Curriculum Vitae
GERARD HIRS
(18 October 1934 – 23 November 2022)
Emeritus professor of energy technology
Faculty of mechanical engineering
University of Twente
P.O.Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands
Education and professional career
1960: MSc in mechanical engineering Technical University Delft
1959-1971: research engineer TNO Institute for Mechanical Constructions Delft; tribology, bearings, seals, turbulent lubrication, rotor dynamics
1970: PhD in engineering Technical University Delft; title of thesis: Fundamentals of a Bulk Flow Theory for Turbulent Lubricant Films
1972-1975: research coordinater Centec/Urenco Bergisch Gladbach; materials and machine elements for isotope separation in gas centrifuges
1976-1978: project engineer Interatom Bergisch Gladbach, assignments at Novatome Paris and UKAEA Risley;
process design and development for breeder reactors
1979-1982: technical director Neratoom The Hague; design and development of liquid metal heat exchangers, steam generaters and pumps for breeder reactors
1982-1992: manager, later director, Comprimo Consulting Services Amsterdam; feasibility studies, basic designs, research programmes in the field of energy and process technology with emphasis on energy and resource conservation; clients: government, industry, World Bank
1992-2000: professor of energy technology University of Twente; second law analysis, life cycle analysis, technology development for coal gasification, cat crackers, waste combustion
2000- : member of several advisory committees on energy conservation, member of the jury of a design contest on greenhouses
Honours
1951: Winner of essay contest on Industrialization in The Netherlands
1970: Winner NAP research award for the development of a continuously measuring viscometer
1978-1982: Chairman of the German-French-Dutch working group on heat transfer components for breeder reactors
1992-2000: Chairman of the Energy and Heat Transfer Department of the Royal Institute of Engineers The Hague
1992-2000: Chairman of the working group for process integration and exergy analysis (now: exergy.nl)
2001-2004: Chairman of Senter Advisory Group Energy Conservation through Innovation
2004- : Member of SenterNovem advisory Group Energy Demonstration Projects
member KIVI, Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs
reviewer Elsevier journals on energy
member scientific committee International Centre for Applied Thermodynamics
member and, in the year 2000, chairman of the 1970 Scientific Committee of the ECOS conference series, reviewer of contributions to these conferences
PhD dissertations with Gerard Hirs as supervisor
R.L.Cornelissen, Thermodynamics and Sustainable Development, ISBN 90 365 1053 8, 7 november 1997, Universiteit Twente, Nederland, co-promotor T.J.Kotas
J.H.Bouma, Particle Recovery and Dipleg Flow in Fluidized Catalytic Cracking, ISBN 90 365 1097, 27 februari 1998, Universiteit Twente, Nederland
M.A.Korobitsyn, New and Advanced Energy Conversion Technologies, ISBN 90 365 1107 0, 3 april 1998, Universteit Twente, Nederland
E.Mozes, On the Development of a High Capacity Water Boiler, ISBN 90 385 1593 9, 15 juni 2001, Universiteit Twente, Nederland, assistant promotor J.B.W.Kok
J.Wang, On the Hydrodynamics of Gas-Solid Flows in Downers, ISBN 90 365 1594 7, 22 juni, 2001, Universteit Twente, Nederland, co-promotor M.E.H.van Dongen
All dissertations can be found at www.utwente.nl