Sylvie Lorente is a French mechanical engineer known for her research on the

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of the ...

and

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and bio ...

of porous media, and in particular for her work on the

constructal theory Adrian Bejan is an American professor who has made contributions to modern thermodynamics and developed his constructal law. He is J. A. Jones Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Duke University and author of the books Design i ...

of flows and their dynamic evolution. She is College of Engineering Chair Professor in Mechanical Engineering at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

, Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

, professor (exceptional class) at the Institut national des sciences appliquées de Toulouse, and extraordinary professor at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

Education and career

Lorente studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

at INSA Toulouse (the Institut national des sciences appliquées de Toulouse), earning bachelor's and master's degrees in 1992 and a Ph.D. in 1996. She became a faculty member at INSA Toulouse, working as an assistant professor from 1995 to 1997, an associate professor from 1997 to 2006, a full professor from 2006 to 2015, and professor (exceptional class) in 2015. She added her affiliations as adjunct professor at

in 2006, as extraordinary professor at the

in 2011, and as College of Engineering Chair Professor in Mechanical Engineering at

in 2019.

Books

Lorente has authored books including: *''Porous and Complex Flow Structures in Modern Technologies'' (with Adrian Bejan, Ibrahim Dincer, António F. Miguel, and A. Heitor Reis, Springer, 2004) *''La loi constructale'' (with Bejan, L'Harmattan, 2005) *''Design with Constructal Theory'' (with Bejan, Wiley, 2008) Her edited volumes include: *''Constructal Human Dynamics, Security and Sustainability'' (with Bejan, Miguel, and Reis, IOS Press, 2009) *''Constructal Law and the Unifying Principle of Design'' (with Bejan and Luis A. O. Rocha, Springer, 2013)

Recognition

The

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

gave Lorente their Edward F. Obert Award, jointly with Adrian Bejan, in 2004, and gave her their Bergles–Rohsenow Young Investigator Award in Heat Transfer in 2005. The International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer gave her their inaugural Hartnett–Irvine Award in 2007, with Bejan, for their work on constructal theory. Lorente was named to the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

in 2008, and in 2015 she was named a knight (chevalier) in the Ordre national du Mérite. She was elected to the Academia Europaea in 2019. She joined the governing body of the European Research Council (ERC), the Scientific Council, in 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorente, Sylvie Year of birth missing (living people) Living people French mechanical engineers University of Toulouse alumni Academic staff of the University of Toulouse Academic staff of the University of Pretoria Villanova University faculty Members of Academia Europaea Members of the ERC Scientific Council 20th-century French women engineers 21st-century French women engineers 20th-century French engineers 21st-century French engineers