Ernest “Ernie” Cravalho, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at MIT, passed away on Tuesday, April 13, at the age of 82. Cravalho served as a member of MIT’s mechanical engineering faculty for 44 years. Along with his many research contributions in the fields of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and bioengineering, Cravalho helped shape MIT’s thermodynamics education into what it is today.
Born in San Mateo, California, in 1939, Cravalho earned his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. After receiving his doctoral degree in 1967, Cravalho made the move to the East Coast to join MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering as an assistant professor.
That same year, Cravalho collaborated with the late Professor Joseph Smith to launch a new thermodynamics course at MIT. The revamped course was in response to Cravalho’s feeling that previously, students hadn’t developed a practical and...
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