McGraw-Hill Receives Top Prize at Association of American Publishers' PROSE Awards

NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Diffusion Handbook: Applied Solution for Engineers by R.K. Michael Thambynayagam is the recipient of the prestigious 2011 R.R. Hawkins Award, one of the highest recognitions in the world of professional and scholarly publishing. The award was announced today at the annual meeting of the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers in Washington, DC. The Diffusion Handbook received a total of three awards: the R.R. Hawkins Award, the PROSE Award for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics, and the Engineering & Technology category award.

"The Diffusion Handbook is the definitive work in its field," explained PROSE Awards Chairman John A. Jenkins, President and Publisher of CQ Press.  "It is exceptional in its breadth and depth, and it will surely prove the authoritative handbook that will influence and be used by engineers for many years to come.  In other words, exactly the type of important work that PROSE should and does honor." 

Thambynayagam's 2,000-page book represents a lifetime of research and scholarship, covering applications of diffusion across every major engineering discipline. Civil engineers, biomedical engineers, even financial analysts assessing risk use the diffusion equation. Fewer than five percent of these solutions are available anywhere else; the vast majority have been compiled and solved by the author himself. The 125-page table of contents uses more than 1,000 one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional graphical illustrations (one per solution) that visually link to the expanded worked solutions in the book. 

"This is the first time in PROSE history that McGraw-Hill has received the R.R. Hawkins Award, and it is a great honor," said Philip Ruppel, President of McGraw-Hill Professional. "The publication of The Diffusion Handbook is a remarkable achievement representing the highest standard of publishing excellence in engineering."

Author R.K. Michael Thambynayagam has a PhD in chemical engineering from England's University of Manchester, and his career spans more than 25 years of professional experience in the oil and gas industry. He is the former Managing Director of Schlumberger Cambridge Research in the UK.

Visit www.proseawards.com for more information.

About McGraw-Hill Professional

McGraw-Hill Professional, a division of McGraw-Hill Education, is a leading global provider of print and electronic content and services for the medical, technical, and business communities. Its offerings include reference and certification books for all professional and educational disciplines and online solutions on medical and health, engineering, business, and scientific topics. For more information, visit http://www.mhprofessional.com

McGraw-Hill Education is a content, software, and services-based education company that draws on more than 100 years of educational expertise to offer solutions, which improve learning outcomes around the world. McGraw-Hill is the adaptive education technology leader with the vision for creating a highly personalized learning experience that prepares students of all ages for the world that awaits. The company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East, and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 65 languages. For additional information, visit http://www.mheducation.com

About AAP
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry.  AAP's more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies.  AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services.  The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association's highest priorities.

SOURCE McGraw-Hill