Dr. Daniel G. Friend

Dr. Friend came to the National Bureau of Standards (renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, in 1988) in 1981 as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate and worked in the general area of kinetic theory of fluids.

He now has extensive experience in many theoretical aspects of fluid properties, having published about 80 papers; he has also been heavily involved in correlation and database work of direct interest to industry. The theoretical description of transport phenomena in moderately dense gases that he helped pioneer has become the routine approach to modeling such systems; several of the correlating models of Dr. Friend and the databases he helped disseminate have remained as the basis of standards throughout the world. However, his technical interests range well beyond the theory of fluid properties: his leadership positions now extend to experimental determinations of properties and kinetics, technologies associated with separations and cryogenics, computational chemistry, the identification of species through mass spectral protocols, and the development and use of informatics within the scope of data for physical, biophysical, and chemical systems. His professional activities have brought him involvement in communities associated with power generation; petroleum extraction, refining, and transportation; natural gas and other fuels; refrigeration and air conditioning; homeland security; environmental monitoring and remediation; healthcare; chemical production; etc.

Dr. Friend currently serves as the Chief of the Thermophysical Properties Division in Boulder, CO, and formerly headed the Physical and Chemical Properties Division, with major activities at the Gaithersburg and Boulder campuses of NIST.

He is a member of the NIST Chemical Science and Technology Leadership Team, in Gaithersburg, and represents the Division and the Laboratory on the NIST Boulder Management Forum.

He is active in committees of the AIChE (currently serving as technical representative to several DIPPR Steering committees), ASME (on research committees related to aqueous systems, the standing committee on thermophysical properties, and an air properties committee within ASME Standards Technology, LLC), and the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam (currently President of the organization and formerly U.S. National Representative). He is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Thermophysics (for theory and modeling) and serves on the editorial boards of the Thermodynamics Research Center Tables publications and the Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data.

He chaired the 15th Symposium on Thermophysical Properties (STP) in 2003, was Vice President of the Executive Board of the Joint Conference of the 16th STP, the International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics, and the Calorimetry Conference, and is Chair of the upcoming 2009 17th STP.

Dr. Friend served on the organizing committee for the Fourteenth International Conference on the Properties of Water and Steam, and chaired the Benchmark Committee for the 1st and 2nd Industrial Fluids Simulation Challenges (sponsored by AIChE and ACS).

He has recently served in consultative capacities on energy research strategies at NIST, and on a panel representing NIST before a National Academy of Sciences committee convened to study federal helium policies. His accomplishments have earned him several awards, including the Department’s bronze medal, the NIST Judson C. French award, and the Laboratory’s Technical Achievement Award. Common themes for his technical and leadership positions involve ensuring that the appropriate information is available to our customers (industry, government, and academia) and providing the background to achieve required consensus standards. 

Honors and Awards

• Department of Commerce, Bronze Medal, 2001
• NIST Judson C. French Award, 2001
• Measurement Services Award, NIST Standard Reference Data Program, 1993
• Outstanding Technical Achievement Award, NBS Center for Chemical Engineering, 1986

• Phi Beta Kappa (honorary), member
• Phi Kappa Phi (honorary), member

Professional Societies

• American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• American Physical Society
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Fellow

External Activities

• Agency Panel, NIST Representative, National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Committee on Understanding the Impact of Selling the Helium Reserve, 2008
• AIChE Design Institute for Physical Property Data (DIPPR):
• Project 991 Steering Team, Project 801 Steering Team, Administrative Committee, Technical Committee
• ASME K-7 Standing Committee on Thermophysical Properties
• ASME Research and Technology Committee on Water and Steam in Thermal Systems
• ASME Subcommittee on Properties of Water and Steam
• ASME Codes and Standards Institute, Air Properties Committee
• Commerce Children's Center (Boulder) Financial Aid Committee, 1993-1998 (chair)
• Commerce Children's Center (Boulder) Election Committee, 1995 (chair)
• Fourteenth International Conference on the Properties of Water and Steam Organizing Committee
• IAPWS, U.S. National Representative (2004-2008)
• IAPWS, President
• IAPWS Ad Hoc Committee on Copyright Issues (chair)
• IAPWS Working Group on Thermophysical Properties of Water and Steam (past chair)
• IAPWS Task Group on New Scientific Formulations (1993 – 1997)
• Industrial Fluids Simulation Challenge Organizing Committee
• Industrial Fluids Simulation Challenge Benchmark Committee (chair)
• IUPAC/CODATA/ICSTI Joint Working Group on Data Exchange Standards (IUCOSPED) (2001)
• Joint IAPWS/IATP Task Group on Transport Properties, chair
• Joint ASME-AIChE Committee on Thermophysical Properties
• Thermo International 2006 (Joint conference of the 16th STP, 19th ICCT, and 61st CalCon), Executive Board (Vice President)
• Surrogate Fuels Joint Workshop, Subgroups on Diesel, Gasoline, and Rocket Propellants
• UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Ad Hoc Task Force on Fill Densities, (chair, 2005-2007)