National Defense Industry Association TRW Inc. Johns Hopkins Applied Research Laboratory Robert Yih-shyong Lai (July 24, 1940 – April 30, 2018) was a Taiwanese-American engineer who specialized in fluid mechanics.

[3] He built off of his civil engineering studies at NTU, majoring in water conservation and fluid mechanics and earning a master of science at Northwestern.

[5] Lai taught at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee from 1970 until 1980, before leaving to work at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory until 1982, where he specialized in ballistic missile submarine research.

[6] Leaving his position in 2007 after the conclusion of his first three year term, Lai was invited by President Wu Jianguo of Datong University to become an adjunct professor.

[1][2][3][7] In 1986, Lai met with then secretary-general of the Kuomintang Ma Shuli (having previously been blacklisted from Taiwan, due to being a pro-democracy political dissident).