Alex Laun, Ph.D.

Dr. Alexander Laun is an Adjunct Professor for the Online Engineering Programs at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.  He is also an Autonomous Maritime Systems Engineer at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) in Laurel, MD.  Dr. Laun has over 15 years of experience supporting innovative naval architecture, marine engineering, ocean engineering, and systems engineering research for a wide variety of Department of Defense (DoD) sponsors.  He previously served as an Assistant Professor of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering at the United States Naval Academy (USNA), the civilian Supervisory Naval Architect (Branch Head) for the Naval Academy Hydromechanics Laboratory, an active-duty Submarine Warfare Officer in the United States Navy, and a Draper Laboratory Fellow.  He has a PhD in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University (2022); an MS in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering and an MS in Ocean Engineering, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2013); and a BS in Naval Architecture from the United States Naval Academy (2011).  Dr. Laun is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) (Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering) in Maryland, and he is actively involved in the design and development of uncrewed maritime systems (UMS).