In the latest episode of DARPA’s podcast series, Voices from DARPA, join program manager Dev Palmer of the Agency’s Microsystems Technology Office as he talks about turning an early interest in the vacuum tubes of his guitar amplifiers into a career as an electrical engineer. His mission? To push electronic and electromagnetic technology along new frontiers that could lead to more capable radar, electronic warfare, and communications systems, and even to entirely new technolo...gies. In his few years as a program manager, Palmer has scored a world record with the fastest linear amplifier ever made; opened the way to vastly increasing the power output of high-frequency circuits by developing next-generation, miniaturized vacuum electronic devices; and pioneered novel approaches to integrating minuscule magnetic components into the already super-dense microcircuitry on chips. One more thing: with the time he spends commuting, Palmer has given some thought to what it would take to usher teleportation from the science fiction side to the reality side. Tune in to the podcast at: https://www.blubrry.com/…/19063…/episode-4-the-terahertzian/

Recent technological advances have made the longstanding dream of on-orbit robotic servicing of satellites a near-term possibility. However, widely accepted technical and safety standards are needed to make that functionality sustainable. To help overcome these challenges and provide the foundation for a new commercial repertoire of robust space-based capabilities, DARPA is creating the Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations (CONFERS). Through CONFERS..., DARPA aims to establish an industry/government forum composed of experts from throughout the space community. Participants would leverage best practices from government and industry to research, develop, and publish non-binding, consensus-derived technical and safety standards for on-orbit servicing operations. In doing so, the program would provide a clear technical basis for definitions and expectations of responsible behavior in outer space. Learn more: http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2016-11-29.

Modern military operations are dynamic and complex—requiring, for example, that infantry squads carry out their missions simultaneously in the 3-dimensional physical world, the cyber domain, and across the electromagnetic spectrum. As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, the future of kinetic, cyber, and electronic warfare envisions humans and intelligent machines working together as a team. A challenge in designing human-machine systems, however, is determining how... best to meld human cognitive strengths and the unique capabilities of smart machines to create intelligent teams adaptive to rapidly changing circumstances. DARPA's new Agile Teams (A-Teams) program sets out to discover, test, and demonstrate predictive and generalizable mathematical methods to enable optimized design of such agile hybrid teams. Learn more: http://www.darpa.mil/program/2016-11-28.

For those seeking to influence how microchips are designed and made in the future, you now have until January 13, 2017, to submit your proposal for the Common Heterogeneous Integration and IP Reuse Strategies (CHIPS) program. The goal for CHIPS is to establish and demonstrate a modular design and fabrication flow for electronic systems while keeping the cost, lead time, and complexity of IC design in check. The central idea is that a system can be subdivided into chiplets, wh...ich are functional circuit blocks (along with their associated reusable IP) that can be integrated on an interposer into an overall microsystem, rather than having to rely on the design and fabrication of circuits in a monolithic flow. This modular design flow is anticipated to encompass rapid assembly and reconfiguration of various IP blocks through standard layouts and interfaces seamlessly linked to other chiplets. The application of a CHIPS modular design flow is expected to lead to a 70% reduction in design cost and turn-around time. Access the opportunity at: https://www.fbo.gov/…/DARPA/CMO/DARPA-BAA-16-62/listing.html.