Alexander Smits

Not to be confused with the philanthropist Alexander Smets.

Alexander J. Smits
AO
Born (1948-12-25) December 25, 1948 (age 75)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
NationalityAustralian-American
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne (PhD, 1975)
AwardsFluid Dynamics Prize (2019)
Scientific career
FieldsFluid mechanics
InstitutionsPrinceton University
ThesisFurther Developments of Hot Wire and Laser Methods in Fluid Mechanics (1974)
Doctoral studentsBeverley McKeon

Alexander John Smits AO (born December 25, 1948) is an Australian-American engineer and academic who is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He is also the director of the Gas dynamics laboratory at Princeton. Smits received his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1970. Subsequently he received his Ph.D. from Melbourne in 1975.[1]

Smits is an expert in the areas of turbulence and fluid mechanics, and is also the chief editor of Efluids.com, a website designed for students and researchers to share information about fluids. He is also currently an associate editor for the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and the Journal of Turbulence. Smits is the head of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Princeton University. [2]

Smits was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2011 for contributions to the measurement and understanding of turbulent flows, fluids engineering, and education. Also, he became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.[3][4] He was awarded the Batchelor Prize in 2020 for his significant research contributions to fluid mechanics over the previous decade.[5]

Smits was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2023 Australia Day Honours for "distinguished service to aerospace engineering, particularly in the field of fluid dynamics, and to tertiary education".[6]

  1. ^ "Smits | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering".
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Professor Alexander J. Smits". NAE Website. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  4. ^ "16 faculty members, 18 alumni elected to nation's historic academies". The Princetonian. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Smits wins the Batchelor prize 2020".
  6. ^ "Australia Day 2023 Honours: Full list". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.