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Army Research Laboratory Technical Assessment Board Biographical Information

PRABHAT HAJELA, Chair, is the Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a visiting professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He served as the provost at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 2012–2022. His research interests include analysis and design optimization of multidisciplinary systems, system reliability, emergent computing paradigms for design, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in multidisciplinary analysis and design. Before joining Rensselaer, he worked as a research fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), for 1 year and was on the faculty at the University of Florida for 7 years. He has conducted research at NASA’s Langley and Glenn Research Centers and the Eglin Air Force Armament Laboratory. In 2003, Dr. Hajela served as a congressional fellow responsible for science and technology policy in the office of U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT). He worked on several legislative issues related to aerospace and telecommunications policy, including the anti-SPAM legislation that was signed into law in December 2003. Dr. Hajela is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a fellow of the Aeronautical Society of India, and a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Dr. Hajela has held many editorial assignments including editor of Evolutionary Optimization, associate editor of the AIAA Journal, and has served on the editorial board of six other international journals. He has published more than 300 papers and articles in the areas of structural and multidisciplinary optimization and is an author or co-author of 4 books in these areas. In 2004, he was the recipient of AIAA’s Biennial Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Award. Dr. Hajela received his undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering (1977) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He received master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University (1979) and in mechanical engineering from Stanford University (1981). He received a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University (1982) and conducted postdoctoral research at UCLA (1982–1983).

PAUL BEVILAQUA is a retired Lockheed Martin engineer who played a leading role in creating the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. He has also contributed to the technologies associated with the design and development of stealth aircraft. He invented the propulsion system for the vertical and/or short take-off and landing (VSTOL) aircraft variant and suggested developing U.S. Air Force (USAF) and Naval variants to create a common aircraft for all three services. He subsequently led the engineering team that demonstrated the feasibility of building these aircraft. His research interests have been largely stimulated by the challenges of developing powered lift systems intended to shorten the take-off and landing distances of fixed-wing aircraft, down to the limit of vertical take-off and landing. Consequently, his research has included the study of the thermodynamics of energy conversion for propulsion systems, including turbojet engines, ramjets, and thrust augmenting ejectors. He has also investigated the development of turbulent jets and wakes, in order to understand the fundamental mechanisms of turbulent mixing and entrainment and the jet-induced forces on aerodynamic surfaces. This has led to interests in computer-aided engineering and technical management, especially in applying the principles of lean manufacturing to engineering and design processes. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, he was the manager of advanced programs at Rockwell International’s Navy aircraft plant, where he led the design of

interceptor and transport aircraft. He began his career as an Air Force officer at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where he developed a powered lift system for a search and rescue aircraft. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and a fellow of AIAA. He is the recipient of the Guggenheim Medal, a USAF Scientific Achievement Award, AIAA and Society of Automotive Engineers Aircraft Design Awards, AIAA and Vertical Flight Society VSTOL Awards, and Lockheed Martin AeroStar and Nova Awards. He earned a BSc in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from Purdue University.

GEORGE (RUSTY) T. GRAY III is a laboratory fellow in the dynamic properties and constitutive modeling team within the Materials Physics and Applications Division in the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). He received his BS (1976) and MS (1977) from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He came to LANL following a 3-year visiting scholar post at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg in Hamburg, Germany, after his PhD in materials science in 1981 from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He conducts fundamental, applied, and focused programmatic research on high-strain-rate and shock deformation. He is a life member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, where he was on sabbatical in 1998. He co-chaired the Physical Metallurgy Gordon Conference in 2000. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), a fellow of ASM International (ASM), and a fellow of the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS). He is a member of APS, ASM, TMS, and serves on the advisory board of the European DYMAT Association. In 2010, he served as the president of TMS. Starting in 2012, he became the chair of the Acta Materialia board of governors, which oversees the publication of the journals Acta Materialia, Scripta Materialia, Acta Biomaterialia, and Materialia. He has authored or co-authored more than 490 publications. In 2017, he was elected to NAE. In 2018, he was awarded the Rinehart Award from the European DYMAT Association. In 2019, APS awarded him the 2019 George E. Duvall Shock Compression Science Award. In 2021, he was awarded the 2021 SDSM&T Distinguished Alumni Award. He was selected by ASM to receive the 2023 ASM Edward DeMille Campbell Lecture Award.

NAIRA HOVAKIMYAN is the W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering in the Advanced Controls Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Before joining the faculty of UIUC in 2008, she spent time as a research scientist at Stuttgart University in Germany, the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation in France and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), and she was on the faculty of aerospace and ocean engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during 2003–2008. Her research interests are in control and optimization, autonomous systems, machine learning, neural networks and game theory and their applications in aerospace, robotics, mechanical, agricultural, electrical, petroleum, biomedical engineering, and elderly care. In 2015, she was named the inaugural director for the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory of Coordinated Science Laboratory at UIUC. She has co-authored 2 books, 6 patents, and more than 400 refereed publications. She was the recipient of the SICE International scholarship for the best paper of a young investigator in the seventh International Society of Dynamic Games (ISDG) Symposium (Japan, 1996), the 2011 recipient of the AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, the 2015 recipient of the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award, the 2017 recipient of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Control Systems Society Award for Technical Excellence in Aerospace Controls, and the 2019 recipient of the AIAA Pendray Aerospace Literature Award. In 2014, she was awarded the Humboldt prize for her lifetime achievements. In 2015, she was awarded the UIUC Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising. She is a fellow and life member of AIAA, a fellow of IEEE, and a member of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the American Mathematical Society, SWE, ASME, and ISDG. She is the co-founder and chief scientist of IntelinAir. She received her MS in theoretical mechanics and applied mathematics in 1988 from Yerevan State University in Armenia. She received her PhD in physics and mathematics in 1992 from the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, majoring in optimal control and differential games.

MAHTA MOGHADDAM is a distinguished professor and the Ming Hsieh Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Southern California and the vice dean for research at the Viterbi School of Engineering. Previously, she was at the University of Michigan (2003–2011) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 1991 to 2003. Dr. Moghaddam’s research interests are in a variety of topics related to applied electromagnetics, including the development of advanced radar systems for environmental sensing and subsurface characterization, software-defined radar, mixed-mode high-resolution medical imaging techniques, and autonomous sensor webs for remote sensing data collection and validation. Each of these areas requires the development of state-of-the-art sensors as well as novel signal processing and physical models to characterize the sensors and their interaction with their intended environments. Her recent research includes the development of new radar technologies for subsurface and subcanopy characterization; forward and inverse scattering techniques for layered random media, especially for water resource characterization; geophysical retrievals using signal-of-opportunity reflectometry; and transforming concepts of radar to medical imaging and therapy systems. She has led numerous multi-disciplinary projects in these areas and has been a member of the science teams of several NASA missions. She has expertise in microwave sensing across the spectrum for environmental and biomedical applications. She was a systems engineer for the Cassini Radar and served as the science chair of the JPL Team X (Advanced Mission Studies Team). She is on the science teams of the NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System mission and the Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment. She was the principal investigator of the AirMOSS NASA Earth Ventures 1 mission. Dr. Moghaddam is a member of NAE. She received a BS in 1986 from the University of Kansas with highest distinction, and an MS and a PhD in 1989 and 1991, respectively, from UIUC, in electrical and computer engineering.

WILLIAM B. ROUSE is a research professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy and a senior fellow in the office of Georgetown University’s senior vice president for research. He is a researcher, educator, author, and entrepreneur. His previous positions include the Alexander Crombie Humphreys Chair in Economics of Engineering in the School of Systems and Enterprises at the Stevens Institute of Technology and professor emeritus in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. He also directs the Center for Complex Systems and Enterprises at Stevens. His earlier positions include executive director of the university-wide Tennenbaum Institute and chair of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of two innovative software companies—Enterprise Support Systems and Search Technology—and held earlier faculty positions at Georgia Tech, University of Illinois, Delft University of Technology, and Tufts University. His expertise includes individual and organizational decision-making and problem solving, as well as the design of organizations and information systems. In these areas, he has consulted with well over 100 large and small enterprises in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, where he has worked with several thousand executives and senior managers. His current research focuses on understanding and managing complex public–private systems such as health care delivery and urban systems and defense, with emphasis on mathematical and computational modeling of these systems for the purpose of policy design and analysis. He is a member of NAE. Among many advisory roles, he has served the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine as the chair of the Committee on Human Factors (now the Board on Human-Systems Integration) and as a member of the advisory committee for the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. He has served as a member of the USAF Scientific Advisory Board and the Department of Defense Senior Advisory Group on Modeling and Simulation. He has been designated a lifetime national associate of the National Research Council. Dr. Rouse received his BS from the University of Rhode Island and his SM and PhD from MIT.

WILLIAM A. SIRIGNANO is a Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Sirignano was a professor at Princeton University from 1967 to 1979. He was the George Tallman Ladd Professor and department head at CMU from 1979 to 1984, before becoming the engineering dean at the University of California, Irvine. He left the deanship and is currently a professor. His research and teaching interests have covered the topics of spray and droplet

science and technology, combustion, aerospace propulsion, combustion instability, noise suppression, and applied mathematics. His research accomplishments include analysis predicting periodic nonlinear oscillations with shockwaves in an unstable combustor; analysis of driving mechanisms for combustion instability in rockets and ramjets; explanation of the nonlinear fluid dynamics associated with Helmholtz resonators; determination of admittance for oscillatory, three-dimensional nozzle flows; theory for flame spread above liquid and solid fuels; theory for ignition of combustible gas by a hot projectile; resolution of turbulent flame and propagation in reciprocating and rotary internal combustion engines; theory of droplet vaporization and convective heating with internal circulation; computational methods for spray flows; theory of droplet interactions in a dense spray; liquid atomization theory; and miniature combustor technology. Dr. Sirignano is a member of NAE. He received a PhD in aerospace and mechanical sciences in 1964 from Princeton University.

JILL H. SMITH is a senior consultant with JHS Enterprises. She is the former director of the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (2010–2014). She was also the director of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Weapons and Materials Research Directorate (2001–2010), and the former division chief of ARL’s Ballistic and NBC Division (1998–2001). She previously served on the National Academies’ Panel of Assessment and Analysis (2010–2014). Ms. Smith earned a BS and an MS in mathematics from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.

LEVI T. THOMPSON is the dean of the College of Engineering and the Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD). Before joining UD, Dr. Thompson was the Richard Balzhiser Professor of Chemical Engineering and a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan. He also served as the associate dean for undergraduate education, director of the Hydrogen Energy Technology Laboratory, and director of the Michigan-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. Dr. Thompson’s research focuses on nanomaterials for catalytic and energy storage applications, and he is an author on more than 150 publications and co-inventor on more than 10 patents. He was elected as a member of NAE, is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and is the recipient of awards, including a 2006 Michiganian of the Year Award for his research, entrepreneurship, and teaching, and the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award. Dr. Thompson currently serves as an associate editor of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus and is on the editorial board of the Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Dr. Thompson is an experienced consultant and the co-founder and founding CEO of T/J Technologies, a developer of nanomaterials for advanced batteries (acquired by A123 Systems). He earned a BChe from UD in chemical engineering, an MS in chemical and nuclear engineering, and a PhD in chemical engineering both from the University of Michigan.

CHARLES THORPE is a professor of computer science at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. He served as Clarkson’s senior vice president and provost for a 5-year term from 2012–2017. Immediately prior to Clarkson, Dr. Thorpe served from 2011–2012 in the Office of Science and Technology Policy as the assistant director for robotics and advanced manufacturing. The bulk of his career was spent with CMU, where he was a PhD student in computer science, then served in the Robotics Institute as a faculty member and as the director (2000–2004). In 2004, he went to Doha Qatar as the inaugural dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar, from 2004–2010. Dr. Thorpe’s research area is robotics, specifically self-driving vehicles. His CMU group was a core part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Autonomous Land Vehicle program, the ARL’s series of unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) demos, and the Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems program. He is a fellow of the IEEE and has contributed to National Academies’ studies through the Transportation Research Board, the Naval Studies Board, and the Laboratory Assessments Board for previous ARL assessment studies.