MAE Seminar: Kevin Wise

Kevin A. Wise, Ph.D.

Senior Technical Fellow
The Boeing Company, St. Louis, Missouri

Autonomous Systems and Progress in the Adaptive Control Applications

Location: Scott Lab E525
Simulcast: ARC 100

Kevin A. Wise, Ph.D.
Dr. Wise is a Senior Technical Fellow, Advanced Flight Controls, in the Phantom Works division of The Boeing Company, is President and CEO of Innovative Control Technologies, LLC, and is a Chief Advisor at Kelda Drilling Controls in Norway. He received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1980, 82, and 87, respectively. Since joining Boeing in 1982, he has developed vehicle management systems, flight control systems, and control system design tools and processes for advanced manned and unmanned aircraft and weapon systems. Some recent programs include KC-46 Tanker boom, Dominator UAS, Phantom Eye Hydrogen Powered UAS, QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target, X-45 J-UCAS, X-36, and JDAM. His research interests include intelligent autonomy and battle management, aircraft dynamics and control, robust adaptive control, optimal control, robustness theory, and intelligent drilling solutions. He has authored more than 100 technical articles and seven book chapters; he has published a textbook titled Robust and Adaptive Control Theory, with Aerospace Examples; and he teaches control theory at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Wise is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, is an IEEE Fellow, and Fellow of the AIAA.

Abstract
This presentation will discuss autonomous systems in aerospace, and recent progress in the development and fielding of adaptive control systems. Autonomous systems have secured a unique and expanding role in commercial and defense applications. They are changing our world. The talk will discuss some of the history that has led us to where we are today, and some of the new systems and challenges we face going forward. Aerospace and the oil and gas industries offer some of the greatest control challenges faced by the control community. Unstable, non-minimum phase system dynamics, and models that are highly uncertain and expensive to learn/measure. This talk will also present some recent progress in developing and using robust and adaptive control methods for flight and drilling operations.

Hosted by Dr. Rama Yedavalli, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.