In Memoriam: Veniamin I. Goldfarb

Abstract

Veniamin I. Goldfarb, a well-known scholar and educator, passed away on November 12, 2019, at the age of 78. As the Director of the Institute of Mechanics of the Izhevsk State Technical University, Professor Goldfarb was a towering figure in the field of power transmission and gearing, specializing in gear geometry, kinematics, and contact mechanics.Professor Goldfarb's technical contributions included a novel classification and the study of spatial gear arrangements, rational structuring of the process of computer-aided design of worm gears, the development of a “nondifferential” method for defining surfaces formed by enveloping, and the study of a variety of spiroid gears. Professor Goldfarb was the author of more than 400 scientific publications, including seven monographs in the field of research, development, and implementation of gear transmissions. He advised nearly 40 PhD candidates and authored more than 20 patents.Professor Goldfarb was the laureate of the State Prize in the field of science and technology from the Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation. He was awarded the Medal of Academician V.I. Vernadsky and the Medal of Academician S.P. Kapitsa by the St. George Cross of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences for his contributions in science. He took several leadership roles in the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science (IFToMM) as the chair of the Gearing Technical Committee (1998–2005), a member of the Executive Council (2007–2011), and the Vice President (2011–2015). He was a member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). For three decades, he was the face of the gearing and power transmission research community in Russia.Professor Goldfarb will be remembered as a very kind and compassionate person who valued his friendship greatly. While he will be missed dearly, his legacy of mentorship, inventions, and scholarly contributions to our field will live on for many decades to come.