AME Seminar: Julie Parish

Abstract: Through the Autonomy for Hypersonics (A4H) Mission Campaign, Sandia National Laboratories is investing internal research funds to explore autonomous systems technologies to increase the warfighting utility of hypersonic weapon systems. A4H is a 6.5 year-long strategic initiative that will enable rapid mission planning for response to time-sensitive threats and develop technologies for highly adaptive vehicles that intelligently sense their environment, determine a course of action in real-time, and then robustly navigate, guide, and control to intended targets.

Autonomous systems are typically characterized using the “SENSE-THINK-ACT” loop for enabling autonomous operations. While today’s hypersonic flight systems are already autonomous, their operational relevance is significantly limited by their current abilities to perceive and adapt to their environment. A4H is working to enhance the SENSE-THINK-ACT loop to facilitate onboard intelligence, perception, and reasoning in hypersonic systems.  Research within the A4H portfolio has already begun to transition from proof-of-concept demonstrations to higher-level tech maturation. As the A4H team enters the second half of the Mission Campaign, we have successfully transitioned research projects to customer-funded test flights including an autonomous mission planning solution and robust, optimized vehicle control algorithms. 

This presentation provides an overview of Sandia’s vision for the future of autonomous hypersonics and how A4H is advancing key capabilities in support of this vision. The presentation will spotlight projects from the portfolio as well as highlight efforts for risk reduction and tech transition of next-generation algorithms, techniques, and tools to Sandia’s hypersonic mission space.

Bio:  Dr. Julie Parish leads the Autonomy for Hypersonics department at Sandia, where she has worked in-flight system research and development for over a decade. In her current role, Dr. Parish serves as the Campaign Manager for the Autonomy for Hypersonics (A4H) Mission Campaign, a large, multi-year Lab-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) portfolio aimed to advance the efficacy of the nation’s hypersonic warfighting capability. She also leads AutonomyNM, an initiative to foster collaboration between Sandia and national research partners that includes university partnerships, a new unmanned systems experimental facility, and a large student internship program.

Her previous position as a Principal Member of Technical Staff included efforts such as Principal Investigator of several Lab-Directed R&D projects in hypersonic vehicle guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) and as Technical Lead for development and testing of flight mission subsystems. In these dual roles, Dr. Parish was able to leverage several of her LDRD research efforts for implementation in high-impact national security missions. In her work supporting prototype vehicle flight experiments, Dr. Parish has served as Trajectory Generation Lead, Boost Guidance Lead, Attitude Control System Lead, and Navigation Subsystem Test Lead. She was also a key member of the Navy Flight Experiment 2 Design and Test Team that received the prestigious U.S. Department of Energy Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for their accomplishments in 2020. 

Prior to her tenure at Sandia National Labs, Dr. Parish completed her aerospace engineering graduate studies in dynamics, control, and estimation at Texas A&M University. She is active in the professional research community and has served on the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technical Committee (TC) for over ten years. In 2021, Dr. Parish was elected to be the GN&C TC chair for the May 2022 - May 2024 term. Dr. Parish also serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, with a focus on hypersonic vehicle flight mechanics and GN&C technologies. For her technical contributions to hypersonic flight, she was honored as an AIAA Associate Fellow.