Jonathan Knowles, a doctoral student in the Gallogly College of Engineering and Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC), has been awarded a prestigious National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Defense. In addition to a three-year annual stipend and full coverage of tuition and fees, Knowles will receive funding for professional development, travel, and more. He is advised by Jay McDaniel, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and ARRC affiliate faculty.
“This award is a game-changer for me because it allows me to continue pursuing my Ph.D. within an area of research that I am passionate about,” Knowles said.
Knowles is developing a framework for distributed sensor navigation that could improve the accuracy of mobile radar nodes with and without GPS access. This research can provide critical insights into next-generation inertial navigation system design, precise relative navigation in non-ideal environments, cooperative flight dynamics, and future distributed sensing modalities.
Knowles’ research will help the U.S. Navy increase its capability for resilient networked operations with enhanced cooperation to maintain battlefield superiority and ensure timely, accurate, and assured intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance inputs for informed decision-making.
“Jon has been in my research group since his junior year of undergrad, and it has been an absolute blast to work with him over the last four years,” McDaniel said. “As a faculty member, there are certain days that stick with you forever, and seeing Jon get awarded this fellowship is definitely one of them. Given all the hard work he puts into his studies and research, he is so deserving of this highly meritorious award, and I am excited to see him accomplish many great things as part of his Ph.D. here at OU."
