Professor Peter Jackson began his teaching career in January 1980, with a course in dynamic programming at the University of California, Berkeley. He taught his last class, in supply chain management, here at SUTD in April 2024. Over 45 years of teaching he has taught courses in cost accounting, engineering economics, design of manufacturing systems, systems and operations analysis, systems engineering, data analytics, probability and statistics, dynamic programming, simulation modelling, statistical and machine learning, and supply chain management. He loves to teach. “It is all about backtracking,” he says, “you start with a difficult concept and work backwards to find the simplest, most natural path forward to explain the concept.” Peter joined SUTD as Head of the Engineering Systems and Design (ESD) Pillar in July 2016 after an illustrious 37-year career at Cornell University where he retains the title of Professor Emeritus. He stepped down as Head of ESD pillar in August 2022 and served as Director at the Aviation Studies Institute (ASI) from 2019-2024.

During his tenure as Head of Pillar, Peter oversaw the evolution of the ESD undergraduate curriculum, including the introduction of our signature, client-facing Data and Business Analytics sophomore course and our core ESD course in design methodology, Engineering Systems Architecture. He made major contributions to course content in these courses as well as in Simulation Modelling and Analysis and Statistical and Machine Learning.

The Aviation Studies Institute, under Peter’s leadership, focuses on integrating systems engineering with aviation studies, promoting innovative research in areas such as air traffic network capacity and optimization. This research is crucial for enhancing the efficiency and safety of air traffic management, addressing challenges related to increasing air traffic demand and complex airspace environments. He was the Principal Investigator (PI) for several of the projects including studies in regional information-sharing and collaborative decision-making, and the development of software tools emerging from the research studies of other PIs, such as Nuno Ribeiro’s Terminal Manoeuvring Area Design Tool.

His last day of service with SUTD was 3 July 2024. Professor Peter Jackson will be retiring from full-time teaching and research and returning to the US. He will continue to serve as a Distinguished Visiting Professor for ASI and guide several of the ASI projects remotely.

Production planning and scheduling, multi-echelon inventory management, supply chain management, integrated production and transportation planning, graphical modelling systems, robust inventory optimisation, and methodologies for design and systems engineering.