50 Years of CFD in Engineering Sciences: A Commemorative Volume in Memory of D. Brian Spalding

Prof. D. Brian Spalding, working with a small group of students and colleagues at Imperial College, London in the mid-to late-1960’s, single-handedly pioneered the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for engineering practice.​This book brings together advances in computational fluid dynamics in a collection of chapters authored by leading researchers, many of them students or associates of Prof. Spalding.  The book intends to capture the key developments in specific fields of activity that have been transformed by application of CFD in the last 50 years. The focus is on review of the impact of CFD on these selected fields and of the novel applications that CFD has made possible. Some of the chapters trace the history of developments in a specific field and the role played by Spalding and his contributions.  The volume also includes a biographical  summary of Brian Spalding as a person and as a scientist, as well as tributes to Brian Spalding by those whose life wasimpacted by his innovations.  This volume would be of special interest to researchers, practicing engineers, and graduate students in various fields, including aerospace, energy, power and propulsion, transportation, combustion, management of the environment, health and pharmaceutical sciences. 

Dr. Akshai K. Runchal is the founder and Director of CFD Virtual Reality Institute and ACRI group of companies. His expertise is in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). He obtained his Ph.D. in 1969 from Imperial College (London, U.K.) under the guidance of Prof. D, B. Spalding and was a key member of the 3-person team led by Spalding that invented the Finite Volume Method (FVM) in the mid 1960's. Since 1979, he has consulted widely on flow, heat and mass transfer, combustion, environmental impact, hazardous and nuclear waste, ground water and decision analysis to over 200 clients in 20 countries. He is the principal author of PORFLOW, TIDAL, ANSWER and RADM simulation models that are used worldwide. He received his Bachelor’s in Engineering from PEC in1964. He has taught as regular or adjunct faculty at a number of leading institutes including IIT(Kanpur), Imperial College (London), University of California (Los Angeles) and Cal State (Northridge). He has authored or co-authored 7 books and over 200 technical publications. He has received many honors and awards, and given many invited contributions at conferences.

Dr. Runchal grew up in the scenic hill town of McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala that is now on the world map as the hometown of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.  Since 2006 he has been deeply engaged in reviving the lost heritage of Kangra Miniature Paintings through Kangra Arts Promotion Society – an NGO based in McLeod Ganj. He divides his time between Los Angeles and McLeod Ganj and is actively engaged in promoting education, training and R&D in CFD and related disciplines.