Abstract
Particulate air pollution is a recurring theme that has profound impacts on human health and well-being, and on the ecosystems on which we depend. Early efforts at understanding and control of airborne particles focused on those that are emitted directly in the atmosphere. Secondary aerosols are now known to account for much of the particulate matter in the air; fundamental understanding has led to the development of models of atmospheric chemistry and aerosol formation have contributed to improving air quality in a number of regions, but recent episodes in developing megacities clearly show that major challenges remain.
About the speaker
Prof Richard C. Flagan received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973. He is currently the Irma and Ross McCollum-William H. Corcoran Professor of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, and Executive Officer for Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology.
Upon joining the faculty of Caltech in 1975, Prof Flagan shifted his research focus from the study of gaseous pollutant formation in combustion to the study of aerosols. From an initial investigation of particle formation in coal combustion, his research has expanded into many branches of aerosol science and technology including the development of aerosol reactors for the refining of silicon for photovoltaic applications, nanoparticle synthesis, and microelectronic device fabrication, atmospheric aerosols and their impacts on urban air quality and global climate, and pollen and other allergenic bioaerosols. To facilitate these diverse studies, Prof Flagan has developed instruments ranging from the first low pressure impactor to enable nanoparticle measurements, the scanning mobility particle sizer, and radial differential mobility analyzers that have extended the measurement range down to 1 nm, among others. He has published over 340 scientific papers and a textbook: Fundamentals of Air Pollution Engineering, and holds 20 patents.
Prof Flagan's research has been recognized with a number of awards, including the Marion Smoluchowski Award of the Gesellschaft fur Aerosolforschung, the David Sinclair Award of the American Association for Aerosol Research, the Thomas Baron Award in Fluid-Particle Systems of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Fuchs Memorial Award presented by the Gesellschaft fur Aerosolforschung, the American Association for Aerosol Research, and the Japan Association for Aerosol Science and Technology, and the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology. He received a Doctor of Technology honoris causa from Lund University in 2004, and was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2010.
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