Wolfgang Gustav Knauss (born December 12, 1933, in Mandel near

Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...

) is an American engineer. He was Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

Education

Knauss grew up in Siegen during the Second World War as the son of a Methodist pastor. In 1954 he made his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

at the Helmholtz Realgymnasium in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. After the war, the acquaintance of a Methodist pastor from Pasadena (Frank Williams), who visited the family in Heidelberg, enabled Knauss to attend

Pasadena City College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a Public college, public community college in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. It originally o ...

and study at

from 1955 with a bachelor's degree in 1958. Originally, he wanted to study rocket technology, but ended up studying

fracture mechanics Fracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the propagation of cracks in materials. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics to calculate the driving force on a crack and those of experimental solid mechanics t ...

with aeronautics professor Max L. Williams. He earned his master's degree in 1959 and received his doctorate in 1963.

Research and career

Knauss became an assistant professor and carried out research on fracture propagation in viscoelastic materials on behalf of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, which was relevant to solid rocket engines. In 1969 he became Associate Professor and in 1978 Professor of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics. From 2001 he held the Von Karman Professorship and in 2004 he retired. In 2010, he was awarded the

Timoshenko Medal The Timoshenko Medal is an award given annually by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to an individual "in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of applied mechanics." The Timoshenko Medal, widely regarded as ...

for fundamental contributions to fracture mechanics, including mixed-type fractures, dynamic fractures, interface and adhesion fractures, and microscale characterization of material behavior and failure with an emphasis on experimental mechanics. In 1986/87 he received the Humboldt Research Prize, working at Universities of

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

and

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. In 1977 he gave lectures in the Soviet Union at the invitation of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, later being named a Foreign Member and receiving the Kapitza Medal in 1997. In 1995 the

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

Medal of the

Society for Experimental Mechanics Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) is a professional organization for engineers and scientists studying the design and implementation of experiments to characterize materials, structures, and systems. Formed in 1943 as the Society for Experim ...

. In 1998 he became a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

for contributions on time-dependent fracture mechanics of polymers, at interfaces and under dynamic loads. In 2001 he received the Koiter Medal from 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 edu ...

. He was the co-founder with Igor Emri of the Mechanics of Time Dependent Materials journal. Knauss advised aerospace companies such as Lockheed,

Rocketdyne Rocketdyne is an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, in southern California. Rocketdyne ...

Aerojet Aerojet was an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California, with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange and Gainesville in Virginia, and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet was owned by GenCorp, ...

-General, Hercules,

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

, and

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

(GE Space Division) as well as polymer chemistry companies such as

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

and Firestone. The

introduced the Wolfgang Knauss Young Investigator Award after him in 2018.

Awards and recognition

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

*Honorary Member of the

Timoshenko Medal *

Koiter Medal *

B.J. Lazan Award *

W.M. Murray Lecture Award

Translation

This article is based in part or in whole on a translation of this

version Version may refer to: Computing * Software version, a set of numbers that identify a unique evolution of a computer program * VERSION (CONFIG.SYS directive), a configuration directive in FreeDOS Music * Cover version * Dub version * Remix * ''V ...

of the German Wikipedia article Wolfgang Knauss. The editors of the original article are listed in its page history. This indication merely indicates the origin of the wording and does not serve as a source for the information in this article.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knauss, Wolfgang 1933 births Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering California Institute of Technology faculty American engineers California Institute of Technology alumni Fellows of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Living people Emigrants from West Germany to the United States German engineers