Robert Lyle was a member of the Special Engineering Detachment assigned to Oak Ridge, Tennessee as a chemist. Lyle earned a B.S. degree in chemistry from Boston University in January 1943 and was drafted into the SED soon thereafter. He worked in the Y-12 Plant in an administrative capacity, laying duckboards and drafting reports to be sent to Manhattan District headquarters in New York. After the war, Lyle worked for a number of businesses as a consultant, inventor, and chemist.