David R. Martinez

David R. Martinez is a Laboratory Fellow in the Cyber Security and Information Sciences Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. In this capacity, he is focusing on research and technical directions in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing, and digital-enterprise transformation. Previously, Martinez served as an Associate Head in the Cyber Security and Information Sciences Division. He was also a member of Lincoln Laboratory's Steering Committee.

Martinez has held many past Laboratory leadership roles, including Leader of the Embedded Digital Systems Group and Head of the ISR Systems and Technology Division. Martinez also served in a leadership role as President and Chairman of Mercury Federal Systems.

Early in Martinez's career at the Laboratory, he led major accomplishments through the development of a series of unique high-performance embedded computing processors for a classified Laboratory program. The processor work for this program was successfully transitioned to a major defense acquisition program, and the influence of the technology work that he co-developed continues to have an impact in the Department of Defense. He was elected an IEEE Life Fellow "for technical leadership in the development of high-performance embedded computing for real-time defense systems."

In 2008, he and his co-authors released a successful book titled High Performance Embedded Computing Handbook, which is highly referenced within the embedded computing research community. Martinez also had a major role in establishing the Laboratory's High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) workshop, which transitioned in 2012 to become a major annual IEEE conference. Most recently, he co-authored the book Artificial Intelligence: A Systems Approach from Architecture Principles to Deployment. This book is also used in one of his courses at MIT called “AI System Architecture and Large Language Model Applications.”

Martinez had a significant role in growing the Laboratory's AI portfolio, and he has worked to develop strong relationships with the AI technology development community outside of the Laboratory. Martinez developed some of the Laboratory's early roadmaps for decision support, and later he and his co-authors wrote a milestone Laboratory AI Report in 2018. 

Prior to joining Lincoln Laboratory, he was employed as a principal research engineer at ARCO Oil and Gas Company, specializing in adaptive seismic signal processing. He received the ARCO special achievement award. He holds three U.S. patents based on his work in signal processing for seismic applications.

He also established and chaired the workshops “Robustness of AI Systems” and “Artificial Intelligence for Cybersecurity.” He was awarded the Eminent Engineer award by the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University (NMSU).

Martinez holds a BS degree from NMSU, an SM degree from MIT, and an EE degree jointly from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in electrical engineering and oceanographic engineering. He completed an MBA degree at the Southern Methodist University. From 1999 to 2004, Martinez served as a member of the Army Science Board.