Tamas I Gombosi

Rollin M. Gerstacker Professor of Engineering and AOSS Chair

Email: tamas@umich.edu
Telephone: (734) 764-7222
Fax: (734) 615-4645
Office: 1517 SRB

Website: http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~tamas
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Education:: Ph.D., Physics, M.Sc., Physics, Lóránd Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary

Research:: Planetary science, space weather, heliospheric and magnetospheric physics, high-performance scientific computing

Doctoral Students:: Zhenguang Huang
Xing Meng
Stav Ofer
Rona Oran

Specializations and Research Interests

Physics Based Simulations of Space Weather
Computational MHD Modeling on Solution Adaptive Grids
Extended Hydrodynamics of Compressible Gases and Plasmas
Physics of cometary environments
Planetary Ionospheres and Magnetospheres
Cosmic Ray and Superthermal Particle Transport

Honors, Awards and Accomplishments

Elected Lifetime Member, International Academy of Astronautics
Fellow, American Geophysical Union
Stephen S. Attwood Award (highest award of the College), CoE
Team Excellence Award, CoE
NASA Group Achievement Award (Cassini Orbiter)
Research Excellence Award, CoE
László Detre Award, Roland Lóránd Eötvös Physical Society, Budapest, Hungary
Lajos Jánossy Award, Central Research Institute for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
KFKI Award, Central Research Institute for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Albert Fonó Award, Hungarian Astronautical Society
Member of international group which first measured the directional anisotropy of ~1014eV galactic cosmic rays
With Russian colleagues, first to establish that during solar minimum conditions energetic electrons originating from the solar wind are responsible for maintenance of Venus' nighttime ionosphere
Pioneer in modern cometary plasma physics development
Pioneer in modeling of the complicated physical process controlling the interface region between the comet nucleus and the continuously escaping cometary coma
With colleagues, developed first-time dependent model of the terrestrial polar wind, which accounted for the dynamics and energetics of the transonic ion outflows from the high-latitude ionosphere
Derived new transport equations from higher-order velocity moments of the Boltzmann equation using a non-isotropic Gaussian base-function
Currently leading a computational Grand Challenge Investigation team developing a new generation of high-performance 3D MHD codes using solution adaptive grids

Professional Service

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Geophysical Union
American Physical Society
Division for Planetary Sciences, American Astronomical Society
European Geophysical Society
Member, Basic Sciences Committee, International Academy of Astronautics
Senior Editor, 1992-1997, Journal of Geophysical Research — Space Physics
Chairman, Committee on Space Research, International Council Science, Commission D (Space Plasmas, including Planetary Magnetospheres), 1996-2000
Chairman (1987-91) and Co-chairman (1979-87), The International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy Division IV (Solar Wind and Interplanetary Magnetic Field)
Extensive service to the Committee on Space Research, International Council Science, NASA and NSF
Served on organizing committee or as chair of numerous major scientific conferences

Updated: 2008-01-18