A Tel Aviv University scientist will follow in the footsteps of inventors
Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, radioactivity pioneers Marie and Pierre
Curie, aviation pioneer Orville Wright, theoretical physicists Albert Einstein
and Prof. Stephen Hawking and Microsoft founder Bill Gates to receive the
Benjamin Franklin Medal.
Eighty-three-year-old Prof. Zvi Hashin
(emeritus) of the mechanical engineering department will receive the prestigious
award on April 26 in Philadelphia for his “groundbreaking contributions to the
accurate analysis of composite materials, which have enabled practical
engineering designs of lightweight composite structures – commonly used today in
aerospace, marine, automotive and civil infrastructure.”
His work on
“elasticity calculation of complex materials” was previously chosen as one of
the 100 most important discoveries in mechanical engineering in the 20th
century, and he received the Israel Prize in Engineering for 2007.
The
Franklin Medal, established in 1824 and named for the great American inventor
and diplomat, will also be given in chemistry, computers and cognitive science,
environmental and earth sciences, life sciences, electrical engineering and
physics.
Hashin, who established TAU’s mechanical, materials and
structural engineering department, is one of the world’s experts in composite
materials and mathematical models. He has also done a considerable amount of
research for the US military, especially the navy and air force, and for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Founded in the same year
as the the Franklin Institute, the awards program has long been recognized as
the oldest, and most comprehensive science and technology honor bestowed in the
US and around the world. At the time, Philadelphia was America’s largest city
and a noted center of innovation and manufacturing. While the Franklin Institute
was initially established to train artisans and mechanics in the fundamentals of
science, it soon began arranging a series of regular exhibitions of manufactured
goods, along with the presentation of awards to recognize excellence in those
areas.
Laureates are brought to Pennsylvania each April for a week-long
series of events and activities aimed at connecting and celebrating their
accomplishments with area students and the community. The institute seeks to
broaden public awareness and encourage an understanding of the world of science
and technology.