Martin A. Uman
Encyclopedia
Martin Allan Uman is an American
engineer
. He has been acknowledged by the American Geophysical Union
as one of the world's leading authorities on lightning
. http://www.agu.org/about/honors/union/fleming/uman_martina.shtml
Uman is probably best known for his work in lightning modeling, which is the application of electromagnetic field theory
to the description of various lightning processes. The provides a better understanding of lightning in general and has had a number of important practical spinoffs, the most notable has been a lightning locating system and the redefinition of several important lightning characteristics relative to hazard protection. Uman founded Lightning Location and Protection, Inc., a company in the lightning locating equipment business.
Uman has written three books on the subject of lightning, all of which are now in revised second edition paperbacks. He also is the author of a book on plasma physics
and the co-author (with V. A. Rakov) of a book on lightning. Uman has written twelve book chapters and encyclopedia
articles on lightning, and he has published over 170 papers in reviewed
journals
and over 200 in other articles and reports. He holds five patent
s, four in the area of lightning detection and location.
from Henry B. Plant High School
in Tampa, Florida
.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering
from Princeton University
in 1957 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi
. He received his M.A.
in 1959 and his Ph.D.
in 1961 from Princeton in electrical engineering
. His dissertation was "The Behavior of Electrons in Certain Gas Mixtures." In summer 1956 Uman was research assistant at Sandia Corporation
in Albuquerque, New Mexico
. In summer 1957 he was research associate at Sperry Gyroscope Company
in Great Neck, New York
. In summer 1958 he was research assistant at Forrestal Research Center in Princeton, New Jersey
and scientist at Elcon Laboratory, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts
.
in Tucson
. At Arizona Uman taught and conducted research in electromagnetics and gaseous electronics and became interested in the physics
of lightning.
From 1965 to 1971 Uman was fellow physicist at Westinghouse Research Labs in Pittsburgh. There he studied the physical and electromagnetic aspects of lightning and long laboratory sparks.
In 1971 Uman became a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida
in Gainesville
. He served as department chair from 1991 to 2003. In 2003 Uman was granted the rank of Distinguished Professor. He has been Director of the UF Lightning Research Laboratory since 1972.
In 1975 Uman co-founded Lightning Location and Protection, Inc. He served as president from 1975 to 1983 and as vice president and chief consulting scientist from 1983 to 1995, when he left the company. LLP is now a division of Vaisala
and is the world leader in the sale of lightning locating equipment.
Other awards include NASA
's 1992 and 1996 Group Achievement Awards to the Galileo Probe Spacecraft Team.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
. He has been acknowledged by the American Geophysical Union
American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union is a nonprofit organization of geophysicists, consisting of over 50,000 members from over 135 countries. AGU's activities are focused on the organization and dissemination of scientific information in the interdisciplinary and international field of geophysics...
as one of the world's leading authorities on lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
. http://www.agu.org/about/honors/union/fleming/uman_martina.shtml
Uman is probably best known for his work in lightning modeling, which is the application of electromagnetic field theory
Classical field theory
A classical field theory is a physical theory that describes the study of how one or more physical fields interact with matter. The word 'classical' is used in contrast to those field theories that incorporate quantum mechanics ....
to the description of various lightning processes. The provides a better understanding of lightning in general and has had a number of important practical spinoffs, the most notable has been a lightning locating system and the redefinition of several important lightning characteristics relative to hazard protection. Uman founded Lightning Location and Protection, Inc., a company in the lightning locating equipment business.
Uman has written three books on the subject of lightning, all of which are now in revised second edition paperbacks. He also is the author of a book on plasma physics
Plasma (physics)
In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
and the co-author (with V. A. Rakov) of a book on lightning. Uman has written twelve book chapters and encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
articles on lightning, and he has published over 170 papers in reviewed
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
journals
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
and over 200 in other articles and reports. He holds five patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s, four in the area of lightning detection and location.
Early life and education
Uman graduated in 1953 as valedictorianValedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
from Henry B. Plant High School
Henry B. Plant High School
H.B. Plant High School was opened in 1927 on South Himes Avenue in Tampa, Florida, United States. The school is named in honor of railroad and hotel tycoon Henry B. Plant. The school mascot is the Panther. The school motto is "Strength Through Unity." Plant High School currently has enrolled more...
in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering
Bachelor of Engineering
The Bachelor of Engineering is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at universities in Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland , Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Korea,...
from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1957 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential...
. He received his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in 1959 and his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in 1961 from Princeton in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
. His dissertation was "The Behavior of Electrons in Certain Gas Mixtures." In summer 1956 Uman was research assistant at Sandia Corporation
Sandia National Laboratories
The Sandia National Laboratories, managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation , are two major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratories....
in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
. In summer 1957 he was research associate at Sperry Gyroscope Company
Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century...
in Great Neck, New York
Great Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
. In summer 1958 he was research assistant at Forrestal Research Center in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
and scientist at Elcon Laboratory, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
.
Career
From 1961 to 1965 Uman was associate professor of electrical engineering at the University of ArizonaUniversity of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
in Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. At Arizona Uman taught and conducted research in electromagnetics and gaseous electronics and became interested in the physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
of lightning.
From 1965 to 1971 Uman was fellow physicist at Westinghouse Research Labs in Pittsburgh. There he studied the physical and electromagnetic aspects of lightning and long laboratory sparks.
In 1971 Uman became a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainesville
Gainesville
Gainesville is the name of several places in the United States of America:*Gainesville, Alabama*Gainesville, Florida, largest municipality with this name*Gainesville, Georgia*Gainesville, Missouri*Gainesville , New York...
. He served as department chair from 1991 to 2003. In 2003 Uman was granted the rank of Distinguished Professor. He has been Director of the UF Lightning Research Laboratory since 1972.
In 1975 Uman co-founded Lightning Location and Protection, Inc. He served as president from 1975 to 1983 and as vice president and chief consulting scientist from 1983 to 1995, when he left the company. LLP is now a division of Vaisala
Vaisala
Vaisala is a Finnish company that develops, manufactures and markets products and services for environmental and industrial measurement.The major customer groups and markets are national meteorological and hydrological services, aviation authorities, defense forces, road authorities, the weather...
and is the world leader in the sale of lightning locating equipment.
Awards and honors
- 2001 - American Geophysical UnionAmerican Geophysical UnionThe American Geophysical Union is a nonprofit organization of geophysicists, consisting of over 50,000 members from over 135 countries. AGU's activities are focused on the organization and dissemination of scientific information in the interdisciplinary and international field of geophysics...
John Adam Fleming Medal for "outstanding contribution to the description and understanding of electricity and magnetism of the earth and its atmosphere." - 2001 - IEEE Power Engineering Society Surge Protective Devices Committee Prize Paper Award
- 1999 - IEEE Power Engineering Society Working Group Award for Standard or Guide
- 1998 - University of Florida, Professorial Excellence Program Award
- 1996 - IEEE Heinrich Hertz MedalIEEE Heinrich Hertz MedalThe IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal was a science award presented by the IEEE for outstanding achievements in the field of electromagnetic waves. The medal was named in honour of German physicist Heinrich Hertz, and was first proposed in 1986 by IEEE Region 8 as a centennial recognition of Hertz's work...
, Gold for "...outstanding contributions to the understanding of lightning electromagnetics and its application to lightning detection and protection." - 1994 - Industry Applications Society, Industrial and Power Systems Department, Ralph H. Lee Prize Paper Award.
- 1990 - Florida Academy of Sciences, Outstanding Florida Scientist, Gold Medal
- 1988-89 - UF Teacher-Scholar of the Year (highest UF faculty award)
- 1982 - Electromagnetic Compatibility SocietyIEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility SocietyThe IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society is an organizational unit and professional society of academic professors and applied engineers with a common interest, affiliated with the IEEE. The 50-year-old Society has members and chapters in nearly every country throughout the world...
Transactions Prize Paper Award - Fellow, American Meteorological SocietyAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
- Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersInstitute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersThe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
- Fellow, American Geophysical Union
- Who's Who in America
Other awards include NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's 1992 and 1996 Group Achievement Awards to the Galileo Probe Spacecraft Team.
External links
- Official biography page and CV from the University of Florida College of EngineeringUniversity of Florida College of EngineeringThe College of Engineering at the University of Florida provides formal education and research in more than 12 fields of engineering, including: aerospace, agricultural, biological, biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, materials, and mechanical.-History:The...
- UF Lightning Research Laboratory
- International Center for Lightning Research and Testing (ICLRT) at Camp BlandingCamp BlandingCamp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain non-flying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation is located in Clay County, Florida near the city of...
, Florida - All About Lightning: An Interview with Martin Uman in Cabinet magazine