David A. Peters

United States of America

 

From Leadership Profile: Vertiflite, July/August 2016

Dr. David A. Peters is McDonnell Douglas, Professor of Engineering, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Structural Engineering, Washington University St. Louis, MO.  He has a B.S. (1969) and M.S. (1970) from Washington University and Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1974.  His field of expertise is Dynamics, Vibration, Aeroelasticity, Applied Aerodynamics, Rotary-Wing Systems.

Professor Peters first joined the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) in 1975. Prior to that, he was an associate engineer at McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. in St. Louis from 1969-1970 and a research scientist in the Army Air Mobility R&D Laboratory from 1970-1975. 

Professor Peters left WashU to join the faculty of Georgia Tech in 1985 but returned in 1991. Professor Peters served as the Chair of the WashU Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1982-1985 and from 1997-2007.
Currently, Professor Peters is the Associate Director of Georgia Tech/Washington University in St. Louis Center of Excellence for Rotor Technology. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgia Tech.  Peters' research projects in rotor wake modeling seek to correctly model the dynamics and aerodynamics that profoundly influence the response of airplane propellers, helicopters and tilt rotors. His other research interests include aeroelastic modeling of helicopter rotors and wind turbines with unsteady aerodynamics and nonlinear structural deformations and response to stalling.

Additionally, Professor Peters is the recipient of the following awards: Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship of AHS International (the Vertical Flight Technical Society), 2008 for his lecture "How Dynamic Inflow Survives in the Competitive World of Rotorcraft Aerodynamics"; Reed Aeronautics Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2011; Spirit of St. Louis Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2013.  Peters received AHS Honorary Fellow Award in 2017.