Dr. Salant is the Georgia Power distinguished professor in mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.  He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in 1963 and his Sc.D. in 1967 at MIT. Before joining Georgia Tech in 1987, he held positions at the University of California, Berkeley; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge; and the Borg-Warner Research Center, Chicago.  He developed his career in the field of tribology, specializing in dynamic seals and focusing on the central role that lubrication plays in the operation of such seals.

Dr. Salant’s work on mixed lubrication was applied to rotary lip seals, used to seal gearboxes and other rotary devices, for a more accurate prediction of low speed operation.  Now his most recent research on mixed lubrication was applied to reciprocating lip seals, of great interest to the fluid power industry and other users of hydraulic and pneumatic actuators.

Dr. Salant has published approximately 100 papers, primarily in the area of fluid seal lubrication.  He holds six patents. He is a Fellow of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, and was honored with the Sealing Technology Paper Award (1998), the Edmond E. Bisson Award (2000) and the Frank P. Bussick Award four times between 2002 and 2008, Mayo D. Hersey Award, ASME, 2009.