Contact Information
Bio
Lieutenant Colonel McKay Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronautical Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. He entered the U.S. Air Force in 2009 as a Distinguished Graduate of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 860 at Utah State University. He earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Imaging Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2021, he transferred to the U.S. Space Force.
Throughout his career, Colonel Williams has balanced technical acquisition and academic assignments across the national security space enterprise. His acquisition experience includes assignments at Space Systems Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Detachment 4. His accomplishments include leading on-orbit jamming and scintillation testing for strategic communications satellites, managing an electro-optical research and development portfolio exceeding $100 million per year, overseeing a $4.3 billion geospatial intelligence spacecraft development contract, and serving as Chief of the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Payload Branch. In that role, he led a 42-member organization responsible for the design, development, integration, and test of five mission payloads supporting the Next Generation OPIR Geosynchronous and Polar programs, representing more than $3.2 billion in program value.
From 2023 to 2026, Colonel Williams served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Meteorology at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he taught General Physics I and II and Introduction to Optics and Lasers. He also served as the department’s Director of Operations and Director of Strategic Communications, overseeing academic operations, faculty coordination, and strategic outreach initiatives.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology (2014-2017)
Master of Science, Electrical Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology (2009-2011)
Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, Utah State University (2002-2009)
Professional Experience
Director of Operations and Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Meteorology, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. (2023-2026)
Chief, Next Gen OPIR Payloads Branch, Space Sensing, Space Systems Command, Los Angeles, Calif. (2021-2023)
Chief, Advanced Payloads Branch, GEOINT/ASPO, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly VA. (2019-2021)
Chief, Advanced Optics Branch, GEOINT/R&T, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly VA. (2017-2019)
Doctoral Student, AFIT Civilian Institution Programs, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y. (2014-2017)
Lead Test Engineer, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) Detachment 4, Peterson AFB, Colo. (2011-2014)
Master’s Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (2009-2011)
Honors & Awards
Meritorious Service Medal (2026, 2023)
Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2021)
Joint Service Achievement Medal (2021)
National Reconnaissance Office Field Grade Officer of the Year (2020)
Air and space Commendation Medal (2014)
Air Force Institute of Technology Louis F. Polk Award (2011)
Distinguished Graduate, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (2009)
Research and Scholarly Interests
Electro-Optical/Infra-red Imaging Systems
Spacecraft Payloads
Remote Sensing & Image Processing
Communications & Signal Processing
Spanish Language & Culture, Language Embedded Airman Program (LEAP)
Publications
Williams, M. D., Puttur, A., Event Based Sensing at the Air Force Academy—Time Domain Imaging Applications. Special Capabilities Working Group, Springfield VA, May 2024
Williams, McKay D. Generation, validation, and application of abundance map reference data for spectral unmixing. Rochester Institute of Technology, 2017.
Williams, McKay D., et al. “An introduction to abundance map reference data, with applications in spectral unmixing.” 2017 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). IEEE, 2017.
Williams, McKay D., John P. Kerekes, and Jan van Aardt. “Application of abundance map reference data for spectral unmixing.” Remote Sensing 9.8 (2017): 793.
Williams, McKay D., et al. “Validation of abundance map reference data for spectral unmixing.” Remote Sensing 9.5 (2017): 473.
Williams, McKay D., Jan van Aardt, and John P. Kerekes. “Generation of remotely sensed reference data using low altitude, high spatial resolution hyperspectral imagery.” Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XXII. Vol. 9840. SPIE, 2016.
Sward, William S., Taylor Swanson, and McKay Williams. “Scintillation simulator test results: hardware-in-the-loop emulation of ionospheric scintillation.” 2014 IEEE Military Communications Conference. IEEE, 2014.
Harmer, Paul K., McKay D. Williams, and Michael A. Temple. “Using DE-optimized LFS processing to enhance 4G communication security.” 2011 Proceedings of 20th International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (ICCCN). IEEE, 2011.
Williams, McKay D., et al. “RF-DNA fingerprinting for airport WiMax communications security.” 2010 Fourth International Conference on Network and System Security. IEEE, 2010.
Williams, McKay D., Michael A. Temple, and Donald R. Reising. “Augmenting bit-level network security using physical layer RF-DNA fingerprinting.” 2010 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference GLOBECOM 2010. IEEE, 2010.