Sandeep S. Pisharody

Dr. Sandeep Pisharody is a senior staff member in the Interceptor and Sensor Technology Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. His current areas of research include hypersonic threat characterization and defense technologies.

Pisharody joined Lincoln Laboratory as an intern in the Cyber Systems Assessment Group in 2015, became a technical staff member in the Cyber Analytics and Decision Systems Group in 2017, and moved to the Cyber Operations and Analysis Technology Group in 2019. In these roles, he has contributed to various cybersecurity research efforts and led multiple programs for the U.S. Air Force Cryptologic and Cyber Systems Division, U.S. Air Force Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapon Systems (USAF CROWS), and U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM).

Notably, he led a collaborative research initiative to develop an innovative over-the-firewall-horizon cyber defensive capability, and contributed to the development of both zero-trust architectures to support USAF programs and robust, layered architectures to enable data sharing across USCYBERCOM. Additionally, Pisharody led U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and USAF CROWS programs to facilitate rapid assessments of readiness and performance for defensive capabilities in contested environments.

From 2023 to 2026, he served as an associate technology officer within the Laboratory's Technology Office. He facilitated the strategic advancement of internal R&D investments, developed innovation challenges inspiring teams to invent creative solutions to national security problems, and helped organize the Laboratory's technology development strategy.

Pisharody has served on the Laboratory’s Advanced Concepts Committee, which is tasked with funding innovative early-stage research concepts within the Laboratory and with university collaborators. He is an active member of the Laboratory community through recruiting, mentoring, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

Pisharody has published multiple peer-reviewed conference and journal publications, holds a U.S. patent, and authored a book. He is a member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery, and has served on multiple conference program committees.

Prior to joining the Laboratory, Pisharody had nearly 10 years of federal government and private sector experience designing, building, and securing large-scale data architectures. Pisharody earned a PhD degree in computer science from Arizona State University (2017), and an MS degree in electrical engineering (2006) and BS degrees in electrical engineering (2004) and computer engineering (2004) from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.