Dr. Eric Peterson posing with his induction paper.

Turbo Lab Director inducted as AIAA Associate Fellow

Turbomachinery Laboratory Director Dr. Eric Petersen was inducted as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Associate Fellow on January 5, 2020 at the SciTech Forum and Exposition in Orlando, Florida.

“Receiving this honor is a realization of a dream I’ve had since I was a young engineer,” said Petersen, Director of the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Laboratory. “I’ve valued this organization since before I became a member in 1987. It’s gratifying to now be able to represent AIAA as a fellow.”

In order to be considered for Associate Fellowship, an AIAA member must have accomplished or been in charge of important engineering/scientific work, done work of outstanding merit, or have otherwise made outstanding contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of the aeronautics or astronautics fields. Candidates also must have at least 12 or more years of professional experience and be a Senior Member of AIAA in good standing.

Combined, all requirements for the Associate Fellowship were a bill that Petersen perfectly fit.

Petersen’s accomplishments include authoring over 90 papers at AIAA technical meetings, serving as Associate Editor for the Journal of Propulsion and Power, establishing a world-class shock-tube laboratory within the Propulsion Science Department at the Aerospace Corporation, and at the university level, building and maintaining a research capability in high-temperature gas dynamics and propulsion that consists of four shock tubes, two constant-volume flame vessels, a propellants and energetics laboratory, and a detonation tube.

Much of Petersen’s research and contributions to the aerospace industry has led to archival data, improved models and better understanding of the fundamental combustion chemistry of fuels and propellants.

Along with his induction, Petersen, Texas A&M faculty, and students heard from aerospace experts, learned new skills, and presented on their research at the SciTech forum.

SciTech is the largest event for aerospace research, development and technology in the world. Over 2,400 research topics were presented at this year’s forum. Presentations out of the Turbo Lab included:

“Investigation of Flow-Flame Interactions in Kerosene Piloted Liquid-Spray Flames Using Simultaneous OH and PAH PLIF.”
- Presented by: Ayush Jain, Yejun Wang, Christian Schweizer and Waruna D. Kulatilaka
“Efficient Multi-Information Source Multiobjective Bayesian Optimization.”
- Presented by: Danial Khatamsaz, Lalith Peddareddygari, Sam Friedman and Douglas L. Allaire
“Burning Rate Characterization of Ammonium Perchlorate Pellets Containing Nano-Catalytic Additives.”
- Presented by: Felix A. Rodriguez, James C. Thomas, David Teitge and Eric L. Petersen
“Strand Burner Experiments with Metal-Loaded AP/HTPB Laminate Propellants.”
- Presented by: Felix A. Rodriguez, James C. Thomas, and Eric L. Petersen
“Progress Toward Flame Thickness Measurements from Chemiluminescence of Spherical Flames.”
- Presented by: Mattias A. Turner, Tyler T. Paschal, Pradeep Parajulli, Waruna D. Kulatilaka and Eric L. Petersen
“A N₂O Laser Absorption Diagnostic Near 4.6 μm for Shock-Tube Chemical Kinetics Studies.”
- Presented by: Clayton Mulvihill, Sulaiman Alturaifi, Olivier Mathieu and Eric L. Petersen
“Ignition-Delay Time Measurements of Heavy Hydrocarbons in an Aerosol Shock Tube.”
- Presented by: Joshua Hargis, Sean Cooper, Olivier Mathieu, Bing Guo and Eric L. Petersen

Additionally, Turbo Lab staff represented the Lab and its programs in the exhibition hall in booth 230. To learn more about AIAA and the technical papers presented at SciTech 2020, visit https://www.aiaa.org/.

The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Turbomachinery Laboratory makes a vital impact on turbomachinery and related industries through research, education and professional workforce development.

Receiving this honor is a realization of a dream I’ve had since I was a young engineer. I’ve valued this organization since before I became a member in 1987. It’s gratifying to now be able to represent AIAA as a fellow.
Dr. Eric Petersen