Automation & Control Engineer with Aerospace Focus

KEVIN WILCHER

Automation & Control Engineer U.S. Citizen

Location: Rockledge, FL Email: **********@*****.*** Phone: 352-***-**** SUMMARY

Automation & Control Engineer with 8+ years of experience in control theory applied to aerospace systems seeking full-time position.

EDUCATION

PhD in Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida 2019 - Summer 2026 Area of Research: Control Theory with Aerospace Applications Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida 2016 - 2019 Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida 2010 - 2016 EMPLOYMENT

Guidance, Navigation, & Control Engineer Oct 2025 - Jan 2026 Vaya Space (Dauntless Launch Vehicle) Cocoa, FL

• Helped in creation and verification & validation of high-fidelity 6DOF simulation environment using object- oriented programming (OOP) with Unit Testing done in MATLAB/Simulink coupled with Python wrappers.

• Development of analysis tool to perform frequency-response, stability & robustness analysis of Monte Carlo simulations.

• Task management in Jira, Documentation in Confluence, and Version control using GitLab & BitBucket. Graduate Research Assistant Jan 2017 - Dec 2025

Laboratory for Autonomy, Control, Information, and Systems (LACIS) @ USF Tampa, FL

• Various duties include: Creating/updating simulation environments, Deriving stability proofs for control algorithms, Implementing & tuning multi-loop controllers consisting of nominal linear controllers & adaptive nonlinear controllers, Evaluating system & controller performance. (See Research Projects listed below)

• Activities include: Building & Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing of UAVs, Supersonic Wind Tunnel Testing at NASA Glenn, Attended USNDA Military Drone Crucible Controls Engineering Consultant Mar 2022 - May 2023 ControlX Tampa, FL

• Project: Autonomous Model Predictive Flight Control (MPFC) System for eVTOL

• Duties: Produced custom hexacopter test vehicle using Pixhawk Cube Blue. Performed flight tests to evaluate experimental control algorithm performance.

Teaching Assistant Aug 2017 - December 2023

USF Engineering Department Tampa, FL

• Course List: Applied Kalman Filters, Linear Controls Lab, Mechanical Controls, Advanced Controls (MIMO Systems), Programming Concepts (Matlab/Simulink), Advanced Design & Fabrication Tech.

• Duties: Independently taught and ran lab sessions. Assisted in lectures, grading, & office hours. Designed a final project where students simulated an escape room requiring precise sequences of hardware inputs using RSLogix 5000.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Foundations of Gain-Scheduled Flight Control with Command Governor March 2024 - Dec 2025 Architecture for Uncertain Unmanned Aerial Systems Sponsor: DEVCOM Army Research Lab

• Autonomous Model Predictive Flight Control (MPFC) System for March 2022 - June 2023 eVTOL / UAM Vehicles with Distributed Electric Propulsion Sponsor: Air Force Research Laboratory Phase II (through ControlX)

• Developing Embedded Distributed Electric Propulsion Control System Sept. 2021 - Dec. 2022 for Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVOTL) / Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Vehicles Sponsor: Air Force Research Laboratory Phase II (through ControlX)

• Optimal Adaptive Control Architecture Development for TBCC Dec. 2018 - Jan. 2022 Engines Integrated with MIPCC Systems

Sponsor: Defense Advance Research Projects Agency SBIR Phase II (through ControlX)

• Distributed Intelligent Robust Control Technologies Nov. 2018 - May 2021 Sponsor: Air Force Research Lab Phase I & II (though optoXense)

• Developing an Adaptive TVC System for High-G Propulsion Nov. 2017 - May 2018 Control in Missile Interceptors

Sponsor: Missile Defense Agency SBIR Phase I (through optoXense)

• Optimal Adaptive Control Architecture Development for TBCC Engines Aug. 2017 - July 2018 Integrated with MIPCC Systems

Sponsor: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency SBIR Phase I (through optoXense) PUBLICATIONS

• K. Wilcher, T. Yucelen, D. Kurtoglu, and J. Hrynuk. “A Nominal Control Structure-Agnostic Model Reference Adaptive Control Framework,” In 2025 American Control Conference (ACC), pp. 4917-4921. IEEE, 2025.

• K. Wilcher, J. Jaramillo, T. Yucelen, M. Pakmehr, “Reference Model State Consideration for use in Uncertainty Basis Function for Model Reference Adaptive Control,”AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum

• J. Jaramillo, K. Wilcher, T. Yucelen, M. Pakmehr, “Scalability Concept for Model Reference Adaptive Control of Gain Scheduled Dynamical Systems,”AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum

• J. Jaramillo, K. Wilcher, T. Yucelen, M. Pakmehr, “Neuroadaptive Control Approach for Gain Scheduled Set-Theoretic Model Reference Adaptive Control Under Relaxed Lyapunov Stability Conditions,” AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum

• K. Wilcher, J. Jaramillo, T. Yucelen, M. Pakmehr, A. Behbahani, “Gain Scheduled Control System for Alternate Generic Adaptive Turbine Engine (AGATE) Model,” Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force

(JANNAF) Meeting, June 2021.

• J. Jaramillo, K. Wilcher, T. Yucelen, M. Pakmehr, “Set-Theoretic Model Reference Adaptive Control for Mode-Transition Studies on a Dual-Mode Ramjet (DMRJ) Engine,” Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force (JANNAF) Meeting, June 2021.

• K. Wilcher, and T. Yucelen, “On Performance Improvement on Gain-Scheduled Model Reference Adaptive Control,” AIAA SciTech 2020 Forum, pp. 1118, 2020. SKILLS

Controls Skills Nonlinear Control, Robust Control, Optimal Control, Adaptive Control, Gain Scheduling, PID, Stability Analysis, Control Allocation, Multi-Agent Systems, Linearization Simulation Skills 3-DOF, 6-DOF, Flight/Rocket Dynamics, Rigid Body Dynamics, Monte Carlo Simulation Software MATLAB, Simulink, Python, GitLab, dSPACE, RSLogix 5000, LabVIEW

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