“One of the most important things to learn as part of an engineering education is how to think out of the box. Aerospace engineering, as we know it today, is the result of engineers who have systematically turned the possible into reality.”
Steven E. Lamberson is the Chief Scientist, Airborne Laser System Program Office, Space and Missile Systems Center, Kirtland AFB, N.M. He is responsible for the overall technical health of the $11-billion Air Force Airborne Laser program. He serves as the primary interface between the program office and the Air Force Research Laboratory, ensuring that risk mitigation activities provide the focused results necessary for the health of the Airborne Laser Program, and that the program takes advantage of innovations from the lab.
Lamberson entered the Air Force in 1975 through the AF Reserve Officer’s Training Corps at Purdue University. He entered active duty at Wright Patterson AFB in July 1975 as an aircraft engineer at the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory.
Prior to his current assignment, he spent 25 years in the areas of structural analysis and laser systems, primarily at the Air Force Research Laboratory. He also served as an Associate Professor in the Engineering Mechanics Department at the Air Force Academy. He retired from the Air Force in August 1996 and has been employed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technologies Lincoln Laboratory since.
In 1981, Lamberson was awarded the Edward B. Giller Award for outstanding Engineering Accomplishment at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory.