DARPA Leadership

DARPA today released Breakthrough Technologies for National Security, a biennial report summarizing the Agency’s historical mission, current and evolving focus areas and recent transitions of DARPA-developed technologies to the military Services and other sectors. The report’s release coincided with testimony by DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar before the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, at a hearing entitled “Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2016 Science and Technology Programs: Laying the Groundwork to Maintain Technological Superiority.”

Mr. Dale Waters is the Director of the Adaptive Execution Office. He is responsible for improving the transition worthiness of DARPA programs by establishing and executing a framework for transition that can be applied across DARPA. He leads AEO in providing a corporate resource to assist DARPA program managers throughout their tenure. This assistance takes the form of introductions to war fighters, new concept development and refinement, transition planning, end-user demonstrations and field trials, and operational evaluations. He also plays a leading role in transitioning technology to the U.S. Air Force and assisting with end-user quick response requirements.

Arati Prabhakar, Ph.D., is director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Serving in this position since July 2012, she has focused the agency’s efforts on rethinking complex military systems in fundamental ways; harnessing the information explosion to address national security challenges; and planting new seeds of technological surprise in fields as diverse as mathematics, synthetic biology, and neurotechnology.

Dr. Ralph Sandfry provides strategic and management support to the DARPA Director and Deputy Director. He assesses the technical merits and risks of proposed and current projects and provides advice on technology strategies. He also guides, supervises and coordinates the Agency’s planning and operations.

Dr. Steven H. Walker is a member of the Senior Executive Service and currently serves as the deputy director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Immediately prior to this, he held the position of director of the Tactical Technology Office (TTO) at DARPA.