Defining Autonomy, Automation, & BVLOS: An Interview with Andy Lacher, Chief Technologist for Future Airspace Operations – Intelligent Flight Systems, NASA Langley Research Center

Andy Lacher is currently the Chief Technologist for Future Airspace Operations in the Intelligent Flight Systems organization at NASA’s Langley Research Center where he works on the safe operational integration of new aviation technologies. His deep knowledge and experience made him the ideal person to talk to about defining and standardizing autonomy and automation in aviation. In this not-to-be-missed podcast, we talk about his  work on ASTM's AC377 Technical Reports (1 through 3), M to N operations, the BVLOS ARC, public acceptance and adoption, and more.

Highlights from his extensive career are below:

Lacher is a subject matter expert on the safe and secure operations of unmanned and autonomous systems.  He was the Director of the Aerospace Systems Research Center at Noblis and was the Senior Manager for Autonomous Aircraft Integration at Boeing working with the NeXT team.  Before that, he was the Autonomous Systems Integration and Adoption Lead for The MITRE Corporation where he worked for 30 years.   

In his MITRE career in addition to his unmanned and autonomous systems work, he was a founding member of the Collaborative Decision-Making working group; supported the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO); and worked on a variety of ATM research projects.  Mr. Lacher took a break from his MITRE career and was an information technology consultant for small airlines and worked on satellite-based asset tracking.  He has experience with unmanned vehicles, technical standards development, software assurance, trustworthy autonomy, research planning, modeling and simulation, aviation rulemaking, safety risk assessment, ATM operations, airline operations, and operational decision-making.  

Mr. Lacher has served on a number of research advisory boards and standards bodies including the National Academy of Sciences’ Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and the Federal Aviation Administration’s RE&D Advisory Committee.  He has contributed to Aviation Rulemaking Committee recommendations and several National Academy of Science studies related to aerospace.   He has over 35 published papers, studies, and reports in the public domain.  Mr. Lacher is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA where he is active on the Intelligence Systems Technical Committee.  He has a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Operations Research both from The George Washington University.