Peters began her career in 1978 as program coordinator of the Environmental Studies Institute and as an advisor in energy and environment research and policy issues at the New York University Office of Academic Affairs. She then spent six years as a senior research scientist and program director/policy analyst for the Center for Science and Technology Policy, Graduate School of Business Administration, also for New York University. She joined Rensselaer's School of Management in 1986 as a senior research scientist in the Center for Science and Technology Policy and as an assistant professor in the Department of Managerial Policy and Organization. From 1990 to 1998 she served as associate director for the Center for Science and Technology Policy and in 1999 was promoted to director. She also was named director of the Lally School of Management and Technology Doctoral Programs. For five months in 1992, Peters was a visiting professor at the Max-Planck-Institut für Gessellschaftsforschung, contributing to their studies on technological innovation and learning their approaches to network analysis. She also served from 1982 to 1993 as an adjunct professor for New York University's Applied Science Department.

As a member of the Board of Governors, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Engineering Management Society and Vice President conferences, Peters organized two international conferences and shepherded a process to institute annual International Engineering Management Society (IEMS) conferences. She will bring the IEMS conference to Rensselaer in 2003. In 2000, the organization awarded Peters with an IEEE Millennium Medal.

Peters has been an invited speaker in Japan, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the European Community (EC), among other places. As graduate programs chair, Peters is actively engaged in revising and enhancing Lally School's Management and Technology Master's of Business of Administration and doctoral program. She is past board member of the International Trade and Finance Association. Peters is an editor of Global Economy Quarterly. Her 1982 study, "Current U.S. University/Industry Research Connections," published by the National Science Foundation, marked the beginning of a research stream and consultancy on the role of the university in industrial innovation. In addition her 2000 co-authored book, Radical Innovation: How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts, published by Harvard Business Press, also represents a continuing research stream and consultancy.

For more than two decades, she has focused on policy implications of research and technology partnering among and between multinational firms, entrepreneurial small firms and universities.

Professor Peters’ current areas of interest lie in identifying key practices, core resources, and characteristics of socio-economic dynamics shaping business decisions regarding investment in, and commercialization of, emerging technologies. She continues to be an active member of the Radical Innovation Program which began in 1995 and is now in its second phase. Two additional ongoing projects include a long-term study of the globalization of R&D and a study of cyber aggression. She is co-author of Radical Innovation: How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts (Harvard Business Press).

As a member of the Board of Governors, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Engineering Management Society, and past Vice President of Conferences, Peters has organized two international conferences. She will bring the International Engineering Management Conference (IEMC) to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2003. In 2000, the organization awarded Peters with an IEEE Millennium Medal. She is currently president-elect of the International Trade and Finance Association.

Dr. Peters has participated in numerous conferences focusing on technology policy and management of innovation. For five months in 1992, Peters was an invited visiting professor at the Max-Planck-Institute für Gessellschaftsforschung, contributing to their studies on technological innovation and learning their approaches to network analysis.