• Professor, Mechanical Engineering
  • Nelson-Jackson Chair Professor
  • Director, Turbomachinery Laboratory
Eric Petersen

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering , Stanford University – 1998
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida – 1990
  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Central Florida – 1988

Research Interests

    • Combustion
    • Propulsion
    • Gas Dynamics
    • Chemical Kinetics
    • Rocket Propellants
    • Laser Diagnostics and Spectroscopy
    • Laminar and Turbulent Flames
    • Shock Tubes
    • Gas Turbine Combustion
    • Detonations

Industry Experience

    • Research Scientist at The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA, 1997 – 2001.
    • Analytical Engineer at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, West Palm Beach, FL, 1990 – 1993.

Awards & Honors

  • 2020 Combustion Institute Fellow
  • 2020 AIAA Associate Fellow
  • 2019 Holder of the Nelson-Jackson Chair in Mechanical Engineering
  • 2019 Dean of Engineering Excellence Award, Professor Level
  • 2017 TEES Senior Faculty Fellow Award
  • 2015 The James J. Cain Graduate Teaching Award
  • 2014 Best Paper Award, X ISHPMIE
  • 2013 Nelson-Jackson Professor
  • 2011 TEES Fellow Award
  • 2010 & 2011 Teaching Excellence Award
  • 2010 ASME Fellow
  • 2010 Faculty Fellow, Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center
  • 2010-2012 Leland T. Jordan Career Development Professorship
  • 2009 Best Paper Award, 2008 ASME Turbo Expo
  • 2007 Research Incentive Award, UCF
  • 2006 Outstanding Researcher Award, Assistant Professor, CECS, UCF
  • 2006 Teaching Incentive Program Award, UCF
  • 2003, 2005 & 2006 Pi Tau Sigma Professor of the Year, UCF
  • 2006-2011NSF CAREER Award
  • 2004 Pi Tau Sigma Advisor of the Year, UCF

Selected Publications

  • M. A. Turner, P. Parajuli, W. D. Kulatilaka, and E. L. Petersen, “Emission Spectra of Hydrocarbon Flames Doped with Phosphorus-Containing Compounds,” Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2022, pp. 685-693.
  • C. M. Grégoire, C. K. Westbrook, O. Mathieu, S. P. Cooper, S. A. Alturaifi, and E. L. Petersen, “A Shock-Tube and Chemical Kinetics Model Investigation Encompassing all Five Pentene Isomers,” Fuel, Vol. 323, 2022, 124223/13.
  • O. Mathieu, C. M. Grégoire, M. A. Turner, D. J. Mohr, S. A. Alturaifi, J. C. Thomas, and E. L. Petersen, “Experimental Investigation of the Combustion Properties of an Average Thermal Runaway Gas Mixture from Li-Ion Batteries,” Energy & Fuels, Vol. 36, 2022, pp. 3247-3258.
  • J. C. Thomas and E. L. Petersen, “HTPB Heat of Formation: Literature Survey, Group Additive Estimations, and Theoretical Effects,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 60, No. 3, 2022, pp. 1269-1282.
  • S. A. Alturaifi, O. Mathieu, and E. L. Petersen, “An Experimental and Modeling Study of Ammonia Pyrolysis,” Combustion and Flame, Vol. 235, 2022, 1