August 12, 2016

Professor marks 50 years in engineering department

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David Staudacher

Professor W.J. Minkowycz (center) celebrates 50 years of service in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He commemorated the anniversary with College of Engineering Dean Peter Nelson (left), MIE Department Head Farzad Mashayek (right), and MIE’s faculty and staff.

CHICAGO – Prof. W.J. Minkowycz doesn’t just enjoy his work – he loves it. And this year the highly awarded and immensely respected professor celebrated his 50th year of service in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Prof. Minkowycz, a resident of Park Ridge, Ill., was born in Lybohora, about 100 miles south of Lviv. At the age of 14, his family came to the U.S. He started working at UIC on March 16, 1966, and during this time he has made significant contributions to the national and international professional community and to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), encompassing research of the highest quality, dynamic and inspiring teaching, and worldwide leadership in the area of technical information dissemination.

His dedication is evident from his long list of accomplishments and the slew of awards and accolades he has received. The professor has been awarded the UIC Silver Circle Award for Excellence in Teaching six times and has been nominated for the award a staggering 18 times throughout his career. Winning and being nominated for this award is a tremendous compliment as its selection committee is made up of the graduating seniors.

“My office door is always open,” said Prof. Minkowycz. “Even when I work late hours, students can come and see me anytime and they appreciate that.” He added, “Teaching is a talent. Besides being very knowledgeable and confident about lecturing, it’s the personality making the presentation intermixed with a sense of humor. It’s about presenting it in an interesting way.”

It’s not just the students who have a great deal of respect for Prof. Minkowycz. His peers speak highly of him, too.

“I knew Prof. Minkowycz before I started working at UIC in 2000,” said Dr. Farzad Mashayek, MIE Department head and professor. “He is the editor of four journals and I knew him from the journals. He is very well known in his area. I don’t think there are very many people who don’t know him if they are in the area of heat transfer, energy or fluid mechanics.”

“He is a great teacher and made huge contributions over the years,” added Dr. Mashayek. “He also is the editor of several book series. He is still in the mainstream and knows what’s going on.”

“He’s a legend in this department. He’s a legend in his field. He is a pillar in his area of thermodynamics and heat transfer, and he is a fantastic colleague, friend and mentor,” said Prof. Farid Amirouche of the MIE Department, who has worked with Prof. Minkowycz for more than 30 years. “He loves teaching and symbolizes everything a good teacher is. He brings good values that we all try to seek and look for. I like the idea that he is engaged and really takes the job to a level where he is fully vested.”

The professor has witnessed the university change in many ways: many buildings have been built and it has become a highly rated university with Ph.D. programs.

During his tenure, he experienced significant changes in his field of research, which he noted that “research always changes.” He explained: “For a long time research was based on traditional fluids and geometries and heat transfer. Recently, there has been a big shift in research at the microscale and nanoscale.”

For five decades, Prof. Minkowycz has been the intellectual leader of the heat transfer community. His editorial activities – which includes four journal and 31 book editorships – have nurtured the growth of heat transfer activities worldwide.

“It’s been the happiest 50 years of my life,” he said. “I have been blessed with good health. I never missed any classes. I’m a lucky person.”

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