A-LiST Mentoring

Courtesy Photo | The SMART Scholar SEED Grant Program is sponsored by the SMART Program Office and the Laboratories and Personnel Office under the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. SEED Grant recipients receive research grants up to $100 thousand per year for up to a maximum of three years to help support promising SMART scholars establish a foundational research or engineering effort in their area of expertise as they transition from the pursuit of their Ph.D. to a DoD professional.  

ALEXANDRIA, VA, UNITED STATES

02.28.2022

Courtesy Story

SMART Scholarship Program

Good mentors get their mentees on the A-LiST. In the case of Linda Mullen, Ph.D., and David Illig, Ph.D., the A-LiST is Dr. Mullen’s Advanced Lidar Systems Team at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) in Patuxent River, MD. Together the mentor and mentee have designed state-of-the-art optical sensors to identify underwater threats for the Navy to maintain undersea dominance. Their collaborative work won the pair the 2021 SMART Scholars and Mentors of the Year award for a scholar in their Department of Defense (DoD) employment (Phase 3).

Dr. Mullen pioneered the new approach for enhancing laser imaging in poor visual environments prior to Dr. Illig’s arrival at NAWCAD. Her approach relies on encoding the laser intensity with a radar beacon to distinguish the return of an object from cluttered, or light scattered, environments.

Dr. Mullen mentored Dr. Illig during his SMART-funded Ph.D. pursuit at Clarkson University encouraging his research to enhance laser sensor performance. After completing his doctorate, Dr. Illig drastically improved the laser’s performance early in his career. He led the Laboratory Independent Research project to exploit the statistical differences between objects and clutter returns, reducing false alarms in underwater sensing. The paper highlighting Dr. Illig’s findings, co-authored by Dr. Mullen, won the best paper award at the 2018 International Society of Optics and Photonics Defense and Commercial Sensing Ocean Sensing and Monitoring Conference.

Simultaneously, Dr. Illig worked with Dr. Mullen on a Naval Innovative Science and Engineering (NISE) project to develop a prototype of the radar-encoded laser imaging system for laboratory testing. The team demonstrated enhanced performance compared to conventional techniques and was recognized by NISE as the 2018 project of the year.

Dr. Mullen and Dr. Illig then worked to transfer the radar-encoded laser imaging technology from the lab to the field by securing a Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop an imager compatible with an unmanned undersea platform. This effort earned the pair the 2018 Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientist and Engineers Award.

Dr. Illig continues to take the project to new depths, by learning and applying artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. Dr. Illig worked with a colleague to apply for a NISE project to institute machine learning techniques. He and his co-investigators demonstrated that artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques could detect objects that were otherwise completely obscured by cluttered environments. This research improved sensor accuracy by minimizing the likelihood of false alarms, while maintaining high detection rates. These advancements won Dr. Illig and his co-collaborator a 2020 NISE Basic and Applied Research Project of the Year.

Dr. Illig has fulfilled his SMART service commitment and remains dedicated to solving the most complex problems at NAWCAD. He is currently working to rebuild and modernize sensor codes for a non-acoustic anti-submarine warfare algorithm. Additionally, he is paying forward the mentorship he received from Dr. Mullen, serving as a mentor for graduate students and early career civil servants. He also reviews SMART scholarships applications, reviews proposals for the SMART SEED grant, and serves as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Maryland.

Dr. Mullen’s mentorship aided Dr. Illig in establishing himself as a leader and technical expert for the DoD. Both Dr. Illig and Dr. Mullen continue to build the future DoD STEM workforce through their mentoring. Their efforts earned Dr. Illig and Dr. Mullen recognition as a 2021 SMART Scholar and Mentor of the Year Award. For more information on the SMART Scholars and Mentors of the Year Award, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/news/411142/smart-scholarship-service-program-announces-scholar-and-mentor-year-awards.

• Date Taken: 02.28.2022
• Date Posted: 02.28.2022 12:06
• Story ID: 415411
• Location: ALEXANDRIA, VA, US