery; biosensors; multi-phase and interfacial flows with emphasis to energy related applications and naval systems; and biologically inspired flows: internal flows in insects, and animal/snake gliders.
During his career at Virginia Tech, he has been an investigator on a total of $16.6 million in external research funding. He has authored or co-authored 52 journal papers and 94 peer-reviewed papers in conference proceedings in addition to 94 extended abstracts and short abstracts and posters.
He has advised to completion 11 doctoral and 22 master’s degree students and currently is advising seven doctoral and four Master of Science/doctoral students. He has taught both undergraduate and graduate-level courses and has been rated as an excellent or good teacher by more than 95 percent of the students.
Vlachos has received several recognitions and awards including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 11th Annual T.F. Ogilvie Lectureship Award for Young Investigator in Ocean Engineering and Fluid Mechanics in 2005; a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2006; American Society of Mechanical Engineers Fluids Engineering Division Moody Award in 2007 and 2010; Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research in 2010; and the outstanding paper award in fluid mechanics from the journal, Measurement Science and Technology, in 2009 and 2010.
He received his master’s degree from Virginia Tech and his bachelor’s degree from National Technical University of Athens (Greece).
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
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