Dr. Laurence D. Merkle (Assistant Professor, AFIT) / Education: Ph.D. in Computer Engineering (1996) and M.S.C.E. (1992) from AFIT, B.S. from RPI / Commissioned via AFROTC in 1987 / Military Career: Served as AI Program Management Officer, conducted advanced HPC and evolutionary computation research at AFRL / Academic Roles: Former Associate Professor at USAF Academy (won Outstanding Researcher award) / Civilian Background: Held tenure-track roles at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, worked at Wright State University, and ran a private consulting firm.