Remembering Dariush

August 1960 – February 3, 2012

Dariush Arasteh, our brilliant, dedicated, irascible, energetic, and generous colleague and friend died peacefully Friday morning, February 3, 2012, after living eight years with cancer. For the past 30 years Dariush has been a champion in the area of energy-efficient windows. Dariush was a Staff Scientist, Principal Investigator, and Deputy Group Leader in LBNL’s Building Technologies Department.

Steve Selkowitz, who originally hired him, saw Dariush as “close to the ideal fit for what I would call the ‘challenging EETD paradigm’--one who not only does ‘good science,’ but is also understood, respected, and has a major impact in the business world.” Steve also shares that “Dariush was a friendly, generous and helpful mentor to junior staff, and a thoughtful and dependable colleague and collaborator with the Department leadership. And his actions were almost always accompanied by softspoken humor, wit, and a disarming smile.”

Since 1982, Dariush was involved in all aspects of research on energy-efficient windows at LBNL, with a focus on the development and experimental analysis of highly insulating “superwindows,” creating a suite of computer tools to analyze window heat transfer, leading industry to develop a rating system for the thermal performance of windows. The windows research led to other innovations such as the development, patenting and licensing of gas-filled panel insulation. He initiated collaborative projects with campus, with industry, and with international research teams.

Mary Ann Piette remembers Dariush as “an amazing person who will be remembered by all of us who had the great opportunity to work with him. I am so saddened by his passing but have been inspired by his life and dedication.” She adds that Dariush didn’t just excel in his research, he was also “one of the original members of the LBNL softball team the Ballpark Estimates, founded in the mid-1980s--Dariush was one of the team’s premiere home-run hitters.”

Dariush authored over a 100 papers and articles in the field of energy efficiency in buildings. He was also a frequently invited speaker at industry events. He received his B.S.E. in Civil Engineering from Princeton University and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and was a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California.

Dariush’s colleague and friend, Christian Kohler has put together a website for sharing thoughts about Dariush. You can add your memories and thoughts for Dariush’s wife, Nancy Hendrickson, his son Jasper, and read the responses from the community of family, friends, and colleagues who knew and loved him.

http://windows.lbl.gov/dariush

With deep wisdom, profound empathy, and foresight for the loss we all feel, Dariush left us his final words, a farewell poem:

Farewell

It’s time for me to leave the party

A few have already left

But most I hope will stay

Till the next dawn

Why I go now, I do not know

I wish it were not this way

All my family, friends, and treasured places

This joy moves on

Where I go, I do not know

To unimaginable dimensions in this infinite universe?

To fertilize a plant on beloved planet earth?

To both?

Eight years ago the light also ran dim

Many mysterious forces unified to keep me here

What joy I had seeing children grow into young adults

Remember this.

January 2012