(416e) Dr. Charles Stuart Daw: Fluidization Visionary Yes, but More Importantly, Mentor and Friend to All

We all have benefitted from the influence of Dr. C. Stuart Daw in the field of fluidization and combustion. For The Babcock & Wilcox Company his leadership and guidance began with the development of a semi-empirical model of a bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) boiler in the early 1980s under a major Electric Power Research Institute program. First as an industrial advisor then as a team member Stuart contributed immeasurably to the approach to link bench-scale fuel characterization data to the empirical model for one of the first practical BFB combustion models for the utility industry. He contributed at the forefront to the application of chaos theory and non-linear signal analysis to quantifying fluidization modes and quality as well as onset of agglomeration with non-intrusive measurements. This work also laid the foundation for later applications of advanced diagnostics and flame quality assessment in pulverized coal combustion in utility boilers. Most recently he led a multi-national laboratory program in computational pyrolysis of biomass. His leadership and collaborative spirit was respected by all on that program, and contributed greatly to the success of the program. But his innate ability to explain the most complex principles in terms all could understand as well as his vision in pragmatically applying the scientific method to problem solving will be his legacy. Always with a view toward the goal he patiently served as a guiding mentor. His collaborative spirit and easy-going personality endeared him to all he met. His visionary contributions to the fluidization community as a mentor and friend to all will be presented.