Erik Knudsen is a new associate teaching professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
After finishing graduate school at the University of Florida in 2006, he joined Northrop Grumman in Baltimore, Maryland. Following a brief stint within the professional development program, he settled on a permanent position at Northrop Grumman Undersea Systems in Annapolis, Maryland. His primary duties included structural design and analysis, corrosion and systems engineering.
In 2010, Erik departed Northrop Grumman and spent six years working as a contract engineer providing on-site support at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He performed failure analysis and conducted environmental fracture toughness testing on corrosion-resistant alloys found in critical applications.
From 2016-2022 Erik worked as an associate professor within the mechanical engineering department at George Mason University (GMU). GMU’s mechanical engineering department was established in 2014 and Erik was among the first group of professors hired to create the program and become accredited. At GMU, Erik taught 11 different engineering classes such as statics, mechanics of materials, materials science, machine design, and introductory courses in MATLAB and computer-aided design (CAD).
As a member of the CU Boulder aerospace faculty, Erik will teach classes and serve on committees tasked with shaping curriculum and maintaining the program's accreditation. He is an active member of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and serves on committees related fatigue and fracture testing.
He is excited to join the team at CU Boulder and looks forward to aiding students in their quest to obtain a degree in aerospace engineering.