Zhangxing( John) Chen Wins the 2017 CAIMS-Fields Industrial Mathematics Prize
The CAIMS-Fields annual industrial mathematics prize is awarded to a researcher in recognition of exceptional research in any branch of industrial mathematics.
THE CANADIAN APPLIED AND INDUSTRIAL
MATHEMATICS
SOCIETY and the Fields Institute are pleased to announce that Professor Zhangxing( John) Chen has been awarded the 2017 CAIMS-Fields Industrial Mathematics Prize for his seminal contributions to industrial and applied mathematics, computational science, and modelling of flow in porous media.
Dr. Chen is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary and currently holds the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Reservoir Simulation and the AITF( iCORE) Industrial Chair in Reservoir Modeling. His group uses modelling and simulation to develop new, more economical, and more sustainable ways to recover heavy oil and oil sands resources.
Throughout his career, Dr. Chen has led many collaborative projects with industrial partners including Suncor, Nexen Energy, Petróleos Mexicanos, China National Petroleum Corp., and Computer Modelling Group. His research has had major impact on practical applications in the oil and energy sectors, as evidenced by his 15 patents.
Dr. Chen’ s publication record is stellar, with 16 books and over 500 refereed journal papers covering problems ranging from existence-uniqueness theory, finite element approximations, homogenization, and parallel algorithms, with applications to multi-phase porous media flow, CO 2 sequestration, and semiconductor device simulations. Dr. Chen has also made major contributions to training, having supervised over 100 graduate students and post-docs in industrial applications of mathematics and advanced computing algorithms.
Dr. Chen holds a PhD( 1991) from Purdue University and held positions at Xi’ an Jiaotong University, Peking University, the University of Minnesota, Texas A & M University, Mobil, and Southern Methodist University( SMU), before arriving at the University of Calgary in 2007.
As part of the award, Dr. Chen will be invited to deliver a lecture at the CAIMS Annual Meeting taking place in Halifax from July 17 to 21, 2017. �
2010 Fields Medallist, Cédric Villani, Elected to French National Assembly
Villani won 69 % of the vote in the 5th constituency of Essonne, south of Paris.
CÉDRIC VILLANI, PROMINENT
MATHEMATICIAN and Director of the Institut Henri Poincaré in France, was elected to the French National Assembly last month as a representative of Emmanuel Macron’ s party,“ La République En Marche!” Villani won 69 % of the vote in the 5th constituency of Essonne, south of Paris.
In an interview with Science Magazine, Villani said that“ it is important that scientists step in and become part of the political process.”
In 2014, Villani was awarded the Fields Medal, one of the highest honours of mathematics,“ for his proofs of nonlinear Landau damping and convergence to equilibrium for the Boltzmann equation.” He was honoured at the 2014 Fields Medal Symposium hosted at the Fields Institute. In the Winter 2015 issue of Fields Notes, Villani described himself as a“ militant European federalist”, perhaps foreshadowing his future political career.
Villani now plans to leave his Directorship at the Institut Henri Poincaré to focus on his political duties. We wish him the best of luck in this new role. �
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