Douglas A. Lawrence joined the Ohio University faculty in 1991 upon earning his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. His teaching and research interests lie in the area of systems and control theory with application to aerospace control systems. He has authored or co-authored over 40 refereed journal and conference papers and one textbook.
Research Activities
Dr. Lawrence's research interests include linear and nonlinear control theory with aerospace applications. In 1992-93, Dr. Lawrence participated in the NASA-sponsored controller redesign study for the Hubble Space Telescope. In connection with his work on analytical gain scheduling, he participated in the AFOSR Summer Faculty Research Program in 1996 and 1997 and was awarded a Summer Research Extension Program grant following Summer 1996. In conjunction with his work on active flow control, he participated in the NRC Summer Faculty Fellowship Program in 2001 and 2004. He has also consulted for Austral Engineering & Software, Inc. on an Air Force sponsored Phase II SBIR contract involving wind tunnel testing and aerodynamic modeling for the X-45A UCAV developed by Boeing under the DARPA/Air Force UCAV Advanced Technology Demonstration program. Associated with his work on nonlinear and hybrid control systems, he was the technical lead on a NASA contract under the Space Launch Initiative program responsible for the design of a supervisory flight manager for integrated guidance, navigation, and control for reusable launch vehicles. He is currently collaborating with Austral Engineering & Software, Inc. on an Air Force sponsored Phase II SBIR contract focusing on on-line trajectory generation and integrated guidance and control for hypersonic vehicles. His current research focuses on nonlinear and hybrid systems theory with application to the design of complex hierarchical control systems for aerospace applications and on modeling of complex aerodynamic flow phenomena with application to the design of active flow control systems.
