The Diffusion Handbook: Applied Solutions for Engineers by R.K. Michael Thambynayagam is the recipient of the prestigious 2011 R.R. Hawkins Award, one of the highest recognitions in the world of professional and scholarly publishing. The award was announced on February 2, at the annual meeting of the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers in Washington, D.C.. The Diffusion Handbook received a total of three awards: R.R. Hawkins Award, the PROSE Award for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics, and the Engineering & Technology category award..
“The Diffusion Handbook is the definitive work in its field,” explained PROSE Awards Chairman John A. Jenkins, President and Publisher of CQ Press. “It is exceptional in its breadth and depth, and it will surely prove the authoritative handbook that will influence and be used by engineers for many years to come. In other words, exactly the type of important work that PROSE should and does honor.”
Thambynayagam’s 2,000-page book represents a lifetime of research and scholarship, covering applications of diffusion across every major engineering discipline. Civil engineers, biomedical engineers, even financial analysts assessing risk use the diffusion equation. Fewer than five percent of these solutions are available anywhere else; the vast majority have been compiled and solved by the author himself. The 125-page table of contents uses more than 1,000 one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional graphical illustrations (one per solution) that visually link to the expanded worked solutions in the book.
“This is the first time in PROSE history that McGraw-Hill has received the R.R. Hawkins Award, and it is a great honor,” said Philip Ruppel, President of McGraw-Hill Professional. “The publication of The Diffusion Handbook is a remarkable achievement representing the highest standard of publishing excellence in engineering.”
Author R.K. Michael Thambynayagam has a PhD in chemical engineering from England’s University of Manchester, and his career spans more than 25 years of professional experience in the oil and gas industry. He is the former Managing Director of Schlumberger Cambridge Research in the UK.
