Sung-Hyun Son

Dr. Sung-Hyun Son is an assistant head of the Air, Missile, and Maritime Defense Technology Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Son joined Lincoln Laboratory in 2006 as technical staff in the division’s Advanced Concepts and Technology Group, where he developed tracking, discrimination, and resource optimization architectures for sensor and weapon systems. In 2010, he transitioned to the division’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) Integration Group, leading several battle management efforts for the Navy and Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

Son rose through the ranks of the BMDS Integration Group (now the Integrated Missile Defense Technology Group), becoming assistant leader in 2012, associate leader in 2017, and leader in 2018. From 2012 to 2015, he led the Laboratory’s Advanced Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications program with MDA. This work led to the proliferation of sidecars onto many of the key BMDS radar systems—including SBX, XTR-1, and Aegis Ashore—facilitating rapid experimentation, demonstration, and transition of new processing techniques for these systems. From 2015 to 2018, Son led the Laboratory’s Aegis BMD program.

Son is an active member of the Laboratory community, initiating collaborations with MIT campus in machine learning, autonomy, and optimization; co-leading Circle Mentoring groups; co-founding the Pan-Asian Laboratory Staff employee research group; and supporting campus and GEM Fellowship recruiting efforts. Son completed the Next Generation Executive program through The Partnership Inc. in 2021 and has been a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Missile Systems Technical Committee since 2017. He holds a BE degree in electrical engineering from The Cooper Union and MA and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Princeton University.