Takao Inui
Tokyo, Japan; deceased
3rd Georg Weinblum Memorial Lecture (1980/81)
From Bulbous Bow to Free Surface Shock Wave – Twenty Years Trend of Researches on Ship Waves at the Tokyo University Tank | PDF
Short Biography
Takao Inui, born in 1920, studied naval architecture at the University of Tokyo, where he became an associate professor in 1946 and a lecturer in 1947. After receiving his Ph.D. he was appointed to the Department of Ship Hydrodynamics at the University of Tokyo from 1958 to 1980. Later on, he held a professorship at Tamagawa University. Among his honours are the Toray Science and Technology Prize in 1976 and the Japan Academy Award in 1978, the highest award for a Japanese researcher. Also in 1978 he became a member of the Science Council of Japan. He was a chairman of the 18th ITTC Executive Committee in 1987 (Kobe, Japan).
His main work area was the wave resistance of ships. His theoretical and experimental work also convinced practitioners of the bulbous bow, and later also of ships without bulbous bows which practically do not form waves at design speed.
In the spirit of Weinblum, Professor Inui was particularly active in promoting international cooperation through meetings and the exchange of scientists. He died in 2012.
[The short biography is taken from the invitation letter for the Georg Weinblum Memorial Lecture held by Takao Inui. Some slight modifications have been made when deemed necessary.]