Sherrill Lingel

Photo of Sherrill Lingel
Senior Engineer; Affiliate Faculty, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering, University of Washington; M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics, University of Washington; B.S. in aeronautical engineering, University of Virginia

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Sherrill Lingel is a senior engineer at the RAND Corporation, a member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School faculty, and was the first Project AIR FORCE Field Analyst at PACAF (2014-2016). She currently leads a PAF effort examining AI applications for multi-domain command and control. She has led studies on ISR capabilities for highly contested environments and UAS basing options for the PACOM AOR; she has also co-led studies on alternative space architectures for SSA and SATCOM and assuring beyond-line-of-sight communications for airborne ISR platforms. 

Lingel's previous work at RAND includes command and control in degraded communications environments; integrating ISR and strike in the planning, tasking, and assessment of operations; examining the tasking and employing of ISR assets for a range of conflicts; evaluating Global Hawk sensor upgrades for maritime surveillance missions; modeling and analysis related to aircraft survivability; and looking at the methodology employed by the military for collateral damage estimation and mitigation.  She has also studied the MANPAD threat to commercial aviation, analyzed ISR force requirements for small-scale contingencies and major theater campaigns, and participated in RAND’s lessons learned assessment of Operation Allied Force with regard to weapon employment and aircraft survivability.

Prior to joining RAND, Lingel worked for the Norwegian Institute for Water Research in Oslo, Norway. She has a background in modeling and simulation of air- and space-based systems and fluid dynamics, and she received her Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Washington.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

  • Future roles and missions of unmanned aircraft systems for the U.S. Air Force
  • Basing options for unmanned aerial systems
  • Global Hawk sensor upgrades for maritime surveillance
  • Bilateral command and control of air and missile defense

Selected Publications

Sherrill Lingel et al., Methodology for Improving the Planning, Execution and Assessment of Intelligence, RAND Corporation (TR-459), 2008

Eric V. Larson et al., Assuring Access in Key Strategic Regions: Toward a Long-Term Strategy, RAND Corporation (MG-112), 2005

James Chow et al., Protecting Commercial Aviation Against the Shoulder-Fired Missile Threat, RAND Corporation (OP-106), 2005

Publications