Jim Dorr (known by friends and family as “Duke”) is a retired engineer who contributed greatly to the aerospace field over his long and distinguished career. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering (1956) and a M.S. in Applied Mechanics (1968) from Washington University in St. Louis. Jim worked for McDonnell Douglas for 39 years before retiring in 1995 to start his own professional engineering consultation company, Duke Engineering Group Inc. Throughout his career, Jim Dorr worked to advocate diversity in the workplace and to advance the careers of the people who worked with him, including women and minorities.
While working at McDonnell Douglas, Jim held the position of Director of Advanced Materials and Structures. He contributed to numerous projects including work on aircraft such as the F-4, F-15, F/A-18, and the AV-8B and work on spacecraft including Gemini, the Space Shuttle, planetary vehicles, as well as work on simulators and advanced missiles. During his career Jim pioneered the application of AI and neural networks to advanced materials and structures and to advanced manufacturing technology.
Notably, Jim Dorr was also one of the very first recipients of the McDonnell Douglas Spirit of Excellence award which he received in 1989 for many outstanding contributions to his field. Among these contributions was the development of automated fiber placement of thermoset and thermoplastic composites. Jim also pioneered the use of metal matrix composite structures, particularly titanium (TMC) and aluminum (AMC), on advanced fighter aircraft and spacecraft. Prior to his position as Director of Advanced Materials and Processes, he was the head of the Structural Research Department at McDonnell.
In 1995, Jim Dorr retired from his position at McDonnell Douglas, just before the company was acquired by Boeing. In that same year he formed Duke Engineering Group Inc., which provided engineering consulting services to aerospace and commercial companies, universities, and research institutes. Duke Engineering Group also provided engineering support to Department of Defense and NASA programs. Some of the project’s that Jim’s company supported include the NASA High Speed Research program, the Navy Intelligent Processing Center, and the Navy Composite Storage Module program.
Another of Jim’s notable roles in his career include serving on the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes Composites Consortium and Zoltek. He participated in the development of advanced proprietary technologies to both improve the energy efficiency as well as lower the manufacturing cost for carbon fiber and carbon-carbon.
Jim has been considered a leader in the application of aerospace materials and structures technology to other areas such as submarines and civil structures. His work reflects an expansive list of areas of expertise including program management, integrated product and process development, design, materials and processes, producibility, structural research, loads, dynamics, weights, planning and administration, advanced manufacturing technology, tooling, quality, information technology, supportability, and testing.
Although Jim Dorr has since retired from his work as an engineer, his passion for aerospace science and technology has not dulled and he actively keeps up with all the latest breakthroughs and trends.