Peter Hamlington
Associate Professor Peter Hamlington is the new chair of the Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Hamlington was elected to the position by the mechanical engineering faculty. He succeeds Professor Mike Hannigan, who is stepping down after 7 years of service.
“I look forward to serving in this leadership role and continuing the great work that Mike was able to accomplish,” Hamlington said. “The top priority for me is to support our faculty, staff and students as they continue their exceptional work in the lab, the classroom and our community. I hope to be able to expand the reach and recognition of our department in the next few years as well.”
Hamlington has been a member of the mechanical engineering faculty since 2012 and has held a Vogel Faculty Fellowship since 2013. He also serves as a faculty member for the Environmental Engineering Program and holds a joint appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Prior to being elected as chair, he served as the associate chair for the mechanical engineering graduate program. The department has honored him for excellence in service and graduate education in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
Hamlington’s research uses large-scale numerical simulations on high performance computing systems to better understand turbulent flows, wildland fires, ocean biogeochemistry and much more. He won a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2019 to study the structure and dynamics of highly turbulent premixed combustion. He earned both his masters and PhD from the University of Michigan in aerospace science after completing his undergraduate work in physics at the University of Chicago.
As chair, Hannigan led the department through the COVID-19 pandemic and was part of the historic naming process that included a $15 million gift from Colorado philanthropist and businessman Paul M. Rady. That gift has improved facilities and launched the engineering partnership program between Western Colorado University and CU Boulder.
Hamlington officially started his position on July 1, 2022.