Dr. Lonnie Parker, an alumnus from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been named a Modern Day Technology Leader by the US Black Engineer and Information Technology Magazine and the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Conference. The award honors high-achieving, mid-career professionals who are engineering the future through research and development while strengthening the STEM pipeline. Parker will receive his award at the 2018 BEYA STEM Conference being held Feb. 8-10 in Washington, D.C.

Parker, who received his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech in 2012, works as an electrical engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport. NUWC Division Newport, part of the Naval Sea System Command, is one of two divisions of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. NUWC Division Newport’s mission is to provide research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, undersea offensive and defensive weapons systems, and countermeasures.

Parker is the principal investigator for the imaging development portion of the Submarine Advanced Development Processing project. He also manages the Sensors and Sonar Systems Department’s internal investment portfolio.

Parker’s doctoral research under Professor Ayanna Howard focused on intelligent robotic sampling approaches for environmental monitoring of harsh terrains to expand on available in-situ measurement methods for earth-scientists.

“I’m very thankful and honored to be recognized for my accomplishments. I had great mentors at Georgia Tech who inspired me to work tirelessly and continually raise the bar for myself, so this award is a testimony to them and the culture of excellence at Tech,” Parker said.