Professor Rangel Receives Narcis Monturiol Medal for Distinction in Science and Technology

MAE chair presented with award in Catalonia, Spain

Roger Rangel, professor and chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, recently received the Narcis Monturiol Medal in Catalonia, Spain, awarded “for distinction in science and technology, and for contributions to the scientific development of Catalonia."

Rangel is the UC Irvine director of the California-Catalonia Engineering Program, an international collaboration between UC Irvine, the Catalan Government, and selected universities and research facilities in Catalonia, Spain.  Since 1995, he has managed and supported academic and research experts from both countries, who are involved in three different programs: the Balsells Fellowship, the Engineering Innovation Program, and the California-Catalonia Alliance for Miniaturization Science and Engineering.

Participating Catalan universities and facilities include the Technical University of Catalonia, the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the University of Girona, the Ramon Llull University, as well as the Catalan Reference Center on Bioengineering, the National Microelectronics Center, the Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology, Materials Science Institute of Barcelona, and the Catalan Photonics Institute.

Rangel has coordinated the activities of more than 60 Catalan engineering students at UC Irvine and has been the principal investigator of the California-Catalonia Alliance for Miniaturization Science and Engineering, sponsored by National Science Foundation, since 2005. In addition to managing the California-Catalonia program, Rangel has made significant contributions in fluid mechanics and transport processes of dispersed multiphase flows involving particles and sprays, with applications in materials sciences and combustion, and has more than 150 publications.