Leadership from the United States’ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) spoke with Rice University President Reginald DesRoches March 12 about the importance of collaboration between academia, industry and government to drive technological advancements.
Rice Vice President of Innovation Paul Cherukuri opened the event at the Ion, which he described as Houston’s home for new technology and new, modern jobs.
“This is the innovation heart of Houston,” Cherukuri said. “This is where innovation is born, where innovation is driving the future of our city and our country.”
Director of DARPA Stefanie Tompkins and Chief of Commercial Strategy Sha-Chelle Manning explained the history of the agency and how the need for technological advancements that benefit Americans drives their daily mission.
“DARPA was actually created in direct response to the launch of the Sputnik satellite,” Tompkins said. “That was, at the time, an incredible shock, technological shock, to the United States. And they decided they wanted to do some things that would help prevent being the victim of such shock and potentially be the ones who were the initiator of that. NASA was actually created as a result of that surprise.”
Tompkins spoke about DARPA’s unique approach to advancing technology and national defense and the organization’s focus on creating paradigm-shifting solutions through collaboration with research labs across the country. The agency utilizes an ecosystem perspective — the need for outside ideas and proposals to tackle challenges and advance technologies.
“We need to really focus in academia and industry and different levels of government to help move technology forward in a very fast-moving world where a lot of the things we have always assumed to be true may no longer be true in the near future, unless we own our own future,” Tompkins said.
DARPA embraces a “high-risk, high-payoff” mentality to change the world through its $4 billion budget and minimal bureaucracy, Tompkins said. The organization provides funding to labs and researchers across the country with a focus on reducing the friction between funding and the academic lifecycle. The agency aims to drive innovation by funding fundamental research with no restrictions on citizenship or publication, focusing on specific goals and measuring success with a goal of demonstrating a miraculous result within 3-5 years.
Graduate students who are interested in DARPA opportunities should visit DARPAConnect.