Doug Petkie

Biography

Dr. Petkie received his B.S. in Physics at Carnegie Mellon University and his Ph.D. in Physics at The Ohio State University. Following his Ph.D., he was a faculty member at Bluffton University, Ohio Northern University and a NASA Summer Faculty Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Since joining Wright State University in 2002, Doug has been active in many areas of the Department of Physics and across the WSU community. He enjoys teaching a wide range of courses from general education to the graduate level and has been involved in curricular development at several levels. He has been active in the development of STEM educational programs and has directed several programs that, in collaboration with academic, government and industry partners, provide undergraduate students in physics and other STEM fields with research opportunities to better prepare them for graduate school and the workforce. He is a member of the Faculty Senate, a graduate faculty member in the Environmental Sciences and Engineering PhD programs, been elected as a Physics Councilor for the Council on Undergraduate Research, and has chaired or served as a member on several departmental, college and university level committees. His interdisciplinary research interests include a wide range of basic and applied topics with a primary focus on the development of millimeter-wave and terahertz systems for sensing applications that utilize spectroscopy, imaging and radar techniques. Doug and his colleagues have been fortunate to receive funding from a variety of agencies that include the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Ohio Department of Development, the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Night Vision Laboratory, and several small companies through SBIR/STTR programs. In working with his colleagues at WSU, the Dayton region, and throughout Ohio, he helped establish a WSU Terahertz Research Cluster through two collaborative grants from the Ohio Board of Regents. Doug enjoys the rich and collaborative academic, research and service environment in the Dayton region that provides numerous opportunities for WSU students and he looks for to helping create additional opportunities in the future.

Research Interest

Research statement: Millimeter-wave to terahertz radar systems for the remote detection of vital signs, imaging for concealed weapon detection, non-destructive evaluation applications and sensor phenomenology. Laboratory spectroscopy of atmospheric and interstellar related molecules; Atmospheric physics and chemistry and laboratory astrophysics. Vibration-rotation analysis of molecular energy levels to model and predict experimentally observed spectra and analyze fundamental molecular interactions. Remote and in-situ sensing; Molecular recognition of gases. Microwave, millimeter-wave, submillimeter-wave and terahertz technology development. Multimodal and Layered sensing signatures (RF, millimeter-wave, THz, IR, EO, polarimetric and acoustical) Physics Education Research (PER) and Faculty Development.