Lehigh alumnus Jacob Y. Kazakia ’72 PhD '07P, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and mechanics (MEM), passed away February 20, 2025, at the age of 79.
After graduating from Istanbul Technical University with a master’s degree in civil engineering, Kazakia came to Lehigh in 1969 as research assistant, earning his PhD in applied mathematics in 1972. He then joined the Lehigh faculty as an assistant professor in the Center for Application of Mathematics, rising to the rank of associate professor. In 1983, Kazakia was given an appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. He was promoted to full professor in 1989 and retired in December 2019, capping a 50-year career of research, teaching, and service at the university.
Kazakia studied how fluids move and behave, using both mathematical analysis and computer simulations. His research focused on five key areas: improving the design of labyrinth seals in turbomachinery to better predict leakage and its impact on rotor stability; understanding complex fluids like polymer solutions and suspensions that don’t follow standard flow behavior; analyzing the movement of both slow, highly viscous fluids and high-speed turbulent flows; exploring wave patterns in fluids, including shallow water waves and sound waves; and developing mathematical models to describe the behavior of different materials.
He published more than 50 scientific papers and advised numerous graduate students.
Kazakia taught numerous mathematics and engineering courses, including Calculus, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, Engineering Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Dynamics, Numerical Methods in Mechanical Engineering, Advanced Numerical Methods, and Elements of Engineering Analysis.
He supervised the teaching of Engineering Computations, or “Engineering 1,” having helped reorganize the course that was taken by all first-year engineering students at the time. He was recognized with college-level teaching excellence and service awards and also played a role in the development of distance education at the university.
Kazakia led and served on several university committees throughout the course of his career and was the MEM coordinator of ABET and Middle States Association accreditation reports from 2011 to 2020.
Read Prof. Kazakia’s obituary on Legacy.com.