Professor Georgy Makhviladze (1945 – 2017)
Professor Georgy Makhviladze, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), United Kingdom, passed away on 31 May 2017. A longtime member of The Combustion Institute, Georgy was the first professor of Fire Engineering in the United Kingdom and his work influenced the world’s research in Fire and Explosion Hazards.
Prof. Makhviladze performed his graduate work at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and his MSc dissertation was awarded first prize of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He was involved in many research projects in the Institute for Problems in Mechanics (IPMech), USSR Academy of Sciences, since it was established in 1965 (currently A. Yu. Ishlinskiy Institute for Problems in Mechanics, Russian Academy of Sciences). In 1969, after graduation, Georgy worked as junior researcher at IPMech. In 1973, he obtained his PhD in Mechanics of Fluid, Gas and Plasma and he was promoted to senior researcher in 1975, and then to chief researcher in 1986. In 1983, Georgy was named Head of the Theoretical Group in the Thermo-Gas-Dynamic Laboratory and a year later he was awarded Doctor of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics. From 1989 through 1993, he served as Head of the Thermo-Gas-Dynamic Laboratory.
Since 1975 Georgy had been teaching part time at the Department of Molecular and Chemical Physics, MIPT. He achieved full professor status in 1990.
After more than 20 years of service in the USSR/Russia, Prof. Makhviladze was appointed as the Chair in Fire Engineering at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in 1993. His Chair was sponsored by the Institution of Fire Engineers, Cape Boards Ltd. and Fire Service College, United Kingdom. In 1994, he established the UCLan Centre in Fire and Explosion Studies and made an enormous contribution to the development of Fire Safety Engineering nationally and internationally. He performed and oversaw numerous projects in fire safety engineering research and education in the United Kingdom, USSR/Russia, China and other countries. He retired in 2010 and became the UCLan Emeritus Professor in Fire Engineering.
Prof. Makhviladze devoted much of his remarkable service to advancing combustion research. His main research fields were Combustion and Explosions: theory, modelling and applications to fire and explosion safety science and engineering; large fires, explosions and accidental releases and relevant hazards, disasters and emergencies; energy and sustainability engineering. He designed and made major contributions to development and delivery of the UCLan Fire courses at undergraduate level up to doctorate level in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Oman and other countries. A number of his graduates currently takes high profile jobs in academia and industry in combustion, fire and explosion safety science and engineering around the world.
A highly regarded researcher and educator, Prof. Makhviladze authored more than 250 papers and presentations in the United Kingdom and in the USSR/Russia within his research areas. He was also a co-author of the prominent book, Mathematical Theory of Combustion and Explosions (1980), along with Ya. B. Zeldovich, G. I. Barenblatt, and V. B. Librovich.
To his colleagues and students, Prof. Makhviladze was considered a brilliant professor, who tirelessly worked to bring fire services and fire engineering into the engineering mainstream. He assisted many students to realize their academic potential, and he helped professionalize the fire and rescue services around the world.
The Combustion Institute honors Prof. Makhviladze’s accomplishments, and the work of scientific leaders who make significant contributions for the advancement of many diverse communities around the world.