The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the agency was created on February 7, 1958, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik 1 in 1957. By collaborating with academia, industry, and government partners, DARPA formulates and executes research and development projects to expand the frontiers of technology and science, often beyond immediate U.S. military requirements. The name of the organization first changed from its founding name, ARPA, to DARPA, in March 1972, changing back to ARPA in February 1993, then reverted to DARPA in March 1996.
The USC Information Sciences Institute (ISI) is a component of the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering, and specializes in research and development in information processing, computing, and communications technologies. It is located in Marina del Rey, California.
Raytheon BBN is an American research and development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
Norman Ralph "Norm" Augustine is a U.S. aerospace businessman who served as United States Under Secretary of the Army from 1975 to 1977. Augustine served as chairman and CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corporation. He was chairman of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee.
In-Q-Tel (IQT), formerly Peleus and In-Q-It, is an American not-for-profit venture capital firm based in Arlington, Virginia. It invests in companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability. The name "In-Q-Tel" is an intentional reference to Q, the fictional inventor who supplies technology to James Bond.
The Disruptive Technology Office (DTO) was a funding agency within the United States Intelligence Community. It was previously known as the Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA). In December 2007, DTO was folded into the newly created IARPA.
The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is an organization within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence responsible for leading research to overcome difficult challenges relevant to the United States Intelligence Community. IARPA characterizes its mission as follows: "To envision and lead high-risk, high-payoff research that delivers innovative technology for future overwhelming intelligence advantage."
The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, abbreviated USD (R&E), is a senior official of the United States Department of Defense. The USD (R&E) is charged with the development and oversight of technology strategy for the DoD. The post has at various times had the titles Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, or Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E). The latter title has itself historically varied between the rank of under secretary and that of assistant secretary.
Regina E. Dugan, is an American businesswoman, inventor, technology developer and government official. She was the first female director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where she served from July 2009 until March 2012.
Steven Nixon is founder and president of Steven Nixon Consulting, former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Director of Science and Technology of the United States Intelligence Community, former first Acting Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), a former professional staff member with the United States House Appropriations Committee, and a former senior civilian analyst at the Pentagon.
Arati Prabhakar is an American engineer and public official. Since October 3, 2022, she has served as the 12th director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Science Advisor to the President.
Paul Eremenko is a Ukrainian American innovator and technology executive. He was formerly the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of United Technologies Corporation. Earlier, he served as the CTO of Airbus, and former CEO of Airbus Silicon Valley innovation center. He is a former Google executive and head of Google's Project Ara, an effort to create an open, modular smartphone platform. Eremenko was named one of the Top-10 Tech Leaders of 2015 in FORTUNE Magazine. Eremenko has also come out as a strong proponent of artificial intelligence and autonomy research. Eremenko has cited his desire to build a starship as the motivation underpinning his career.
The Quantum Information Science and Technology Program was a five-year, $100M DARPA research program that ran from FY 2001 – 2005. The initiative was jointly created by the Defense Sciences Office (DSO) and the Information Technology Office (ITO) to accelerate development in the field of quantum computing, quantum communications, quantum algorithms, and other high-priority quantum information applications. As a completed program, QuIST received an award from DARPA in 2008 for scientific breakthroughs previously conducted under its support.
Quantum Entanglement Science and Technology (QuEST) is a research program, announced by the DARPA Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) in 2008. As a follow-on to the QuIST Program, its goal was to further accelerate development in the field of quantum information science.
The Kestrel Institute is a nonprofit computer science research center located in Palo Alto's Stanford Research Park. Cordell Green, who founded Kestrel in 1981, is its Director and Chief Scientist. Its mission is to make it easier to write good, high-quality software and employs computer scientists like Lambert Meertens.
William Boone Bonvillian, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), is a specialist on innovation and technology policy. He is a Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), teaching innovation policy courses in the departments of Science, Technology and Society and Political Science, and serves as a Senior Director for special projects at MIT Open Learning researching workforce education. He was named Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his work in 2011, and he received the IEEE's award for distinguished public service in 2006.
Michael J. Biercuk is Professor of Quantum Physics and Quantum technology at the University of Sydney, and the CEO and Founder of Q-CTRL, a venture-capital-backed quantum technology company. In his academic role he is a Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems.
Keren Bergman is an American electrical engineer who is the Charles Batchelor Professor at Columbia University. She also serves as the director of the Lightwave Research Laboratory, a silicon photonics research group at Columbia University. Her research focuses on nano-photonics and particularly optical interconnects for low power, high bandwidth computing applications.
Victoria Stavridou-Coleman is currently serving as the 37th Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force. She took her oath of office on April 6, 2021, administered by the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.
Stefanie Tompkins is an American geologist. She has been the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) since 2021.
