A Ten Year Outlook by Emily

A Ten Year Outlook by Emily - March 2020 Scholarship Essay

I plan to attend the University of Alabama at Huntsville to major in aerospace engineering and minor in optics because I aspire to help develop new aircrafts with innovative technology that allows for others to have the same experience and fuel similar passion that I have for flying. Once I graduate, I plan to pursue a career with the DoD because my family has a lengthy history of military service and I have a similar devotion to my country, and I aspire to help develop technology to be used in military combat or operations.

I plan on working with aviation and optical technology such as unattended ground sensors that are being developed by the US Army to autonomously detect the presence of enemy combatants and vehicles to alert us in advance. This technology is extremely interesting for its application in safeguarding troops and their positions. Optical technology will be instrumental for synthetic vision in future aircraft, particularly in the world of unmanned (autonomous) flight, where it will be relayed back to ground-stations. The Department of Defense uses multispectral optical systems on combat aircraft and ships to provide covert situational awareness, and identify and target enemy positions. Currently, defense industry engineers are in the works pursuing high-powered laser advancements to counter the emerging threat of combat drones in the air and on the battlefield. Autonomous laser systems combined with advanced optics will be instrumental in protecting aircraft in flight from drone attacks, as such threats will need to be detected, targeted, and destroyed faster than a human can react. Lasers are currently used on airborne platforms to assist in targeting and identifying enemies at long distances. To combat drone threats, lasers must become powerful but smaller, and more portable to traverse the battlespace. In aerospace engineering, optics are often found in advanced navigation systems, which is what I would be working to develop. For example light detection and ranging systems (LIDAR) provide extremely precise mapping of terrain and threats such as wires, towers, and mountains surrounding an aircraft. LIDAR systems are being developed for military helicopters to provide a “synthetic” view of landing zones, so pilots can control and land aircraft in heavy dust operation. The Army has lost more aircrew lives to dust clouds stirred up during landing attempts than to enemy fire. This is a direct example of how engineers are called to flush out and develop life saving technologies. Other technology, such as fiber optic gyroscopes (FOG) are used in inertial guidance systems, instrumental in piloting aircraft in 3D space. Laser optics provide communications across long distances where wires are not practical. There is currently a project being developed where our troops will use lasers to “talk” to the enemy by firing a laser at an object near them, and transmitting voice data. This could save lives if they can be convinced to surrender, which is exactly what I aspire to do.

I plan on continuing to work with the government or possibly other aerospace companies; however, my complete focus for my career path is following with the national defense industry. I will devote my career to developing new technology that will better the lives of our service members who are willing to give the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.