Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 3 No. 3 Fall 2018 | Page 6

Michael von Spakovsky named
Robert E. Hord Jr. Professor
Michael von
Spakovsky, pro-
fessor of mechan-
ical engineering
in the College of
Engineering and
director of the
Center for Energy
Systems Research
at Virginia Tech,
has been named
the Robert E.
Hord Jr. Mechan-
ical Engineering Professor by the Virginia
Tech Board of Visitors.
The Robert E. Hord Jr. Professorship of Me-
chanical Engineering was established by a gift
from the late Robert E. Hord Jr. Hord, who
earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949 and a
master’s degree the following year, both from
the College of Engineering, was an enthusias-
tic supporter of Virginia Tech’s chemical and
mechanical engineering programs.
The professorship acknowledges and re-
wards faculty in the Department of Mechani-
cal Engineering who have shown exceptional
merit in research, teaching, and/or service.
Recipients hold the position for a five-year
term.
Since joining the Department of Mechanical
Engineering in 1997, von Spakovsky has
advanced the foundational theories of ther-
modynamics. He pioneered a new theoretical
framework that eliminates phenomenological
models and avoids restrictions such as local
or global equilibrium. His work has signifi-
cantly pushed the boundaries of the science of
MOMENTUM
FALL 2018
thermodynamics.
In particular, he and his co-workers
have developed a new paradigm called
steepest-entropy-ascent quantum
thermodynamics (SEAQT) that unifies
the kinematics and dynamics of quantum
mechanics and thermodynamics into
a single, self-consistent theory. With
his students, he extended SEAQT to be
practically applicable from the atomistic
level to the macroscopic level and for
generalizing the description of equilibri-
um thermodynamics to any non-equilibrium
state.
Published in the most respected journals in
physics, von Spakovsky has written more than
235 technical publications, has been involved
in $12 million of funded research projects,
and has directed 15 doctoral and 41 master’s
degree students.
von Spakovsky’s research has been widely
recognized. In 2012, he and his student
Charles Smith received the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers Edward F. Obert
Award for their work validating dynamics
of SEAQT against the data by Wineland and
Haroche, who won the 2012 Noble prize for
their experiments.
In 2014, von Spakovsky won the ASME’s
prestigious James Harry Potter Gold Medal
which recognizes eminent achievement in the
science of thermodynamics.
von Spakovsky received his bachelor's de-
gree from Auburn University, and a master's
degree and Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute
of Technology.
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