Appendix A
Committee Biographies
William L. Melvin
Chair
Dr. William Melvin is the Deputy Director for Research at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Director of the Sensors and Intelligent Systems Directorate at GTRI, a University System of Georgia Regents’ Researcher, and an adjunct professor in Georgia Tech’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. His research interests include all aspects of sensor technology development, systems engineering, developmental planning, autonomous and intelligent systems, and machine learning. Dr. Melvin has authored numerous papers and reports in his areas of expertise and holds three U.S. patents on adaptive sensor technology. He is the co-editor of two of the three volumes of the popular Principles of Modern Radar book series. Among his distinctions, Dr. Melvin was chosen as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow for his contributions to adaptive radar technology, is a fellow of the Military Sensing Symposium, and was awarded the 2014 IEEE Warren White Award for outstanding achievement in the field of radar. Dr. Melvin has served on the Board on Army Science and Technology through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; the Air Force Studies Board study on developmental planning organized through the National Academies; and other committees sponsored by the National Research Council. Dr. Melvin received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Lehigh University, as well as M.S.E.E. and B.S.E.E. degrees (with high honors) from this same institution.
Jennifer Bernhard
Member
Dr. Jennifer T. Bernhard is the Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering and Director of the Illinois Applied Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned a B.S.E.E. degree from Cornell University in 1988 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Duke University in 1990 and 1994, respectively. Dr. Bernhard has been a faculty member specializing in applied electromagnetics in the Electromagnetics Laboratory in the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois since 1999, and served as the Associate Dean for Research in the Grainger College of Engineering from 2012 to 2019. Her academic research group focuses on the development and analysis of multifunctional reconfigurable antennas and systems, as well as high-security physical layer-based modulation schemes. Dr. Bernhard is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow and a Defense Science Study Group alumna, and a former member of the IEEE Board of Directors (2017–2018) and the American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Research Council Executive Board (2016–2019). She previously served as a member of the external review panel for the Radar Division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (2010), the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology working group on Government-Held Electromagnetic Spectrum (2011–2012), and an assessment committee for the National Science Council (2015). Dr. Bernhard currently serves as the chair of the Engineering Review Committee for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and on the Board of Directors for IEEE-USA.
Benjamin Karlson
Member
Mr. Benjamin Karlson has been a member of the Wind Energy Technology Department at Sandia National Laboratories since 2007. During this time Mr. Karlson has been involved with many projects that addressed wind energy power system integration, wind turbine reliability, and transmission planning. He currently leads the Wind Turbine Radar Interference Mitigation Working Group (WTRIM) activities for Sandia. The WTRIM effort is a multi-federal agency effort aimed at developing solutions that allow the continued deployment of wind energy while maintaining the nation’s air space missions. Prior to joining Sandia, Mr. Karlson worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as an expert witness in electric rate filings. Mr. Karlson has a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico and an M.S. in electrical engineering from New Mexico State University, and was a registered Professional Engineer in New Mexico.
Hao Ling
Member
Dr. Hao Ling is the L.B. Meaders Professor Emeritus in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His areas of research include antennas, wave propagation, and radar. Dr. Ling received his B.S. degrees in electrical engineering and physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1983 and 1986, respectively. He was on the faculty at the University of Texas for 31 years. From 2015 to 2017, he was also a program director at the National Science Foundation, and managed the Communications, Circuits, and Sensing Systems program. Dr. Ling was the lead principal investigator of a 2013 Department of Energy–funded study to assess the effect of offshore wind farms on sea surface, subsurface, and airborne electronic systems. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Andrew McGovern
Member
Captain Andrew McGovern has worked at the forefront of key issues affecting maritime safety for decades: technology, licensing, medical, navigation, and accident investigation issues as well as local, national, and international regulatory and legislative processes. Capt. McGovern served as President of the Pilots Association for six terms and is continuing to serve as the long-time
Chair of the New York/New Jersey Harbor Safety Committee. He also served on the Port of New York/New Jersey Area Maritime Security Committee and the New York City Mayor’s Waterfront Management Advisory Board. At the national level, Capt. McGovern has worked with agencies affecting the marine transportation sector—including serving on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (almost 20 years as chair). He was also a member of the National Academies Transportation Research Board’s Maritime Safety and Human Factors Committee. Internationally, Capt. McGovern has served on many delegations to the International Maritime Organization and several to the International Labor Organization addressing issues such as Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code, the Maritime Labor Convention, and the International Ship and Port Security Code.
John Stone
Member
Commander John Stone, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.), has more than 20 years of experience in marine navigation as an active-duty U.S. Coast Guard Officer, and an operational perspective on marine vessel radar operation. He holds a 100-ton Merchant Mariner license and has significant experience as a marine radar operator in multiple locations and climates. In his current role as a Marine Transportation Specialist at U.S. Coast Guard headquarters, Mr. Stone manages federal regulations pertaining to navigation safety and ship carriage requirements, and participates in Navigation Safety Risk Assessments associated with wind energy and other Offshore Renewable Energy Installation development. Previously, he also served as an assistant professor of mathematics at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Mr. Stone is a U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduate and holds an M.S. in computer science and an M.B.A. from the University of Rhode Island.
