Robert T-I. Shin

Dr. Robert T-I. Shin is a principal staff member in the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Tactical Systems Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He is also the director of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Beaver Works Center and a member of the MIT School of Engineering Extended Engineering Council.

Prior to becoming a principal staff member, he served as the head of the ISR and Tactical Systems Division, where he oversaw the division's primary responsibilities — surface surveillance and undersea warfare ISR systems, counterinsurgency and counterterrorism programs, homeland security and homeland air defense programs, chemical and biological defense programs, and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control technology programs. This division develops advanced techniques and prototypes in radio-frequency, electro-optical, infrared, and acoustic systems; sensor algorithms; adaptive array processing; embedded hardware and software computing; and integrated sensing and decision support.

As the director of Beaver Works, which is jointly chartered by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the MIT School of Engineering, Shin is responsible for directing the overall mission of the center. This facility supports project-based learning experiences and is open to all MIT students, faculty, researchers, and Lincoln Laboratory staff. It provides spaces for collaborative concept development and tools for hands-on fabrication of innovative prototypes. In 2014, Shin received the Irwin Sizer Award for the Most Significant Improvement to MIT Education in recognition of his vision and significant efforts that led to the establishment of MIT Lincoln Laboratory Beaver Works.

Prior to his appointment as the head of the ISR and Tactical Systems Division, Shin led the Homeland Protection and Tactical Systems Division, overseeing the Air Vehicle Survivability Evaluation Program (Air Force Red Team); Rapid Capability Technical Assessment Program (Air Force Blue Team); Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism programs, Homeland Security and Homeland Air Defense programs, Chem/Bio Defense programs, and FAA Air Traffic Control Technology programs.

Shin joined the Laboratory in 1984, and his early research focused on the application of electromagnetics to various air defense problems. He is widely recognized across the Department of Defense as a national expert in RCS measurement and prediction techniques and has provided independent assessments of major U.S. Air Force programs. Subsequently, as a member of the Systems and Analysis Group, he directed numerous studies on topics of critical importance to national security, including susceptibilities of all major U.S. Air Force advanced programs, GPS jamming, unconventional air defense techniques, and foreign air defense analysis. More recently, he served as an Intergovernmental Personnel Act appointee to the newly formed Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. He also served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 2006 to 2010. He was named a 2020 associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Shin was a research affiliate member of the MIT Research Laboratory of Electronics from 1984 to 2000. He has supervised more than 20 graduate theses, published more than 150 refereed journal articles and conference papers, and coauthored "Theory of Microwave Remote Sensing" (Wiley, 1985).

Shin holds SB, SM, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from MIT.