Robert D. White received BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999, and the PhD degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, in 2005.
He worked as a MEMS Test Engineer at Draper Laboratories, Cambridge, MA on MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers from 1999-2000. In 2005, he joined Tufts University, Medford, MA as an Assistant Professor of mechanical engineering. In 2011 he was promoted to Associate Professor. In 2013, Prof. White benefited from a 6 month sabbatical leave at NASA Ames Research Center in Experimental Aerophysics working on wind tunnel instrumentation. In 2019, he spent a sabbatical year at Draper working on MEMS sensors. His primary research interests are in the design, fabrication, modeling, and testing of sensing systems, particular microscale sensors, acoustic and ultrasonic devices, aerodynamic measurement technologies, and instrumentation for atmospheric planetary science. He teaches courses in system dynamics, controls, vibrations, acoustics, instrumentation, and solid mechanics. Since 2007, he has either directed, or served as the faculty advisor for, the Tufts Micro and Nano Fabrication Facility. He is the author of multiple technical publications and patents.
Prof. White received the Tufts Outstanding Contributor to Graduate Education Award in 2011, and the Faculty Teaching and Mentoring Award from the Engineering Graduate School in 2017. In 2022 he was elected an Associate Fellow of the AIAA. In 2023 he was elected as a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the ASA, a member of the Engineering Acoustics Technical Committee of the ASA, and a member of the Sensor Systems and Information Fusion Technical Committee of the AIAA.