This site will look much better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

Skip Navigation skip menu and banner
University of Wyoming UW Home | Wyo Web | About UW | Apply | A-Z Directory | Phone/E-mail | Search UW
Dr. Mark J. Balas

Dr. Mark J. Balas, Department Head and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Wyoming
College of Engineering and Applied Science
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Dept. 3295
1000 E. University Avenue
Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: 307.766.5599
Fax: 307.766.2248 

Education:
  • BS (1965) University of Akron, Ohio, Electrical Engineering
  • MS (1970) University of Maryland, Mathematics
  • MS (1974) University of Denver, Colorado, Electrical Engineering
  • PhD (1974) University of Denver, Colorado, Applied Mathematics

Areas of Expertise:

Control of Large-Scale and Distributed Parameter Systems,
System Identification and Adaptive Control,
Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations,
Numerical Methods for Model Reduction, Controller Synthesis, and Stability Analysis,
Mechanically Flexible Structures,
Aeroelastic Modeling and Control for Aircraft Flight Systems,
Nonlinear Estimation and Control for Rotating Electrical Machines,
Wind Turbine Power Generation Dynamics and Control,
Adaptive Control of Precision Optical Structures

Academic Employment:

  • 1987-present Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder
  • 1986-1987 Professor, Electrical, Computer and Systems Department, Rensselaer, Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
  • 1985-1986 Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, and Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
  • 1979-1985 Associate Professor, Electrical, Computer and Systems Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
  • 1976-1978 Lecturer in Estimation and Control of Stochastic Processes, Aeronautics Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

NonAcademic Employment

  • 2001-2004 IPA Senior Research Scientist, Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, NM
  • 1997- 2000 AFOSR Summer Research Program, UltraLITE Project, Air Force Research Laboratories, Phillips Site, Kirtland AFB, NM.
  • 1978-1979 Senior Scientist, Control Systems Department, Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc, Cambridge, MA
  • 1977-1978 Staff Engineer, Control Systems Department, Martin Marietta Aerospace Corporation, Denver, CO
  • 1976-1977 Systems Engineer, Control and Flight Dynamics Division, C. S. Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, MA
  • 1974-1976 Applied Mathematician, Mathematical Analysis Branch, U. S. Naval Surface Weapons Center, White Oak, Silver Spring, MD
  • 1965-1970 Electronics Engineer, Harry Diamond Laboratories, U. S. Army Materiel Command, Washington, D. C.

Awards and Honors

  • AIAA Fellow 2001-present
  • IEEE Fellow 2006-present; IEEE Senior Member (this is similar to associate fellow) 2002-2006
  • Best Conference Paper Award: "Design of Controls to Attenuate Loads in the Controls Advanced Research Turbine" with Alan Wright, AIAA 2004-0345, Proceedings of AIAA/ASME Wind Energy Symposium, pp76-86, Reno, NV, Jan 5-8,2004.
  • Air Force Research Laboratory DOT-Ultralite Team Award, 2003
  • Plenary Keynote Lecture at 5th International ESA Conference on Guidance Navigation and Control Systems in Frascati, Italy, October 2002
  • IFAC Plenary Lecture for Aerospace Systems Workshop in Bologna, Italy, Sept 2001
  • The Max Peters Faculty Service Award, School of Engineering, 2000
  • AIAA Associate Fellow, 1999- 2001.
  • General Chair, AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference, 2000
  • Technical Co-Chair, AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference, 1999
  • Tau Beta Pi Professor of the Year 1991-92
  • NASA Certificate of Recognition for Tech Brief:"Robust Adaptive Control in Hilbert Space", 1989
  • NASA Certificate of Recognition for Tech Brief:"Discrete-Time Model Reference Adaptive Control", 1989
  • International Congress on Applied Systems Research and Cybernetics, Meritorious Award for paper presented at Acapulco, Mexico, Conference, November 1980
  • Boettcher Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1973-1974
College of Engineering and Applied Science