Frontiers in Technology
Technology Office
Promoting Innovative R&D for Today and the Future
Investments cultivated and managed by the Technology Office support the long view of technology for national security. Novel, impactful projects, many of which take a decade or more to come to fruition, push the very frontiers of technology development. We also focus on fostering innovation and creative thinking, both of which are essential to sustaining long-term technical excellence and relevance.
Technology Office Frontiers
The Technology Office works to enhance inventiveness and innovation at the Laboratory through various opportunities and Laboratory-wide activities that sustain a culture of creative problem solving and innovative thinking.
Technology Office News
Featured Projects
lasers
Undersea Optical Communications
A system that enables robust, long-distance communications between underwater vehicles exploits laser technology.
machine learning
Computer on Watch
An artificial intelligence application that automatically identifies objects in aerial imagery could reduce the time analysts spend in manually combing through images.
space
Deployable In-Space Coherent Imaging Telescope
Technologies enabling the deployment of an expandable telescope from a small spacecraft could pave the way for the development of other payloads for small satellites.
software
Cyber Adversarial Scenario Modeler and Artificial Intelligence Decision Engine (CASCADE)
CASCADE software simulates cyber attacker and defender actions and recommends multiple courses of action to make systems and networks more secure.
Advancing our Research
Technology Office Challenges
We challenge Laboratory teams to creatively address emerging problems in national security. We present a scenario that reflects a potential problem — for example, how to weed out false news from true reports — and hold a competition between teams who propose plausible, innovative solutions.
Advanced Research Technology Symposium
A student stops at a poster to learn more about the researcher's work.
The Technology Office organizes the Advanced Research Technology Symposium (ARTS), a recurring event held at MIT to connect with academics, students, and entrepreneurs on MIT campus and in the New England area. We seek to encourage and enable the development of advanced technologies in support of national security. The symposium highlights some of the most pressing challenges confronting our nation's security and well-being, and proposes ways advanced technology can help address these challenges. Presentations, poster sessions, and panel discussions engage attendees.