The acting deputy director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will present to Jackson State University an overview of DARPA’s mission and research priorities and meet with faculty to explore JSU’s revolutionary research ideas and possible research collaborations.
Dr. Stefanie Tompkins’ visit is sponsored by the Division of Research and Federal Relations and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET). Her presentation will be at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in Room 100 of the CSET building.
All interested faculty are invited to hear an overview of DARPA’s mission and research priorities, which includes supporting multiyear research portfolios to encourage diverse teams of researchers committed to turning transformational concepts and futuristic ideas into workable models.
In addition to radically advanced military capabilities such as precision weapons and stealth technology, DARPA researchers have made possible advances in civilian society, such as the Internet, automated voice recognition and language translation, and Global Positioning System receivers small enough to fit many consumer devices.
Dr. Loretta A. Moore, vice president of JSU’s Research and Federal Relations, hailed the potential research collaborations with DARPA.
Moore said, “We are delighted that the acting deputy director has made time to meet with some of the talented and exciting researchers at Jackson State. Our research faculty has expertise in a wide array of fields that intersect with DARPA’s research priorities. We look forward to many productive and groundbreaking future collaborations.”
Tompkins has served in several DARPA roles, including most recently as director of the Defense Sciences Office, where she led DARPA’s exploratory office in identifying and accelerating breakthrough technologies for national security.
For years, she’s led scientists and engineers in developing other new capabilities. She began her technology career as a senior scientist and later assistant vice president and line manager at Science Applications International Corporation. There, she spent 10 years conducting and managing research projects in planetary mapping, geology and imaging spectroscopy.
Subsequently, as a manager in DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office, she created and managed programs in ubiquitous GPS-free navigation as well as in optical component manufacturing.