Dr. Eric Petersen is the Director of the Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Petersen has been with the Turbo Lab for 10-plus years and is the Nelson-Jackson Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

His research encompasses gas dynamics, propulsion, combustion, shock waves, chemical kinetics, optical diagnostics and spectroscopy, laminar and turbulent flames, and rocket combustion. He has authored more than 400 journal and conference papers in these areas. He is vice-president of the Institute for Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems (IDERS) and an associate editor of the Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power and the Journal of Propulsion and Power. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), The Combustion Institute and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

Petersen holds three degrees in mechanical engineering: a bachelor’s from the University of Central Florida (1988), a master’s from the University of Florida (1990) and a doctorate from Stanford University (1998). Before coming to Texas A&M, Petersen taught at the University of Central Florida. Prior to becoming a professor, he was an analytical engineer in the combustion group at Pratt & Whitney for three years, and a research scientist in the propulsion science group at the Aerospace Corporation for four years.