Technion professor dies from lab explosion

Prof. Elazar Gutmanas was pronounced dead on Saturday morning after being seriously injured during an explosion in his lab at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology two weeks ago.

The 80-year-old professor died in Rambam Medical Center, whose spokesperson said that “his family thanked Dr. Yaron Bar-Lavie, the department manager, for his efforts, which sadly did not succeed in saving [Gutmanas].”

The explosion occurred in the Materials Science and Engineering Faculty. It is unclear what caused the explosion, but are under investigation according to Fire and Rescue Services.

Gutmanas immigrated from the Soviet Union and joined the Technion’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering in 1974, according to the university’s website. While in the USSR, he worked in the Institute of Solid State Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

He has served as a PhD and master’s theses adviser at the Technion since 1988.

His research primarily consisted of “high pressure consolidation of metal matrix and ceramic matrix nanocomposites, sythesis of composite materials and parts with fine microstructure via pressure assisted exothermic reactions, Pressure Assisted Synthesis of composites and graded materials via Short Distance Reactive Infiltration (SDRI), wear, oxidation and corrosion resistant coatings on metal alloys via reactive diffusion, development of nanostructured bulk materials and parts, and development of load bearing biocompatible implantable devices.”