Sherwin Gormly is a licensed environmental engineer and veteran space life support researcher with over 30 years of experience developing water recycling and ECLSS systems for human spaceflight. Known as "The Urine King" - a nickname popularised by Mary Roach's Packing for Mars - he led the NASA Water Recycle Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center, with hands-on expertise in fabricating ECLSS prototypes and flight experiment hardware, including membrane-based systems for treating wastewater and urine in microgravity and terrestrial settings.
Dr. Gormly served as Senior ECLSS Scientist at Bigelow Aerospace, leading a team in designing and building a direct potable reuse unit, converting urine and condensate to drinking water standards, under the extreme constraints of the commercial space sector.
He holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno, an MS in Industrial Technology and a BS in Mechanical Engineering both from California State University, Fresno. He holds a multi-state Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Environmental Engineering and served as a USAF Captain. Dr. Gormly has authored numerous publications and contributed to NASA's Waterwalls for Life Support project, recognised as a 2017 NASA Invention of the Year Honorable Mention.
Dr. Gormly's research centers on advanced water recycling and membrane-based treatment systems for closed-loop life support in extreme environments - from spacecraft and space habitats to remote terrestrial facilities. His applied work spans the full development cycle - from laboratory proof of concept through pilot-scale fabrication and field deployment - with particular expertise in direct osmotic concentration, membrane distillation, and integrated regenerative water process systems. He has also worked on astrobiology-relevant microbial habitat research, investigating bacterial survival in low-temperature brine environments relevant to Mars and Europa exploration.
Dr. Gormly has authored numerous publications on space life support, water recycling, and membrane process engineering.
Gormly, Sherwin. "Matching Habitat Function Themes to True Commercial Space Development Design Needs." AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee, November 2020.
Flynn, M., RL Matossian, MM Cohen, S. Gormly, et al. "Water Walls: Highly Reliable, Massively Redundant Life Support Architectures." NASA NTRS, 2013.
Gormly, Sherwin, Michael Flynn, and A. Scott Howe. "Space Cargo Transport Bags through Membrane Water Treatment Elements to Space Architecture Building Element." Journal of Green Building, 2012.
Flynn, M., M. Hightower, L. Delzeit, S. Gormly, et al. "Sustainability Base Graywater Recycling System." 41st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2011.
Gormly, Sherwin, Jack Herron, Michael Flynn, et al. "Forward Osmosis for Applications in Sustainable Energy Development." Desalination and Water Treatment, 2011.
Gormly, Sherwin, Michael Flynn, and Alex Polonsky. "Membrane Based Habitat Wall Architectures for Life Support and Evolving Structures." 40th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2010.
Flynn, M., S. Gormly, TY Cath, VD Adams, et al. "Direct Osmotic Concentration System for Spacecraft Wastewater Recycling." International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2007.
Gormly, Sherwin, and Michael Flynn. "Alternative Physical and System Architectures for Membrane Based Advanced Regenerative Space Life Support System Water Processing." SAE Technical Papers, 2006.
Adams, VD., A. Childress, S. Gormly, et al. "New Concepts and Performance of the Direct Osmotic Concentration Process for Wastewater Recovery in Advanced Life Support Systems." 36th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2006.
Cath, Tzahi, Sherwin Gormly, Edward Beaudry, et al. "Membrane Contactor Processes for Wastewater Reclamation in Space." Journal of Membrane Science, 2005.
Adams, VD., AE Childress, SJ Gormly, et al. "Progress in the Development of Direct Osmotic Concentration Wastewater Recovery Process for Advanced Life Support Systems." 35th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2005.
Gormly, S., VD Adams, and T. Cath, et al. "Direct Osmotic Concentration: A Primary Water Treatment Process for Space Life Support Applications." 33rd International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2003.
Gormly, Sherwin, VD Adams, and Eric A. Marchand. "Physical Simulation for Low-Energy Astrobiology Environmental Scenarios." Astrobiology, 2003.
Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) - Environmental Engineering, multi-state
USAF Captain (retired)
Member, AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee
NASA Waterwalls for Life Support - Invention of the Year Honorable Mention, 2017
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Platform access opens Q4 2026 with first course in Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). Express interest here and subscribe for enrollment updates.
Platform access opens Q4 2026 with first course in Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). Express interest below and subscribe for enrollment updates.
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