Dr. Francisco Arumi Noe Paco

Family-Placed Obituary

Dr. Francisco Arumi Noe (Paco) Dr. Francisco Arumi Noe (Paco), Professor in the School of Architecture, died suddenly and unexpectedly on September 16, 2005. He was dining at lunchtime, as was his preferred routine, among his many University friends and colleagues at the Faculty Center. Dr. Arumi Noe was born in Valparaiso, Chile in 1940, grew up in Quito, Ecuador, and became naturalized in the United States in 1965. He is survived by Charlette, his wife, Ana Maria, his daughter, Francisco Alexander (Alex), his son and their mother, Betsy, Philippe and Pierre, his stepsons, Corinne, his stepdaughter, Fernando, his brother, Martha, his sister-in-law, Ana Cristina and Maria Pia, his nieces, Juan Fernando, his nephew, and Jose Luis, Rita and Gustavo, his cousins. Dr. Arumi Noe received his Ph.D. in Physics from The University of Texas at Austin in 1970 and taught at The University for the next 35 years. He held many positions over that period, including nine years as a research physicist and physics lecturer with emphasis on plasma physics. In 1971, Dr. Arumi Noe made a transition to become Assistant Professor of Architecture. He taught and conducted research in building energy performance, particularly in modeling the passive solar heating and cooling of buildings. Of particular note in Dr. Arumi Noe's career was his work culminating in the development and use of the DEROB computer system for the simulation of passive solar heating and cooling of buildings. DEROB became the national standard for determining energy performance by the U.S. Department of Energy; and in the 1980s a professional society was formed to further the use of DEROB. The software has continued to be developed and applied and is extensively published in peer-reviewed literature. Other recent research has involved the integration of computer graphics with energy analysis of buildings, including the development of the MUSES software codes. Dr. Arumi Noe's recent teaching responsibilities included Construction II and advanced courses in Solar Geometry, Numerical Experiments in Architecture, and Thermal Inertia. Over the years his students have established practices, implementing and expanding on his work, over several continents. He was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, Pi Mu Epsilon Honors Society (mathematics) and Sigma Pi Sigma Honors Society (physics). He was also awarded Fulbright Scholarships for travel and research in Bangladesh, Colombia, and Ecuador. For many who knew Paco personally, they will always remember his love of music, dancing, and his joie de vivre. His great love of life, his deep curiosity, and the twinkle in his will be widely and dearly missed. A Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, September 20th, at 11:00 a.m., at Harrell funeral Home.