Neil Siegel
| Neil Siegel | |
|---|---|
Neil Siegel
|
|
| Born | February 19, 1954 |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Fields | Engineering, systems engineering, computer science |
| Institutions |
TRW Northrop Grumman |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California |
| Doctoral advisor | Barry Boehm |
| Known for |
Blue-Force Tracking FBCB2 Hunter UAV multicast communications protocols low-data-rate networking protocols Tactical Operations Centers Command and Control Centers |
| Notable awards |
US National Academy of Engineering (2005) IEEE Simon Ramo Medal (2011) |
Neil Gilbert Siegel (born February 19, 1954) is an American computer scientist, systems engineer, and engineer, known for his development of many key systems for the United States military, including the Blue-Force Tracking system, the US Army's first unmanned air vehicle system, the US Army forward-area air defense system, and many others. Several of his key inventions also found their way into consumer products, such as hand-held devices (e.g., GPS user devices, the iPhone, etc.) whose map displays automatically orient themselves to align with the real-world's cardinal points.
Siegel was born in Brooklyn, New York, but has lived most of his life in the area southwest of Los Angeles. He attended the University of Southern California, earning degrees in Mathematics. During and after this time, he worked as a professional musician, mostly performing folk and classical music from the Balkans and the Middle East. Later, he earned a PhD in systems engineering (also from USC), where his PhD advisor was noted computer scientist Barry Boehm.
In 1976, he began work at what was then TRW (acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2002).
Starting in 1993, he led an organization at TRW that developed one-of-a-kind automation systems for the US military and (to a lesser extent) commercial companies. This organization achieved significant business success, growing rapidly every year during his tenure as leader (which continued until 2001). They created many new products whose general theme was automation support to decision-makers who operate in complex and stressful environments. In addition to the US Army and the US Air Force, customers during this time included the US steel industry and the movie industry.
In 1993, his team fielded the US Army's first fully automated command-and-control system, the Forward-Area Air Defense C2 System. This system is still in use today.
In 1995, his team won the contract to develop the US Army's first "digital battlefield" system, called Force-XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (generally known by the acronym FBCB2). This has resulted in a highly regarded capability for the US, now used by the Marine Corps, as well as the Army.
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