Speaker Interview: Peter Lee, Chief Tribologist at Southwest Research Institute
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Meet Peter Lee, Chief Tribologist at Southwest Research Institute and a featured speaker at Lubricant Expo & The Bearing Show North America 2025.
In this insightful interview, Peter shares his journey from motor mechanic to industry leader, discusses ground-breaking tribology innovations, and explores the challenges of future fuels and their impact on lubricants. Read on to discover his expert insights and what he’s looking forward to at the event!
Tell us a bit about yourself and how you become an engineer and chief tribologist at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).
When I left school, I trained as a motor vehicle mechanic and worked as such for several years. I became frustrated with the lack of design for servicing and repairs and having to remove an engine to do a timing belt was the last straw! I enrolled for a degree in Automotive Engineering at the University of Leeds in the UK with the aim of going into motor vehicle design. However, when I took the Tribology module, I changed my mind and focussed on Tribology. I found some of the courses hard, for example math, but Tribology I found came naturally to me.
When I finished my degree, I was fortunate to be offered a PhD in lubricant degradation in the internal combustion engine funded by Shell and Infineum and obtained my Engine Tribology PhD in 2006. After being successful in applying for a competitive Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship, I stayed at Leeds for a further 5 years continuing my research into Engine Tribology and mentoring students, lecturing, and supervising PhD students in the field.
As that 5-year post came to an end, I started looking for another position and received some good offers. One was the invitation to move to San Antonio in Texas to establish the Tribology Research and Evaluation section and I am now in my 14th year with Southwest Research Institute. In that time the section has grown significantly, and we now have a second and third Tribologist on staff, making me the Chief Tribologist. There is a story behind the title Chief – you can ask me when you introduce yourself.
What are some of the highlights of your career?
Every major career step has been a highlight. Being offered the opportunity to do a PhD. Being successful in my application for a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship and being invited to Southwest Research Institute. I have had other highlights, including mentoring staff through degree programs into more important roles within the Tribology group, as well as becoming a Fellows of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Tribology and Lubrication Engineers. Being asked to be on the Board of Directors for STLE was also an honour.
What are SwRI’s tribology group priorities for the years ahead? Are there any recent or upcoming projects you can talk about?
Our priorities will remain the same as they have for the past 13 years – provide our clients with answers to their questions that are meaningful and based on high quality tribology testing. We undertake many fascinating and challenging projects for a broad ranch of industries – automotive, aerospace, down hole, data for wear and friction predication models, cosmetics, and food stuff to name some. Working from liquid nitrogen to 1300C up to high loads and pressures at times makes the labs an interesting place to be.
We cannot talk about specific client projects but we can talk about our internal research and development work. Most recently we have been working with instrument manufacturers to electrify their rigs – pass an AC or DC current though the test components to enable testing for electric vehicle fluids, materials, and coatings. We have also been investing in adapting the tribometers we have to be able to test for alternative fuels such as Methane, Ammonia, Hydrogen etc.
You are moderating the sessions on future fuels and their impact on lubricant requirements and formulation. Why is it important for the industry to come together and discuss this issue?
Much like electric vehicles, future fuels have unique challenges for lubricants. We know some of them, but we don’t know all of them, and even where we do, we don’t have all the solutions. At this early stage it is important for industry and researchers to come together and discuss and educate each other. Especially in a field that needs to move quickly. Once a body of knowledge is available, then industry can work on their individual solutions.
What are you most looking forward to at Lubricant Expo and The Bearing Show North America?
Learning from one another as well as meeting old and new friends and collaborators. I am not looking forward to the cold weather!
Peter will be speaking at Lubricant Expo & The Bearing Show North America 2025 in the sessions ‘Future Fuels and Their Impact on Lubricant Requirements’ and ‘Formulation and Application Development for Future Fuels’, both on Day 1 of the event, March 18th at Huntington Place, Detroit MI. Register now to attend for free!