Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”
Wise is a Senior Technical Fellow of advanced flight controls for Phantom Works, the advanced prototyping arm of the defense and security side of The Boeing Company.
Since joining McDonnell Aircraft in 1982, Wise has been actively involved in the application of modern estimation and control methodologies in navigation, guidance, and flight control problems. Wise’s position is the highest technical position within Boeing, and he is currently the director of vehicle management systems in the company’s rapid prototyping. Since 1996, he has served as an adjunct professor in electrical and systems engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.
His areas of specialty include: aircraft and missile flight control, vehicle management systems, missile guidance and control, robust control of linear systems, nonlinear and adaptive control, robustness theory for parametric and dynamic uncertainties, battle management and command and control, intelligent autonomous systems, and network centric operations.
Wise has collaborated extensively with MechSE Professor Naira Hovakimyan on research projects, publishing dozens of papers together on robust adaptive control. They were able to successfully transition the technology from the aerospace industry to other industries.
"Kevin told me years ago, when I was starting my first faculty job, that if I solve the problem of robustness and stability margins of nonlinear adaptive control, it will be a game changer for industry with long-lasting impact. He said that the industry is ready for it, and I committed to it. Today I know that it was absolutely true. Together we made history,” said Hovakimyan.
Wise and the newly elected class will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAE’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on September 30, 2018.