Adrian Bejan, J. A. Jones Distinguished Professor  


Adrian Bejan

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 since 2001 among the 100 most highly cited authors worldwide in engineering (all fields, all countries), the Institute for Scientific Information. Professor Bejan has received 16 honorary doctorates from universities in 11 countries.

Adrian Bejan is the author of 25 books and 560 peer-referred articles. His h-index on ISI is 49.

Contact Info:
Office Location:  148A Engineering Building
Office Phone:  (919) 308-9930
Email Address:   send me a message
Web Pages: http://www.constructal.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructal_law

Education:

PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1975
MS, MIT (Honors Course), 1972
BS, MIT (Honors Course), 1971
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.

Specialties:

Thermodynamics
Heat Transfer
Constructal Law of Design in Nature
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

Honorary Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2011
Honorary Member, Romanian Academy, 2011
Max Jakob Memorial Award, Jointly by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1999
Teaching (Spring 2024):

  • ME 438.01, CONSTRUCTAL THEORY AND DESIGN Synopsis
    Hudson 216, MW 11:45 AM-01:00 PM
  • ME 555.01, ADVANCED TOPICS Synopsis
    Hudson 216, MW 11:45 AM-01:00 PM
Teaching (Fall 2024):

  • ME 532.01, CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER Synopsis
    Hudson 232, MW 11:45 AM-01:00 PM
Representative Publications   (More Publications)

  1. A. Bejan and J. H. Marden, Constructing animal locomotion from new thermodynamics theory, American Scientist, vol. 94 no. 4 (2006), pp. 342 -- 349 .
  2. 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 (June, 2008)  [abs].
  3. 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 (October, 2008), pp. 529 -- 540  [abs].
  4. S. Lorente, J. Lee and A. Bejan, The “flow of stresses” concept: the analogy between mechanical strength and heat convection, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 53 (2010), pp. 2963-2968  [abs].
  5. A. Bejan, The constructal-law origin of the wheel, size, and skeleton in animal design, American Journal of Physics, vol. 78 no. 7 (2010), pp. 692 - 699  [abs].
  6. A. Bejan and S. Lorente, The constructal law of design and evolution in nature, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences, vol. 365 (2010), pp. 1335-1347  [abs].
  7. J. D. Charles and A. Bejan, The evolution of speed, size and shape in modern athletics, Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 212 (2009), pp. 2419-2425 [doi]  [abs].
  8. A. Bejan, The Golden Ratio predicted: vision, cognition and locomotion as a single design in nature, International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, vol. 4 no. 2 (2009), pp. 97-104 [paperinfo.asp]  [abs].
  9. A. Bejan and S. Lorente, The constructal law origin of the logistics S curve, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 110 (2011), pp. 1-4, American Institute of Physics (024901.) [1.3606555], [doi]  [abs].
  10. A. Bejan and S. Lorente, The constructal law and the evolution of design in nature, Physics of Life Reviews, vol. 8 (2011), pp. 209-240 [010], [doi]  [abs].
  11. A. Bejan and S. Lorente, The physics of spreading ideas, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 55 (2012), pp. 802-807 [029], [doi]  [abs].
  12. A. Bejan, Why we want power: Economics is physics, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 55 (2012), pp. 4929-4935 [046], [doi]  [abs].
  13. A. Bejan, Why the bigger live longer and travel farther: animals, vehicles, rivers and the winds, Nature Scientific Reports, vol. 2 no. 594 (2012) [pdf], [doi]  [abs].
Books
  • A. Bejan & J. P. Zane, Design in Nature, Doubleday, New York, 2012.
  • 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, 4th ed., Springer, 2013.
  • A. Bejan, Convection Heat Transfer, 4th ed., Wiley, 2013.

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
  • Honorary Member, Romanian Academy, 2011
  • Honorary Member, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, 2001.
  • 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.
  • 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.