Michael Gollner to Receive 2020 Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award

Michael Gollner - currently, an assistant professor and Deb Faculty Fellow in the University of California, Berkeley Department of Mechanical Engineering, and visiting associate professor in the UMD Department of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) - is a co-recipient of the 2020 Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award offered by the The Combustion Institute and Elsevier.

"It is a huge honor to be selected for this award," Gollner said. "Fire science has long been an important area of study for the combustion community, but does not always have the same visibility as other research areas. This recognition means so much, honoring not only the contributions that I have made, but the importance of fire science within our community. The coupling of so many different physical processes at so many scales in fire challenges us to innovate as we strive to learn more. The support of so many colleagues from the combustion and fire science communities cannot be overstatd - science has truly been a collaborative effort for me, and the connections I've made through the Combustion Institute have been a big part of that."

Previously, Gollner was a faculty member in FPE at UMD (2012-2019), and received his M.S., B.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. He is broadly interested in fire science problems, utilizing experiments and theory to understand fire spread, wildfires, and fire whirls. He is active in leadership of the IAFSS, IAWF and NFPA FPRF.

The Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award is co-sponsored by The Combustion Institute - and international, scientific society - and Elsevier - a web-based information provider that publishes over 2500 journals annually, in addition to books. The award, which recognizes up to two early career researchers each year who have demonstrated excellence in fundamental or applied combustion science and have achieved a significant advancement in their field within ten years of completing a doctoral degree, comes with a $10,000 stipend. The award is named after Professor Hiroshi Tsuji, whose stable porous cylinder counterflow burner configuration has influenced fundamental studies and applications in laminar and turbulent combustion.

Gollner will be formally presented with the award at the 38th International Symposium on Combustion in Adelaide, Australia early next year.

Published April 24, 2020