Biography
Dr. Alan H. Epstein is vice president of Technology and Environment at Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp. (UTC) company and a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. Dr. Epstein is responsible for setting the direction for and coordinating technology across the company as it applies to product performance and environmental impact. He leads Pratt & Whitney’s efforts to identify and evaluate new methods to improve engine performance and fuel efficiency for all new Pratt & Whitney products.
Prior to joining Pratt & Whitney, Epstein was the R.C. Maclaurin Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and currently holds an appointment there as professor emeritus. Further, he became the director of the MIT Gas Turbine Laboratory. His research at MIT included gas turbines, energy, rocket propulsion,
and micro-mechanical and electrical systems (MEMS).
Epstein has over 140 technical publications and has given about 200 plenary, keynote and invited lectures around the world. He has won international awards for his work in heat transfer, turbo-machinery, instrumentation and controls, gas turbine technology and MEMS. This includes four American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) best paper awards and the ASME Gas Turbine Award, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Dryden Lectureship in Research, the International Gas Turbine Institute Gas Turbine Technology Award, and the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute Turnbull Lectureship. Dr. Epstein was the ASME IGTI Gas Turbine Scholar in 2003.
Currently, Dr. Epstein is a member and past Chair of the Aerospace Section of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Epstein is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Keynote Presentation – Not Available.