FPE Faculty

Peter Sunderland Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Office: Rm. 3104E - J.M. Patterson Building Department of Fire Protection Engineering University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Phone: (301) 405-3095  Fax: (301) 405-9383 Email: pbs@umd.edu

Research Interests

Hydrogen safety, soot formation and oxidation in fires and flames, microgravity combustion and fire safety, vehicle fires, laminar diffusion flames, oxygen-enhanced combustion, and combustion diagnostics.

Education

• 1995 Ph.D. and M.S., Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• 1986 M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• 1983 B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca

Experience

• 2004- Assistant Professor, Department of Fire Protection Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park.
• 1996-2004 Staff Scientist and Research Associate, National Center for Microgravity Research and National Research Council, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland.
• 1991-1995 Research Fellow and Research Assistant, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
• 1988-1991 Senior Engineer, Northern Research and Engineering Division of Ingersoll-Rand, Woburn, Massachusetts.
• 1985-1987 Engineer, Pratt and Whitney Division of United Technologies, East Hartford.
• 1981-1982 Co-Operative Engineer, Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., New Castle, Delaware.

Honors and Awards

• Excellence in Oral Presentation, SAE World Congress, Detroit, 2007
• Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Educational Communications, Inc., 2007
• Finalist, Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, National Science Foundation, 2006
• Group Achievement Award, NASA Glenn Research Center, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2001, 1998
• Who’s Who in Engineering Education, Academic Keys, 2005
• Who’s Who in the World, Marquis, 2004
• Best-Paper Award, Northern Ohio Section of AIAA, 2003
• Research Excellence Award, National Center for Microgravity Research, 2003, 2001, 1999
• Who’s Who in America, Marquis, 2002, 2001
• Mentor of the Year, NASA Glenn Research Center, 1999
• Best-Paper Award, Combustion Institute Central States Meeting, 1996
• Engineering Excellence Award, Northern Research and Engineering Corporation, 1990

Memberships

• Senior Member, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Member, American Society for Engineering Education
• Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Member, Combustion Institute
• Member, International Association for Fire Safety Science
• Honorary Member, Salamander Fire Protection Engineering Honor Society
• Member, Sigma Gamma Tau National Aerospace Engineering Honor Society
• Member, Society of Fire Protection Engineers
• Member, Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society

Instruction

• ENES 100, Introduction to Engineering Design, 3 credits.
• ENFP 108, Hot Topics in Fire Protection Engineering, 1 credit
• ENFP 255, Fire Alarm and Special Hazards Design, 3 credits
• ENFP 300, Fire Protection Fluid Mechanics, 3 credits
• ENFP 310, Water-Based Fire Protection System Design, 3 credits
• ENFP 350, Professional Development Seminar, 1 credit
• ENFP 415, Fire Dynamics, 3 credits
• ENFP 630, Diffusion Flames and Burning Rate Theory, 3 credits

Publications

Journal Articles:

• K.M. Allan, J.R. Kaminski, J.C. Bertrand, J. Head, P.B. Sunderland, Laminar Smoke Points of Wax Candles, Combustion Science and Technology, accepted.
• M.S. Butler, C.W. Moran, P.B. Sunderland, R.L. Axelbaum, Limits for Hydrogen Leaks that Can Support Stable Flames, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, accepted.
• S.S. Krishnan, J.M. Abshire, P.B. Sunderland, Z.-G. Yuan, J.P. Gore, Analytical Predictions of Shapes of Laminar Diffusion Flames in Microgravity and Earth Gravity, Combustion Theory and Modeling, 12 (2008) 605-620.
• K.B. Lim, B.H. Chao, P.B. Sunderland, R.L. Axelbaum, A Theoretical Study of Spontaneous Ignition of Fuel Jets in an Oxidizing Ambient with Emphasis on Hydrogen Jets, Combustion Theory and Modeling, 12 (2008) 1179-1196.
• P.B. Sunderland, J.E. Haylett, D.L. Urban, V. Nayagam, Lengths of Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames under Elevated Gravity, Combustion and Flame 152 (2008) 60-68.
• J.D. Maun, P.B. Sunderland, D.L. Urban, Thin-Filament Pyrometry with a Digital Still Camera, Applied Optics 46 (2007) 483-488.
• K.J. Santa, B.H. Chao, P.B. Sunderland, D.L. Urban, D.P. Stocker, R.L. Axelbaum, Radiative Extinction of Gaseous Spherical Diffusion Flames in Microgravity, Combustion and Flame 151 (2007) 665-675.
• K.J. Santa, Z. Sun, B.H. Chao, P.B. Sunderland, R.L. Axelbaum, D.L. Urban, D.P. Stocker, Numerical and Experimental Observations of Spherical Diffusion Flames, Combustion Theory and Modeling 11 (2007) 639-652.
• C. Aalburg, F.J. Diez, G.M. Faeth, P.B. Sunderland, D.L. Urban, Z.-G. Yuan, Shapes of Nonbuoyant Round Hydrocarbon-Fueled Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames in Still Air, Combustion and Flame 142 (2005) 1-16.
• P.B. Sunderland, S.S. Krishnan, J.P. Gore, Effects of Oxygen Enhancement and Gravity on Normal and Inverse Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames, Brief Communication, Combustion and Flame 136 (2004) 254-256.
• P.B. Sunderland, D.L. Urban, D.P. Stocker, B.-H. Chao, R.L. Axelbaum, Sooting Limits of Microgravity Spherical Diffusion Flames in Oxygen-Enriched Air and Diluted Fuel, Combustion Science and Technology 176 (2004) 2143-2164.
• P.B. Sunderland, R.L. Axelbaum, D.L. Urban, B.H. Chao, S. Liu, Effects of Structure and Hydrodynamics on the Sooting Behavior of Spherical Microgravity Diffusion Flames, Combustion and Flame 132 (2003) 25-33.
• D.L. Urban, Z.–G. Yuan, P.B. Sunderland, K.–C. Lin, Z. Dai, G.M. Faeth, Smoke-Point Properties of Nonbuoyant Round Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 28 (2000) 1965-1972.
• K.–C. Lin, G.M. Faeth, P.B. Sunderland, D.L. Urban, Z.–G. Yuan, Shapes of Nonbuoyant Round Luminous Hydrocarbon/Air Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames, Combustion and Flame 116 (1999) 415-431.
• P.B. Sunderland, B.J. Mendelson, Z.–G. Yuan, D.L. Urban, Shapes of Buoyant and Nonbuoyant Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames, Combustion and Flame 116 (1999) 376-386.
• D.L. Urban, Z.–G. Yuan, P.B. Sunderland, G.T. Linteris, J.E. Voss, K.–C. Lin, Z. Dai, K. Sun, G.M. Faeth, Structure and Soot Properties of Nonbuoyant Ethylene/Air Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames, AIAA Journal 36 (1998) 1346-1360.
• F. Xu, P.B. Sunderland, G.M. Faeth, Soot Formation in Laminar Premixed Ethylene/Air Flames at Atmospheric Pressure, Combustion and Flame 108 (1997) 471-493.
• K.–C. Lin, P.B. Sunderland, G.M. Faeth, Soot Nucleation and Growth in Acetylene Air Laminar Coflowing Jet Diffusion Flames, Brief Communication, Combustion and Flame 104 (1996) 369-375.
• P.B. Sunderland, G.M. Faeth, Soot Formation in Hydrocarbon/Air Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames, Combustion and Flame 105 (1996) 132-146.
• P.B. Sunderland, Ü.Ö. Köylü, G.M. Faeth, Soot Formation in Weakly-Buoyant Acetylene-Fueled Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames Burning in Air, Combustion and Flame 100 (1995) 310-322, also in Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Volume 25.
• P.B. Sunderland, S. Mortazavi, G.M. Faeth, D.L. Urban, Laminar Smoke Points of Nonbuoyant Jet Diffusion Flames, Combustion and Flame 96 (1994) 97-103.
• T.R. Blake, H. Webb, P.B. Sunderland, The Nondimensionalization of Equations Describing Fluidization with Application to the Correlation of Jet Penetration Height, Chemical Engineering Science 45 (1990) 365-371.

Theses:

• P.B. Sunderland, Soot Formation in Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan, 114 pp. (1995). Advisor: G.M. Faeth.
• P.B. Sunderland, A Dimensional Analysis of Fluidized Bed Dynamics with Application to Jet Penetration Measurements, M.S. Thesis, University of Massachusetts, 78 pp. (1986). Advisor: T.R. Blake.
  

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