Selamet receives Hillquist NVH Lifetime Achievement Award

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Ahmet Selamet
Ahmet Selamet
For more than 30 years, Professor Ahmet Selamet has served as a leader in the mechanical engineering field. His groundbreaking research has explored advanced automotive powertrain systems, wave dynamics, noise and pollutant emission control, combustion, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer.

To recognize his significant contributions, Selamet was named the 2017 recipient of the Ralph K. Hillquist NVH Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International. This honor, which is given to only one individual every other year, recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to ground vehicle noise, vibration, and harshness research for 15 years or more. The award is named in honor of Ralph Hillquist, the founder of the SAE Noise and Vibration Conference.

"I was fortunate to know Ralph Hillquist from the 1990s, when I first started participating in the Noise and Vibration Conference," said Selamet. "He was a wise man and earned a great deal of my respect."

Throughout his esteemed career, Selamet has conducted extensive analytical, computational, and experimental research that has advanced the foundations of wave dynamics and acoustics in engine breathing systems. As he designed and developed novel acoustic devices, modeling approaches and practical solutions, Selamet also built an exemplary collaborative relationship with the automotive industry. His innovative work has led to new methodologies for performance and acoustic modeling, critical design guidelines, and unique bench-top experimental systems. A substantial portion of Selamet’s research on acoustics has examined the suppression of noise generated by flow and flow-acoustic coupling encompassing a wide frequency range, including whoosh, whistle, chirp, hoot, and ring.

"Isolating the pertinent physics on a bench-top environment, and coupling the theoretical and experimental aspects have been crucial toward developing fundamental understanding of new challenges," said Selamet.

For nearly three decades, his Flow, Engine, Acoustics, and Turbocharger Research Laboratories have supported his theoretical and computational investigations. These advanced laboratories also provide unique educational opportunities for the next generation of automotive engineers.

Today, Selamet’s research focuses on turbocharger acoustics and auto-ignition in combustion chambers. He has disseminated the new knowledge by authoring more than 215 articles with his students and other engineering professionals. He has also coauthored the book, “Introduction to Heat Transfer.”

Before receiving his award at the SAE Noise and Vibration Conference on June 13, Selamet presented the conference’s opening keynote. His presentation, “Flow Instabilities and Sound: From Turbochargers to Wind Instruments,” focused on the key mechanisms leading to noise and the development of their effective remedies. 

The Ralph K. Hillquist NVH Lifetime Achievement Award also recognizes Selamet’s service to the field and his role in the development of others in the profession. For more than 20 years, he has organized the intake and exhaust sessions at the SAE Noise and Vibration Conference. He has also organized sessions at SAE’s Fuels and Lubricants, and Powertrain and Fluid Systems conferences.

Selamet’s honors include the Harrison Award, Lumley Award, Innovators Award, and MacQuigg Award from Ohio State, and SAE’s Ralph R. Teetor Award, which recognizes outstanding engineering educators. Selamet is also a fellow of both the Acoustical Society of America and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

He earned his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1989. Selamet joined Ohio State’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (then named the Department of Mechanical Engineering) in 1996. In 2001, he was promoted to professor, and he then served as chair of the department from 2012 to 2016.

 

Category: Faculty