Polish version
Death of Professor Antoni Kazimierz Oppenheim, the holder of an honorary doctorate of Warsaw University of Technology
On the 12th of January 2008 in Kensington, California died professor Antoni Kazimierz Oppenheim. Professor Oppenheim was born on the 11th of August 1915 in Warsaw. He studied at Warsaw University of Technology.
The outbreak of the Second World War stopped for a short time his studies, which he finished in England in 1943, obtaining a diploma from his alma mater. He received his Ph.D. degree from University of London in 1945. Then he emigrated to the USA, where he at first worked at Stanford University and since 1959 at University of California in Berkeley.
He conducted research on heat exchange and combustion, with special focus on detonation and combustion in combustion engines. He developed an innovative method of analysis of heat exchange by radiation, explained the mechanism of initiation of gas detonation and studied combustion of lean mixtures in piston engines. He published over 300 scientific papers. In cooperation with professor M. Manson and professor R. I. Solouchin, he initiated the organization of International Colloquia on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems in 1960.
He cooperated with Polish scientists, especially with Warsaw University of Technology, in developing new combustion systems for piston engines. He took part in numerous international meetings and conferences in Poland. In 1987 he was awarded the medal of D. Smoleński, presented by the Committee of Thermodynamics and Combustion of the Polish Academy of Sciences and in 1989 Warsaw University of Technology awarded him with an honorary doctorate. For his outstanding contribution to the development of combustion theory and his active cooperation with Polish scientists, he was chosen to be a foreign member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He was member of the International Academy of Astronautics and US National Academy of Engineering. Until the last days of his life, everywhere and at all times he emphasized his Polish roots and he kept close contacts with his alma mater.
We have lost an extraordinary scientist and a great friend.
Piotr Wolański
