U-M Aerospace Alumni Reach for the Stars with Prestigious Air Force Promotions
Dr. Seth Lacy and Dr. (Richard) Scott Erwin highlight how their time at U-M shaped their career
Two University of Michigan Aerospace Engineering alumni recently received promotions within the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and are working to continue innovating and revolutionizing space mobility and vehicles at the government level. Congratulations to Dr. (Richard) Scott Erwin, Chief Scientist at the Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory; and Dr. Seth Lacy, the Department of the Air Force’s Senior Scientist for Space Mobility and Precision Maneuver. Both have been promoted to the rank of Scientific and Professional Service (ST) cadre of senior executives within the Federal Government.
According to AFRL, Erwin and Lacy fill two of approximately 40 ST positions across the Department of the Air Force. They are two of five whose focus is on United States Space Force specific technical activities, although most of the ST’s focus on multidomain technologies which have space implications (Quantum, PNT, Human-Machine Teaming, Cyber, among others). ST positions are important because they involve research and development in critical fields and are filled by thought leaders in those fields. These personnel have influence resulting from their knowledge, demonstrated accomplishments and experience in the field, and whose information or opinion is reliable and assured.
Both Erwin and Lacy studied under Professor Dennis Bernstein while at U-M and both went on to work at the AFRL’s Air Force Material Command at the Kirtland Air Force Base. Throughout their academic journeys, Erwin and Lacy expressed interest in studying control theory and found Professor Bernstein’s lab had everything they needed to pursue their passions. From laboratory hardware to exciting experimentations, both discovered their fit at U-M.
“I was looking for a graduate school where I could go do controls and have some laboratory hardware to experiment with. Professor Bernstein had a pretty strong cadre of graduate students who were working on a bunch of different aspects of control theory and he had toys to play with in the lab, so I thought ‘How could you go wrong?’ And Scott was one of those existing graduate students,” Lacy reflected.
At the time, Lacy was going into his graduate studies while Erwin was preparing to graduate from the University of Michigan. Coincidentally, this meant Lacy would pursue follow-up research for Erwin’s work within the lab.
“When I ended up working with Dennis, people were very interested in building these very big space structures. What is now the James Webb Space Telescope was not even started yet in 1990, people were just thinking about it. A lot of those structures are very sensitive to vibration and you then have things on satellites that vibrate, wheels or what have you and they were looking at ways to use active controls to actually suppress the vibrations and quiet it down so it could take good pictures. That’s an area that Dennis did a lot of work in and that was the area that I ended up working on back then,” explained Erwin.
Similarly, both professionals credit the work they did in Professor Bernstein’s lab to their current career trajectory. Erwin further explained how – once graduated – the things he worked on at U-M directly correlated to the work he did at the start of his career at AFRL.
“It was truly an honor to advise Scott and Seth. They both had an incredible ability to work independently and forge productive research directions. Focusing on robust control, Scott developed new control techniques and applied them to an acoustic testbed for noise suppression. That work helped to establish control experiments as a vital component of control research, especially for discovering realistic challenges and motivating new techniques that theory alone might not suggest. Following in Scott’s footsteps, Seth designed a testbed for diagnosing backlash in a cable-driven aircraft linkage provided by Honeywell. That project motivated Seth’s research in nonlinear identification — building models to predict the behavior of physical systems. In the last two decades, nonlinear identification has become increasingly important for data-driven control,” said Bernstein.
Erwin also was in the pivotal position to bring students and interns into the organization, and one of those interns ended up being Lacy. Lacy would then continue his internships throughout various summers while studying at U-M, which ultimately led to him working there upon graduation.
Lacy and Erwin continued to reflect on some of their fondest memories during their time at U-M. Erwin highlighted the friends he made while working in the lab and how talking with other students on what the other was working on was always helpful and interesting. “Those friendships lasted a long time, I made some great friendships there and obviously it didn’t hurt my ability to have a good career,” said Erwin.
Lacy added, “I very much enjoyed my time at U-M and enjoyed working with Dennis Bernstein, it was terrific. He had a pretty robust graduate student pack.”
While both Erwin and Lacy have worked in different areas of AFRL as their careers progressed, both men retain strong ties to the inner workings of the organization, developed throughout their 20 – 30 year tenures. Reflecting on the steps taken throughout his career, Erwin explained how he started in large structural work and as time progressed followed his changing interests into new career opportunities.
“As time went on, my jobs and my interests kind of flowed into other areas. I have gotten to do a lot of experiments that we actually launched into orbit and get data back down from and eventually ended up getting sucked into technical management. I have ended up in jobs where I was giving a lot of PowerPoint briefings and dealing with a lot of money as opposed to a lot of equations, and then the job I have now is the Chief Scientist for our directorate which is about 600 government people, maybe 1,000 people if you end up with the onsite contractors.”
Lacy recaps a very similar progression, going from working in control and flight experiments to now being the Senior Scientist for Mobility and Precision maneuvering and flying and maneuvering things around space. “It is great to actually go and get things to fly in space. We have large-scale flight experiments which we usually have one or two going on at any given time and then we have some smaller ones that come in at a more rapid pace, so they both have their roles in the universe.” With various AFRL spaces around the country, Lacy highlights his ability to work with various moving parts and people all coming together to work on a common goal.
“There is so much activity going on in commercial space and at NASA. Space is very hot right now, there is so much opportunity which makes it a really a great time to be in the field,” commented Erwin. “At AFRL, we are proud to have a lot of opportunities for people who might want to join us in the laboratory. We are always looking for very bright, very sharp people who want to come and help make sure the US stays on top.”
No matter where they’ve gone in their careers, Erwin and Lacy maintain an appreciation for the relationships and education they gained at U-M.
“In subsequent years, I spent a few summers at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, where Scott and Seth morphed from my advisees to my supervisors,” said Bernstein.” Both of them maintained strong ties to Michigan, not only through technical collaboration, but more importantly due to family ties, since both of their spouses are Michigan natives.”