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Flowserve sponsors pump technology award

09/18/2006

The biennial Sankaraiyer Gopalakrishnan-Flowserve Pump Technology Award will recognize a mechanical engineer for achievement in mechanical pump technology with a financial prize.

The first Sankaraiyer Gopalakrishnan-Flowserve Pump Technology Award was presented to Dr. John Tuzson at the Dr. Sankaraiyer Gopalakrishnan Memorial Session of the 2006 ASME Fluids Engineering Conference in Miami, Florida, on July 17. Tuzson is recently retired after a career at the BorgWarner Research Center in Des Plaines, Illinois.

Gopalakrishnan has publishing more than 50 papers and being awarded four patents. He was also elected ASME Fellow in 1995 and received the ASME Fluid Machinery Design Award in 2001. Additionally, Gopalakrishnan served as vice president of technology at Flowserve Pumps, led the company's pump research and development and organized a diverse and geographically dispersed team of engineers through Flowserve's highly successful Virtual Centers of Excellence (VCOEs).

The VCOE program supports five technological disciplines of Flowserve Pumps — fluid dynamics, mechanical design, mechanical analysis, materials and mechatronics — and sets ambitious company goals for achieving progress in these areas. Gopalakrishnan's technological innovations while at Flowserve included an advanced primary coolant for nuclear reactors, a long-life nuclear seal and a high-efficiency expander for cryogenic services.

In addition to his scientific contributions to the field, Gopalakrishnan dedicated himself to educating young colleagues. At Flowserve, he created a series of advanced specialist courses on aspects of pump engineering. Flowserve continues to offer and develop these courses as career development for its engineers.