| Howard Wilson Emmons | |
| Birth Date: | 30 August 1912 |
| Birth Place: | Morristown, New Jersey |
| Death Place: | Boston |
| Field: | Fluid dynamics Combustion |
| Work Institutions: | Westinghouse Electric Company University of Pennsylvania Harvard University |
| Alma Mater: | Stevens Institute of Technology Harvard University |
| Thesis Title: | The drop condensation of vapors |
| Thesis Year: | 1938 |
| Doctoral Advisor: | John Finnie Downie Smith Charles Harold Berry |
| Doctoral Students: | Richard Ernest Kronauer Tony Maxworthy Ephraim M. Sparrow |
| Known For: | Emmons problem |
Howard Wilson Emmons (1912–1998) was an American professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering at Harvard University.[1] During his career he conducted original research on fluid mechanics, combustion and fire safety. Today he is most widely known for his pioneering work in the field of fire safety engineering. He has been called "the father of modern fire science" for his contribution to the understanding of flame propagation and fire dynamics.[2] He also helped design the first supersonic wind tunnel, identified a signature of the transition to turbulence in boundary layer flows (now known as "Emmons spots"), and was the first to observe compressor stall in a gas turbine compressor (still a major item of research today).[3] He initiated studies on diffusion flames inside a boundary layer, and Emmons problem is named after him. He was eventually awarded the Timoshenko Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the 1968 Sir Alfred Egerton Gold Medal from The Combustion Institute.
Upon Professor Emmons' death, Professor Patrick Pagni wrote, "It is not possible to properly summarize the magnitude of Professor Emmons' unique contributions to the establishment of fire safety science as a discipline, other than to call him "Mr. Fire Research".[4]
He continues to be remembered through the Emmons Lecture at International Symposium of The International Association for Fire Safety Science and the Howard W. Emmons Distinguished Scholar Endowment at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
The Drop Condensation of Vapors
Harvard University Thesis (S.D.), 1938.
Gas dynamics tables for air
Dover: New York, NY, 1947.
Fundamentals of Gas Dynamics
Princeton University Press: Princeton NJ, 1958.
Fluid mechanics and combustion
Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Combustion, p. 1-18Pittsburgh, Pa., Combustion Institute, 1971.
“The Further History of Fire Science” Combustion Science and Technology, 40,1984 (reprinted in Fire Technology, 21(3), 1985 https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01039976)
Thermodynamic properties of helium to 50.000K
by Wilbert James Lick, Howard Wilson EmmonsHarvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1962.
Transport properties of helium from 200 to 50.000K
by Wilbert James Lick, Howard Wilson EmmonsHarvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1965.
The fire whirl
by Howard W. Emmons and Shuh-Jing YingProceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Combustion, p. 475-486Pittsburgh, Pa., Combustion Institute, 1967.