August 31, 2009
Professor Iehisa Nezu of the Graduate School of Engineering has received the Yalin Award, the main award of the International Association of Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR). He is only the second person in the world to receive this award.
The International Association of Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) is an international association established in 1935 by researchers from Europe and the United States, which has grown to become the society with the most established tradition and the highest authority in the world, in the field of hydro-science and engineering, comprising hydraulics, hydrology, river engineering, and coastal engineering (the secretariat is located in Madrid). In the past, the highest award of IAHR was the Ippen Award (named after the late Arthur Ippen, MIT Professor and researcher on hydraulics), targeting young scientists of up to 45 years old; this award can be said to serve as a gateway to success for researchers. No Japanese has received this award to date.
However, in 2006, as a commemorative event of the 70th anniversary of IAHR, the Yalin Award (named after the late M. Selim Yalin, formerly the IAHR M. Selim Yalin Lifetime Achievement Award), with no age restrictions, was established as the main IAHR award by the council in Nice, France, to be awarded to researchers who have made major contributions to the education and/or research of hydro-science and engineering. The award is presented at the World Congress of the International Association of Hydro-Environment Engineering, held once every two years. The first Yalin Award was presented at the 32nd IAHR World Congress in Venice, Italy, in 2007, to Professor Parker of University of Illinois. Professor Parker is a globally recognized researcher on sediment hydraulics.
The second award ceremony took place at the 33rd IAHR World Congress held in Vancouver, Canada in August 2009, the recipient being Professor Nezu. Professor Nezu’s research on turbulent flow is highly regarded worldwide; the reason for the award was his great contributions to the advancement of the dynamics of turbulence in open channel flows, and in education for students and young researchers. His IAHR specialized book titled Turbulence in Open-Channel Flows, published in 1993 (first edition) in the Netherlands by Balkema, is cited in many papers, and is still the standard textbook used in graduate schools in Japan and overseas. In his research, Professor Nezu explained the coherent turbulent structure, which is highly complex, using a world-class cutting-edge fluid measurement instrument. He has also contributed to the upgrading and enhancement of high-precision hydraulics experimental equipment, helping to create a world-leading research facility. Professor Nezu’s achievement in becoming the second person in the world to receive the Yalin Award shows the high level of hydro-science and engineering at Kyoto University, and represents a great honor for the university.
Professor Nezu’s biography is as follows.
Valedictorian of the 1971 class of the Faculty of Engineering, and after completing the doctorate program in 1976, was employed as a Teaching Associate in the Faculty of Engineering of Kyoto University. Within the Faculty of Engineering, promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1979, promoted to Associate Professor in 1981, promoted to Professor in 1996, and remains in this position today. Received the Japan Society of Civil Engineers Award Thesis Prize in 1976, the Karl Emil Hilgard Prize of the American Society of Civil Engineers, one of the Most Splendid Paper Award of IAHR (IAHR-APD) in 1998, and this Yalin Award in 2009. He has thus received the major awards of each field in 11-year cycles.