Gary C. Vliet

Dr. Vliet's general areas of research are heat and mass transfer and solar energy systems. Dr. Vliet (now emeritus) is a past faculty member of the Thermal/Fluid Systems program of the Mechanical Engineering Department. He served on the College of Engineering faculty since 1971. His Solar Lab performed solar radiation measurements across the state, maintained the Texas solar radiation database (TSRDB), and conducted important other solar energy research. He had 10 years of industrial experience prior to joining UT Austin, has published more than 60 technical articles and reports, and has authored or edited two books. Dr. Vliet is a fellow of both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). He received the Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award from ASES in 2003 and the Charles Greeley Abbot Award from ASES in 2005. His selection for these honors, which are bestowed on a small number within the organization's membership, was based on "many years of exceptional services to the American Solar Energy Society, and for countless efforts in advancing the utilization of solar energy." Accessible websites developed by Vliet and students include the Solar Lab, the Texas Solar Radiation Database (includes several years of solar reduction data from several Texas locations), the Solscale program (assesses the scaling potential of solar hot water systems) and Thermo Fluid Science Experiments (catalog of many many simple experiments in thermodynamics, that can be used in conjunction with classroom instruction).