Dr. Philip Flater has been employed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate since June 2004. He completed his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Florida State University through the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in 2003 and his MS degree in 2004. In 2015 he earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida.
Flater established the first metal additive manufacturing laboratory in the United States Air Force where he is currently the lead scientist. In this role he regularly collaborates with researchers from the U.S. Army, Department of Energy Laboratories (Los Alamos, Sandia and Lawrence Livermore), academia and industry.
In the early phase of his career, Flater worked on the characterization of metals when subjected to severe plastic deformation and extreme loading conditions. He also has expertise in high-rate mechanical testing and high-speed digital image correlation techniques for measuring deformation under dynamic loads. He has recently implemented the technique for characterization of structures under blast loads.
Throughout his professional career, Flater has supported the national policy for STEM objectives in higher education. He has sponsored numerous projects in the Senior Mechanical Engineering Design Course at FAMU-FSU Engineering and has hosted numerous students at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Munitions Directorate for summer internships. He has also served on multiple graduate committees for students at the Air Force Institute of Technology and is a member of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Mechanical Engineering Advisory Council.
Philip met his wife, Jill, at FSU. They live in Niceville, Florida with their three children, Jordan, Ian and Hannah.
In April 2018, Flater was recognized as a Rising Star Alumni by the College’s mechanical engineering department.