The Lorenz G. Straub award for a particular year is presented well after that year is over. The year represented is the year the thesis was completed. Once all submissions are received, the theses are sent to judges for thorough reading, review, evaluation and ranking. This can take considerable time, as the Straub Award judges are ordinarily full-time working professors with many obligations and deadlines. Our 2008 theses are currently with our judges for evaluation. The 2009, and then the 2010 will follow, as the judges complete their rankings for each year. Nominations for theses completed in 2011 are currently being accepted - up through October 31, 2012.
2007 AWARD
The 41st Straub Award ceremony occurred on April 7, 2010 at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, during which Dr. Venayagamoorthy presented his research.
2005 AWARD
The 40th Lorenz G. Straub Award winner is Dr. Marco Ghisalberti, who completed his Ph.D. thesis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the advisorship of Professor Heidi Nepf in 2005. Dr. Ghisalberti's dissertation is entitled, "Momentum and scalar transport in vegetated shear flows", and was selected out of six submitted theses; three theses came from the United States, two from Australia, and one from Belgium.
The 40th Straub Award presentation occurred on January 28, 2009 in the St. Anthony Falls Auditorium. The keynote speaker was Dr. George Karniadakis, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Center for Fluid Mechanics, Brown University, and Senior Lecturer of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2004 AWARD
The winner of the 2004 Straub Award, selected by a system of scoring the individual rankings of three judges, is Dr. Michael L. MacWilliams, who completed his Ph.D. thesis under the advisorship of Professors Peter Kitanidis and Robert Street at Stanford University. His dissertation is entitled, "Three-dimensional Hydrodynamic Simulation of River Channels and Floodplains". Dr. MacWilliams' thesis was selected out of five submitted theses, all of which were judged to be of award quality.
In competition for the 39th Lorenz G. Straub award were two theses from the U.S., one from Canada, one from the United Kingdom, and one submission was the result of a collaborative advising effort by a U.S. institution together with a German one.
2003 AWARD
The winner of the 2003 Straub Award is Dr. Patricia M. Saco, who completed her Ph.D. thesis under the advisorship of Professor Praveen Kumar at The University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign. Her dissertation is entitled, "Flow dynamics in large river basins: Self-similar network structure and scale effects". Dr. Saco's thesis was selected out of six submitted theses, all of which were judged to be of award quality. Five theses came from the U.S., and one from Canada.
The 38th Straub Award presentation occurred on November 30, 2005 in the St. Anthony Falls Auditorium. The keynote speaker was Dr. John Anfinson, Mississippi River Historian for the National Park Service.
2002 AWARD
The winner of the 2002 Straub Award is Dr. Emily A. Zedler, who completed her Ph.D. thesis under the advisorship of Professor Robert Street at Stanford University. Her dissertation is entitled, "Large Eddy Simulation of Sediment Transport in Oscillatory Flow over Wavy Terrain." Dr. Zedler's thesis was selected out of eight submitted theses, all of which were judged to be of award quality. Five theses came from the U.S., and one each from from Australia, Canada, and Switzerland, respectively.
On April 1, 2005, the 37th Straub Award presentation was made at a seminar held in the St. Anthony Falls Auditorium. The keynote speaker was Gary Parker, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Introductory remarks were given by Edward Silberman.
2001 AWARD
The winner of the 2001 Straub Award is Dr. John Philipp Vitkovsky, of the University of Adelaide, Australia. His thesis is entitled,"Inverse Analysis and Modelling of Unsteady Pipe Flow: Theory, Applications and Experimental Verification." Dr. Vitkovsky's advisors were Professors Angus Simpson, and Martin Lambert. A total of four theses were nominated for the 2001 Award. Two were from Australia, and two from the U.S.
The Award Ceremony was held on November 10, 2004 at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. Guest Speakers Ephraim Sparrow and John Anderson, professors of mechanical engineering, jointly presented the keynote lecture.
2000 AWARD
Seven theses were submitted for the 2000 Straub award; four from the United States, and one each from Australia, Germany, and Singapore.
The winner selected for the 2000 Straub Award is Dr. Dragoslav Stefanovic, for his thesis entitled, "Two Dimensional Modeling of Connective Exchange Processes in Stratified Lakes." Dr. Stefanovic did his Ph.D. work under Professor Heinz Stefan at the University of Minnesota.
The Presentation of the 2000 Straub Award was held on November 12, 2003. The keynote speaker was Professor Joseph Katz of The Johns Hopkins University.
