Aeronautics Expert Becomes Head of Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Edward White has joined The University of Texas at Dallas as professor and department head of mechanical engineering and holder of a Jonsson School Chair in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.

White was most recently an associate department head and professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University, where he helped oversee the reconstruction, commissioning and operation of the Klebanoff-Saric Wind Tunnel and directed the Oran W. Nicks Low-Speed Wind Tunnel.

"Ed is a great blend of the academic and administrative skill sets," said Dr. Stephanie G. Adams, dean of the Jonsson School, holder of the Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair and professor of systems engineering. "He is someone who understands breakthroughs in research can only come from an environment designed to foster collaboration, learning and understanding. He's demonstrated this again and again through his own research, which focuses on wind-tunnel experiments on boundary layer stability, transition and related areas. I believe Ed will be a superb listener, fair executive and an advocate for all students, staff and faculty in his department."

White said he was drawn to the Jonsson School and its mechanical engineering department by UT Dallas' "dynamic regional presence," as well as its growing national reputation. The department has more than 40 faculty members, about a quarter of whom have earned National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) awards. In 2022-23, the department granted more than 300 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.

"The department here is growing very rapidly, and there's a lot of potential to achieve great things," White said. "It's amazing how quickly the Jonsson School and the Department of Mechanical Engineering have achieved such quality and reached this size in only about 15 years. I am excited to help take the next steps forward in quality and reputation and in what we're able to deliver to students and our research and community partners.

"I am excited to help take the next steps forward in quality and reputation and in what we're able to deliver to students and our research and community partners. Creating an environment where each individual can do their best work is my goal."

Dr. Edward White, professor and department head of mechanical engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science

"Creating an environment where each individual can do their best work is my goal."

White joined Case Western Reserve University in 2000 as an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Over the next six years, he designed two wind tunnels to study boundary-layer transition and aircraft icing drop runback, with funding from the U.S. Air Force, NASA and the National Science Foundation. He moved to Texas A&M as an associate professor in 2007 and continued to secure research funding from a variety of public and private entities.

He has served in multiple roles for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and has been cited more than 2,500 times in the fields of aerodynamics, aerodynamic design and experimentation. He was named an AIAA Associate Fellow and served on the AIAA Fluid Dynamics Technical Committee, among other accomplishments.

"My research is focused on trying to understand, then predict and ultimately reduce the amount of drag on an aircraft configuration," White said. "In other words, how can we produce the same amount of lift that we need to carry an airplane but do it more efficiently?"

White earned a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from Case Western Reserve University. He completed his PhD in aerospace engineering in 2000 from Arizona State University.