Jaan Kiusalaas

Jaan Kiusalaas Jaan Kiusalaas, Penn State professor emeritus of engineering science and mechanics, died suddenly August 27, 2018, aged 87. He was born in Tartu and raised in Tallinn, Estonia. When the Soviet army marched into Estonia in World War II he and his mother escaped and made their way across Europe to Augsburg, Germany, where he attended the Estonian Refugee High School. Following the war Jaan emigrated to Australia, where he obtained his Bachelor of Engineering degree at the University of Adelaide. In 1958, he went to Northwestern University as a Walter P. Murphy Fellow, receiving his Master's Degree in Engineering in 1959, and his Ph.D. in 1962. He came to Penn State in 1963, as assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Mechanics, specializing initially in shell theory and structural design. He was named professor in 1974. Jaan spent a sabbatical year at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., where he developed computer programs for the optimal design of structures. He received two NASA research achievement awards. Jaan's research was primarily in finite element analysis, methods of structural optimization, the application of numerical methods, and in computer software development. He retired from the university as professor emeritus in 1991, and subsequently published a number of engineering text books that remain in print: Numerical Methods in Engineering using Python, Numerical Methods in Engineering using Matlab, and with Andrew Pytel, Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials. Jaan is survived by his wife Judy; his children Nicholas, Jennifer, and Timothy; and by three grandchildren Alex, Katy and Chris. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome. com.