Patrick L. Walter
Course Organizer
Dr. Walter was employed for 30 years at Sandia National Laboratories
in Albuquerque, NM. His first position was as a test engineer in environmental
testing, which encompassed shock and vibration. Subsequently, he worked
on instrumentation development for flight, field, and laboratory testing.
The majority of his tenure was spent managing various test activities
including experimental mechanics, test facility development, mass properties,
transducer calibration, measurement consulting, telemetry component development,
and inertial test system development. In the later part of his career
he managed a rocket launch facility in Kauai, HI and also developed launch
systems for flights from Sandia and NASA operated facilities. These rocket
activities supported the US Strategic Defense Initiative. His last assignment
involved establishing a program at Sandia under contract to the Federal
Aviation Administration to enhance the structural inspection of aging
transport and commuter aircraft.
In 1995, Dr. Walter joined the engineering department of Texas Christian University and has previously served as department chair. He established Test Measurements Engineering in 1996, a technical consulting firm in measurement system design. He also consults for major instrumentation companies. Dr. Walter has numerous publications, has served on and chaired DoD and DOE instrumentation committees, is contributing editor to the journals Sound and Vibration and Measurements & Control, and lectures nationally and internationally on measurement system design. He is the former Chair of the Transducer Committee of the InterRange Instrumentation Group (IRIG) of the U. S. National Test Ranges; a Senior Member of Instrument Society of America (chairs Blast, Shock, and Vibration in Aerospace Systems Division and Associate Director Education in Test Measurements Division); and member Society of Experimental Mechanics and American Society of Engineering Educators (Instrumentation Division). He is a licensed professional engineer in the state of New Mexico.