Peter G. Simpkins, University Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in Syracuse University’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).
The APS Fellowship Program was created to recognize members who have made advances in physics through original research and publication, made significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology, or made significant contributions to the teaching of physics or service and participation in the activities of the society. Each year, no more than one half of 1 percent of the society membership is recognized by their peers for election to the status of fellow.
Simpkins was elected a fellow for incisive analytical and experimental studies of two-phase flows, natural convection and various aspects of electro-optical materials processing.
“Professor Simpkins has made seminal contributions to diverse areas of engineering, and has had significant impact on our department,” says Achille Messac, Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “This is a richly deserved recognition.”
Simpkins joined the SU community in 2002, and retired in 2007 as University Professor Emeritus. His primary research interests are in applied mechanics in general, and in fluid mechanics in particular.
His engineering career began at Handley Page Aircraft Co. in his native England, where he worked as an apprentice. He was a scholar at the von Karman Institute in Belgium and a NATO Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Simpkins earned a Ph.D. in aeronautics at Imperial College of Science and Technology in London.
Subsequently, he worked on ballistic missile research for AVCO Corp. in Boston before joining Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey. There, he carried out research in electronic materials processing and fiber optics technology. He holds numerous patents for his work in fiber optics, for which he was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 1999. He has also worked on several NASA review boards and is a reviewer for numerous journal articles.
Upon hearing of his election Simpkins remarked, “I am delighted that my work has been recognized by the Fluid Mechanics community of the American Physical Society. It is a singular honor for me.”
Simpkins is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
