Richard Wlezien

Dr. Richard Wlezien joined DARPA in September 2022 as a program manager in the Tactical Technology Office. His research interests are focused on the intersection of advanced technology in air vehicles and the acceleration of technology transition to flight. Particular interests include active flow control, applications of deep learning, and supersonic flight.

Prior to his current role at DARPA, Wlezien was dean of engineering and computing at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He began his career at Boeing, performing early research in active flow control and aeroacoustics. As a program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office from 1999 to 2003, Wlezien created and managed projects that took active flow control out of the lab and applied it to full-scale systems. He also developed and led the DARPA Quiet Supersonic Platform program, which led to the first supersonic flight with a suppressed sonic boom signature. Wlezien was a researcher and manager at NASA’s Langley Research Center, as well as director of the Vehicle Systems Program at NASA Headquarters. He served as a department chair of mechanical engineering at Tufts University and department chair of aerospace engineering at Iowa State University.

Wlezien earned Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.