stanford university's kenneth goodson, the bosch chairman of the mechanical engineering department and davies family provostial professor, has earned the 2015 donald q. kern award in recognition of his contributions in the study of heat transfer. 

the honor is sponsored by dana holding corporation and administered by the american institute of chemical engineers (aiche).  goodson officially received his award this week during the first pacific rim thermal engineering conference held in waikoloa village, hawaii.  

"dana has a robust history in the advancement of thermal-management technologies in vehicle applications," said dwayne matthews, president of dana's power technologies group.  "as we develop solutions for the next generation of vehicles, especially those with electric and hybrid-electric power systems, we deeply appreciate the continued work of professor goodson and his academic colleagues who are generating a new body of knowledge on conduction physics."

the donald q. kern award was established in 1973 to highlight achievements in heat transfer and energy conversion.  the award is presented annually by aiche and commemorates the work of donald q. kern.  kern was a renowned engineer, author, and pioneer in the research of heat transfer properties and processes.

professor goodson was selected for the award based on his groundbreaking work on the fundamentals of heat transfer, physics, and metrology – a field in which his research is highly cited.  goodson earned his advanced degrees in mechanical engineering at the massachusetts institute of technology and, during his time at stanford, he has mentored nearly twenty graduate researchers that have advanced to tenure-track positions at other leading academic institutions.

goodson is a fellow of the american society of mechanical engineers (asme), the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (ieee), the american physical society (aps), and the american association for the advancement of science (aaas).  

he has been issued more than 30 patents and has received dozens of individual awards and accolades for his teaching, research, journal articles, books, and papers. goodson also served as chief editor of nanoscale & microscale thermoplastic engineering from 2007 to 2012 and associate editor for the journal of heat transfer from 2008 to 2012.