Dr. Frank Peterkin is the Principal Director for Directed Energy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E)). In this role, Dr. Peterkin serves as the Department of Defense (DoD) Senior Official for Directed Energy, including High Energy Laser and High Power Microwave systems used for military applications. He coordinates across a Department-wide portfolio of roughly $1.5B/year of investments with a technology-driven and mission-focused approach to provide Directed Energy capabilities that solve operational problems and ensure the U.S. maintains technical dominance against any adversary. Dr. Peterkin is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the current and planned Directed Energy programs of each of the military departments, implementing technical standards and system architectures, and addressing integration issues covering multiple war fighting domains. As the DoD lead technical expert in Directed Energy, Dr. Peterkin works across DoD organizations and the Military Services to establish long-term technology investment strategies to achieve National Defense Strategy objectives.
Prior to joining OUSD (R&E), Dr. Peterkin served as a Navy civilian for more than 27 years. From 2017-2022 he was the Navy’s Senior Technologist for Directed Energy, a position in the Senior Professional cadre of the Federal Executive Service. In that role, he was the Navy’s National and International leader in the development of technologies, applications, and systems for Directed Energy and related Electric Weapons.
Dr. Peterkin serves on numerous committees, panels, and working groups for Directed Energy topics. Dr. Peterkin has published more than 50 papers in journals and conference proceedings and holds five patents. He is DAWIA SPRDE - SE Level III certified and a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was a National Merit Scholar as an undergraduate and completed his advanced degrees under a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. Dr. Peterkin has been recognized with numerous honors during his career, including the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award in 2018 and is a two-time recipient of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award (2007 and 2016).