Kirpichev, Mikhail

Born Aug. 11 (23), 1879, in St. Petersburg; died Jan. 10, 1955, in Moscow. Soviet scientist in heat engineering and thermal physics. Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1939; corresponding member, 1929). Son of V. L. Kirpichev.

Upon graduating from the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology (1907), M. V. Kirpichev began teaching at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. From 1932 to 1935 he was scientific director of the Central Insititute of Boilers and Turbines in Moscow. From 1933 to 1955 he worked in the G. M. Krzhizhanovskii Institute of Power Engineering and taught at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Machine-building and the Institute of Power Engineering. Kirpichev was the first in the USSR to study the physical nature of processes occurring in boiler units. He was the originator of the theory of thermal modeling, which made it possible to use models in studying the operation of steam boilers and other thermal units. A recipient of the State Prize of the USSR (1941), he was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and several medals.