The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is honoring Dr. Luis San Andrés with the Mayo D. Hersey Award, recognizing a career of sustained and distinguished contributions advancing the field of tribology.
San Andrés, who retires in May, serves the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University as the Mast-Childs Chair Professor. He is also a member of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Turbomachinery Laboratory.
“Since my graduate student days, I admired the recipients of the Mayo D. Hersey Award that recognizes long-lasting contributions in the field of tribology — the science of friction, lubrication and wear,” San Andrés said. “I could only have dreamt of earning such distinction. As I retire at the end of this month, the award is the cherry on the cake. How sweet a farewell can be.”
His research has focused on the analysis, design and testing of fluid film bearings, gas bearings and seals for oil-free turbomachinery, rotor dynamics, structural vibrations and computational mechanics. In particular, his work over the last two decades has largely centered on testing and creating analytical tools to quantify the performance of gas bearings and their applications to oil-free micro-machinery. He has published over 60 journal papers on the rotordynamics of micro-turbomachinery and holds the copyright to several technical software programs. His contributions continue to serve as a reference for the academic community in developing advanced computational products.
San Andrés is a fellow of ASME, the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, and the Global Power and Propulsion Society. He also received the 2022 ASME Aircraft Engine Technology Award for sustained contributions to air-breathing propulsion with advances in squeeze film damper technology used by jet engine manufacturers.