Academic degrees
Master of Science (Chemical engineering), University of Trondheim, 1961
Master of Philosophy (Dust explosions), University of London, 1971
Doctor Technicae (Dust explosions), University of Trondheim, 1976
Doctor of Science (Eng.) (Gas and dust explosions, Powder technol.) Higher doctorate, University of London, 1992
Honours
Honorary member of WPMPS (powder mechanics), of Europ. Feder. Chem. Engineer. from 1985
Concurrent professor of North Eastern University, Shenyang, P.R. China, from 1990
Member of the Committee of Honour of EuropEx, Belgium, from 1991
Recipient of the W. Cybulski medal for 1992 (Polish Academy of Science) in 1993
Member of the Norwegian Academy of Technical Sciences, 2008
Member of Academia Europaea, 2011
Recipient of the Process Safety Price for 2017. Price established by the PS Group AB, Malmö, Sweden
Career
Eckhoff was appointed at Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Bergen, Norway, in 1962, where he established powder technology (1963), accidental dust explosions (1968), and accidental gas explosions (1976) as new research areas. From 1973 to 1988 he was CMI's chief scientist in powder technology, and dust and gas explosions, and from 1988 to 1996 senior scientific adviser to CMI/CMR/GexCon. He was appointed part-time professor at University of Bergen in Process Safety Technology in 1992 and full-time professor in 1996. At UoB he has been central in the building up of the general study programme process technology, as well as his own special sub programme in process safety technology. In 2008 he became professor emeritus at UoB but up to the end of 2017, when he passed 80, he kept on teaching regular courses and supervising students.
Eckhoff has advised industry and public agencies in many countries on powder technology and explosion protection. From 2004 till about 2010 he was a part time scientific adviser to Öresund Safety Advisers, Malmö, Sweden. He has lectured on courses, conferences and seminars in a number of countries in Europe, and in USA, Canada, Israel, Bahrain, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, China, Australia and Brazil. He has also been an expert witness in connection with court cases on accidental fires and explosions in the process industries in USA. In 2005 he participated, as the only invited expert from outside USA, in the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) public hearing in Washington DC, on how to deal with the increasing number of serious dust explosion accidents in US industries.
Eckhoff is a member of the editorial board of "Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries", and of several Norwegian and international working groups on process-safety-related topics related to the Internat. Electrotech. Comm. (IEC) and the European CEN/CENELEC.
