Craig Martell

Bachelor of Science: Aerospace Engineering 1989
Master of Science: Aerospace Engineering 1991

Craig Martell’s career has spanned over three decades in aerospace and defense systems. A proud Virginia Tech alumnus, he began his academic journey in 1984 as an out-of-state student from Maryland. He gained hands-on expertise through the University Co-Op Program at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland. There, he completed the equivalent of two years of full-time work experience focused on production quality, reliability, and performance testing for U.S. Army armored vehicles, including the M1A1 Main Battle Tank, M2/M3 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and the M109 Self-Propelled Howitzer.

As a senior, he was a member of the 1989 Virginia Tech team that won the AIAA-sponsored Space Design Contest, designing a solar sail vehicle and lunar transfer trajectory powered solely by solar propulsion. He remained in Blacksburg to continue into graduate study, earning his Master’s degree and completing a thesis titled “Parameter Optimization of Atmospheric Skip Trajectories for Use in Minimum Fuel Usage Transfer Orbits,” under the mentorship of Drs. F.H. Lutze, E.M. Cliff, and W.C. Durham.

During Martell’s time at Virginia Tech, he had the distinction of studying under all of the department’s Emeritus Professors, and took the inaugural courses taught by now-notable faculty Dr. Kapania (Statics) and Dr. Devenport (Compressible Flow).

Following graduate school, Martell joined the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, where he served from 1991 until retirement in 2022. Over 31 years, he contributed to major U.S. Navy programs including the SM-3 missile defense system and Aegis surface combatants, specializing in:

• Threat and defensive missile/guided projectile trajectory optimization, including Supporting concept design through flight testing for the Navy SM-3 missile defense program. He served as a member of the NWCDD team that developed the new approach of missile guidance for the SM-3 family of interceptors.
• Coupled system-level modeling of weapons, threats, and sensors, with emphasis on flight dynamics across subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic regimes in support of the SM-3 Program.
• Active and passive sensor modeling, including infrared (2D) and radar (1D/2D/3D) systems in support of the SM-3 family of Navy interceptors and Aegis surface combatants.
• State estimation and multi-source track filtering, where for two decades he led the concept development, testing, and real-time deployment of the Navy software component to the national level multi-agency overhead sensor detection and tracking system.

His leadership roles have included Line Manager; a decade as Group Lead, combining administrative and mentoring responsibilities; 15 years as Project Technical Lead; and more than 20 years as Mentor, supporting the growth of countless junior engineers and analysts.

Select Achievements:

• U.S. Patent #8,639,476 B2 (2014): “Process for Estimation of Ballistic Missile Boost State” — part of a 24/7 operational system for national defense.
• Journal Publication: Adjoint Variable Solutions via an Auxiliary Optimization Problem, Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, Vol. 18, No. 16 (1995).
• Author/Co-author of 12 Department of Defense technical publications, spanning cutting-edge developments in aerospace engineering, missile defense, and sensor systems.