Three AFRL researchers combine for 88 years of human-centric experience

  • Published
  • By Staff Reports
  • Human Effectiveness Directorate
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO --  When they departed the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Effectiveness Directorate recently after highly successful careers, three researchers-- Mr. Robert "Bob" Lee, Dr. Grant R. McMillan, and Dr. Glenn F. Wilson--took with them more than 88 years of experience in human-centric research.

A retirement reception was held April 26 at the Holiday Inn Fairborn for the three long-time civil service employees and groundbreaking researchers. Each received an Outstanding Civilian Career Service Award in recognition of his distinguished service as a civilian with the United States Air Force.

Mr. Lee worked at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from 1974 to 2007, with most of his work devoted to understanding the generation, propagation, control and mitigation of the acoustic energy produced from military aircraft.

He helped design a comprehensive strategy to enable the Air Force to scientifically address the impacts of noise on people, animals and structures. As part of this effort, he was appointed the Air Force representative on a number of important committees, including the newly established DoD Environmental Noise Working Group, which was tasked with identifying and addressing upcoming noise issues that would significantly restrict military operations worldwide, and the Federal Interagency Committee on Noise, which was responsible for recommending joint noise policies across all federal agencies.

In October 1998, Mr. Lee was selected to lead the newly formed Battlespace Acoustics Branch during the establishment of the Air Force Research Laboratory, where he helped enhance the Battlespace Acoustics Branch reputation as a world leader in acoustic research.

Dr. McMillan's civil service career spans the timeframe from 1976 to April 2007. His early research focused on understanding and modeling the effects of flight simulator characteristics on pilot performance and learning.

He authored two landmark textbooks on human performance modeling, Applications of Human Performance Models to System Design, and A Directory of Human Performance Models for System Design. These textbooks are significantly referenced in the literature today and reflect his research and experience during his tenure at WPAFB. In 1985, Dr. McMillan was awarded the Fitts Human Engineering Award.

Beginning in 1999 Dr. McMillan served as chief of the Collaborative Interfaces Branch of the Warfighter Interface Division of AFRL where he directed a multidisciplinary program involving 30-plus scientists, engineers, and other professionals.

Dr. McMillan personally connected his branch's research with major initiatives such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Augmented Cognition program, and oversaw the transition of anthropometric measurement tools, human-machine interface design guides, speech interface technology and cognitive workload measurement technology to USAF and other service users.
 
Dr. McMillan published over 70 journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, and government technical reports. He significantly enhanced the state-of-the art in human performance modeling, flight simulator technology, alternative controls, and the application of neuroscience to the enhancement of warfighter performance.

Dr. Wilson's career began in 1985 and he retired effective the end of March. He significantly advanced the theoretical foundations of psychophysiological measurement and pioneered the concept of operator functional state--the capacity to perform specific cognitive tasks.

He identified sensitive, stable, and interpretable measures; developed sensor technologies to collect these measures; refined artifact recognition and correction algorithms; developed real-time pattern recognition and classification methods, and led the operational application and interpretation of these techniques.

Dr. Wilson's early work demonstrated that a very limited number of electroencephalogram , heart, and eye activity sensors could produce meaningful measures of an operator's functional state. With these discoveries in hand, Dr. Wilson then addressed the most demanding of USAF applications--the measurement of operator functional state in flight.

Most recently Dr. Wilson demonstrated that the loop between human and machine systems could be closed, resulting in meaningful human performance improvements.
Dr. Wilson has more than 170 publications, including 32 refereed journal articles, four invited special editions in prestigious journals, 12 book chapters, and 70-plus conference presentations and technical reports. He was recognized as a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Fellow of the Aerospace Human Factors Association, Associate Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association, and President of the Southern Ohio Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

In 2005 Dr. Wilson received the prestigious Armstrong Award for Scientific Excellence and the Dayton Affiliate Societies Council Scientist and Engineer of the Year award.