EMPLOYMENT
Organization of Technical Divisions
MIT Lincoln Laboratory is led by the Office of the Director in conjunction with the Steering Committee and with oversight from the Joint Advisory Committee.
The Laboratory is organized into seven technical divisions, each of which contains work-specific groups. Projects at the Laboratory are within seven core mission areas and are often multidisciplinary, involving interdivisional collaborations. The technical research and development work of the Laboratory is supported by six service departments.
The clickable organizational chart below links these divisions, groups, and departments to their respective descriptions.
Full-size version of the Lincoln Laboratory organizational chart (pdf)
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Department, Division, and Group Summaries (pdf) |
Technical Division and Group Summaries
Air and Missile Defense Technology — Division 3
The Air and Missile Defense Technology Division's role is to work with government, industry, and laboratories to develop an integrated missile defense system. This division's main focus is investigating system concepts, developing technology, building prototypes, and conducting measurements to support the development of long-range radar and optical sensors, interceptors, and networks for missile defense systems. A strong emphasis is placed on partnerships and the transfer of technology to industry.
Group 31—Systems and Architectures
The Systems and Architectures Group examines near- and long-term technology opportunities for the purpose of charting the future development of U.S. ballistic missile defense. As the country proceeds toward its first deployment of a national missile defense, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and this group are working on the next generation of systems. The group investigates advanced radar concepts, new infrared sensors, missile designs, space-based platforms, and future distributed command and control software to help identify opportunities to develop, test, and deploy these technologies. Staff members in the group have a wide variety of backgrounds, including physics, electrical engineering, math, and astrodynamics.
Group 32—Advanced Concepts and Technology
The Advanced Concepts and Technology Group supports the Missile Defense Agency in the development and evaluation of advanced algorithms and architectures for ballistic missile defense. Algorithms and architectures of interest are target detection in noise and clutter, multitarget and multisensor tracking, target identification and handover, multisensor fusion, and sensor/weapon resource management. The group analyzes radar and optical sensor data to identify phenomenologies that can be exploited to improve target identification and subsequent engagement. Based on findings, algorithms and architectures that utilize advanced cognitive science techniques to demonstrate these exploitation concepts are developed and evaluated over broad parameter spaces.
Group 33—Ranges and Test Beds
The Ranges and Test Beds Group supports the Department of Defense (DoD) by designing and developing modern sensor systems and components to enable a ballistic missile defense system. The group has a long-term association with the Reagan Test Site (RTS) located on the Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific. The group has played a key role in developing the sophisticated instrumentation suite at RTS. The group's sensor systems expertise is being extended to support ranges involved in ballistic missile defense system testing as well as tracking satellites throughout both the Atlantic and Pacific regions. The group designs test beds with sensor sidecars with network-centric architectures that support discrimination algorithm testing and sensor fusion experiments. This group is also investigating the system architecture and signal processing concepts associated with a radical radar design approach for the next generation of discrimination radar sensors.
Group 34—Intelligence, Test, and Evaluation
The Intelligence, Test, and Evaluation Group supports the testing and development of the ballistic missile defense system being pursued by the Missile Defense Agency. In particular, the group plans and conducts field experiments and collects data to understand problems and formulate solutions that impact the nation’s capability to defend against ballistic missiles. The group also focuses on characterizing threat missile systems based on the analysis of collected radar and optical data.
Group 36—Missile Defense Elements
The Missile Defense Elements Group supports the Missile Defense Agency in the development, deployment, testing, and enhancement of the ballistic missile defense system. This system is currently being developed to defend the United States, deployed forces, and allies from ballistic missile attacks. This group performs detailed system and component engineering, flight and ground test analysis, and advanced capability development in collaboration with the contractors and government program offices that are building the missile defense elements and components. Several elements are being developed, tested, and deployed in the near future, including the ground-based missile defense element (to protect the United States from intercontinental ballistic missiles) and a ship-based Aegis ballistic missile defense element (to protect deployed forces and allies against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles).
Group 38—Seeker and Interceptor Technology
The Seeker and Interceptor Technology Group supports the development of advanced technologies and systems for application to interceptor missiles to be used in future ballistic missile defense systems. These programs support the Missile Defense Agency as well as the military services in developing elements of the planned ballistic missile defense system. The technology and system development efforts also support the evolution of advanced ballistic missile defense concepts and capabilities as well as new ground, airborne, and space-based sensors for data collection. The emphasis of the group's work is on advanced sensors and algorithms, missile guidance, mission simulations, laboratory and field/flight tests, and data reduction and analysis.
Group 39—Air Defense Techniques
The Air Defense Techniques Group develops radar, communications, and systems technologies for use in future air defense systems. Of particular interest is the development of highly digitized phased-array radars and advanced signal processing techniques to enable the next generation of shipboard and airborne surveillance sensors. Major activities within the group include system concept development, modeling and simulation, signal processing algorithm design, prototype system design and development, and experimental field testing and data analysis.
Reagan Test Site (Kwajalein)
The Reagan Test Site Group serves as the scientific advisor to the Reagan Test Site at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll installation located about 2500 miles WSW of Hawaii. Twenty staff members, accompanied by their families, work at this site, serving about three-year tours of duty. The site's radars and optical and telemetry sensors support ballistic missile defense testing and space surveillance. The radar systems provide test facilities for radar technology development and for the development of ballistic missile defense techniques. MIT Lincoln Laboratory also supports upgrades to the command-and-control infrastructure of the range to include applications of real-time discrimination and decision aids developed as a result of research at the Laboratory.
Homeland Protection and Tactical Systems — Division 4
The Homeland Protection and Tactical Systems Division is leading MIT Lincoln Laboratory efforts in the Homeland Defense and Security, Air Traffic Control, Counterterrorism, and Air Force Red Team areas. The division has world-class expertise in systems analysis, system development, and field testing, and is leading a Lab-wide Blue Team effort to support rapid innovation capability. It focuses on a wide variety of areas including biological-chemical sensing, air vehicle survivability, electronic attack and electronic protection, detection of improvised explosive devices, and homeland air surveillance and air control. Recent efforts include architecture studies for the defense of civilians and facilities against potential biological attacks, development of the Enhanced Regional Situation Awareness system for the air defense of the National Capital Region, and development of technology for civil and military air traffic control. In addition, this division operates the Lincoln Laboratory Flight Facility, which provides aircraft, personnel, and ground support services for Laboratory programs' flight operations.
Group 42—Surveillance Systems
The Surveillance Systems Group pioneers integrated sensing and decision-support systems for both Air Traffic Control and Homeland Air Defense. Since the 1970s, this group has pioneered significant advancements to the surveillance technology used by the major modern air traffic control radars and airborne collision avoidance systems. Ongoing programs focus on advancing new sensor, data fusion, and net-centric technologies to take new ideas from concept definition through development and evaluation with an operational prototype. Examples of currently fielded systems include the Enhanced Regional Situation Awareness System, which improves the identification and response to airborne threats to the National Capital Region, and the Runway Status Lights system, which improves the safety of taxiing aircraft at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. To accomplish these goals, this group employs a broad base of analysis, modeling, algorithm development, signal processing, software architecture and development, RF and digital hardware design, and system integration skills.
Group 43—Weather Sensing
The Weather Sensing Group develops sensors, automated forecasting systems, and decision-support tools to reduce the impact of adverse weather on commercial aviation. To accomplish this, the group combines MIT Lincoln Laboratory expertise in innovative signal, image, and sensor data-fusion processing with physical insights furnished by staff meteorologists. Key accomplishments have included the development of the FAA's Terminal Doppler Weather Radar, ASR-9 Weather Systems Processor, Integrated Terminal Weather Systems, and Corridor Integrated Weather System.
Group 45 – Advanced Capabilities and Systems
The Advanced Capabilities and Systems Group provides assessments of novel technologies and system concepts in solution of significant defense and intelligence needs and, where appropriate, rapidly develops prototype solutions to demonstrate concepts or provide fieldable capability. To accomplish these goals, the group taps Laboratory-wide knowledge and couples this with the group's strong systems analysis expertise. Modeling, often supported by quick measurements and tests, is used to evaluate the feasibility of proposed solutions to problems, as well as to creatively develop new alternatives. Products of this assessment process include briefings and proposals for follow-on development efforts. Where a rapid capability is sought, the group often leads multigroup coalitions in the execution of these efforts.
Group 46—Advanced System Concepts
The Advanced System Concepts Group conducts systems analysis on a broad range of problems related to surface surveillance, force protection, and homeland defense. Activities include sensor and system modeling, mission requirements analysis, and architecture development. A variety of technologies are examined, including radar, optical, acoustic, biological, and chemical sensors. Modeling and the analysis of field measurements are used to quantify the ability of current and proposed technology to meet mission requirements. This work includes analysis, algorithm development, and field testing.
Group 47—Biodefense Systems
The Biodefense Systems Group develops systems and technology for disaster preparedness, detection, mitigation, and attribution, with emphasis on chemical and biological defense. Principal sponsors are the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. The work of this group is highly interdisciplinary; as a result, the backgrounds of the researchers are diverse, including engineering (electrical, mechanical, chemical, biomedical), physics, mathematics, computer science, chemistry, and biology. Rigorous systems analyses produce system architectures and recommend research areas to guide government investment. These analyses are grounded by modeling and simulation of threats and defenses and by data analysis. Sensor development is conducted at several levels, including initial measurements of detection signatures, proof-of-concept experiments for biological or chemical assay or electro-optic sensors, integration into autonomous sensors along with development of the associated electronics and algorithms, and rigorous field-testing in relevant environments. The group develops and tests multitechnology integrated systems in operational settings. The integrated systems include significant algorithm development to fuse multisource information. Emerging thrusts in the group include support for additional Homeland Security missions, natural disaster management, forensics, and electronics and algorithm support for other MIT Lincoln Laboratory missions.
Group 48—Tactical Defense Systems
The Tactical Defense Systems Group works on air defense issues, in particular, air vehicle survivability, vulnerability of United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft to weapons systems, electronic countermeasures, and air surveillance for homeland defense. The group focuses on understanding USAF and threat air defense systems through tests and measurements. Test activities include flight, field, and laboratory testing. The group operates two airplanes, both highly instrumented, and numerous ground systems as needed for test efforts. The group also develops new hardware for testing and prototype systems as well as for instrumenting existing sensors. There are a few major field-testing campaigns each year. Local testing is used to validate flight readiness. Data collected from testing are analyzed and compared with models in concert with Group 49, Systems and Analysis. The group's activities continue to evolve in parallel with USAF efforts, but the emphasis remains on providing answers to questions from our Air Force sponsors by conducting field measurements using state-of-the-art instrumentation and then analyzing the resulting data.
Group 49—Systems and Analysis
The Systems and Analysis Group provides technical analyses to senior USAF leadership on a broad range of issues including survivability of advanced USAF aircraft versus modern air defenses; the impact of current and future electronic attack and electronic protection techniques; the effectiveness of advanced weapon systems; the capabilities and limitations of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; and the vulnerability of precision-guided munitions to threat counters. These system analyses rely on a large body of air-defense modeling and simulation tools for RF, IR, GPS, and directed-energy systems that are validated via participation in an active program of laboratory measurements and flight testing in conjunction with Group 48.
Flight Facility
The mission of the Lincoln Laboratory Flight Facility is to provide airborne platforms in support of specific research and development programs at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The Test Flight Facility provides a method of validation with actual field collected data. Facility research aircraft are flown, maintained, and managed by a professional staff of pilots, certified maintenance technicians, and administrative personnel. The Flight Facility's first priority is safety of flight. All flight operations are conducted using procedures and equipment that meet or exceed all Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements. As a result of various past airborne testing programs, mission-specific procedures have been developed. These procedures and the Federal Aviation Regulations provide for safe and successful operations. The Lincoln Laboratory Flight Facility was created in the 1970s to support early air-to-air collision avoidance research programs in Division 4 sponsored by the FAA. As the need for more extensive airborne testing increased, the Lincoln Laboratory Flight Facility has expanded to support a variety of DoD and FAA programs. The facility currently operates six aircraft.
Communications and Information Technology — Division 6
The Communications and Information Technology Division develops and demonstrates new technology to enable worldwide networked operations for the military and other government agencies. The efforts draw on a core expertise in RF, fiber and free-space optics, network protocols and services, information operations, communications processing, and speech and language technologies to address the needs of next-generation satellite, airborne, and terrestrial networks. The approach spans the network domain from physical layer to applications with significant attention given to the interplay among layers and the need to provide security. There are many diverse elements to this program, including characterization of RF and optical channels, research and prototype of protected satellites and terminals, development and evaluation of network protocols for tactical users, design and implementation of a toolbox for networked sensors, development and evaluation of information operations tools, and speech and language processing applications. The division is extensively involved in field experimentation and measurement campaigns to verify algorithms and architectural concepts in operational environments.
Group 61—Net-centric Integration
The Net-centric Integration Group focuses on providing a prototyping and test environment for integrating future DoD communication and networking. The future network-centric operations environment will include multiple terrestrial networks, airborne assets with multifaceted communication and networking capabilities, and a space backbone. The emphasis in the Net-centric Integration Group is the development of an airborne communication node, which serves as a hub providing heterogeneous RF and optical data links, onboard gateway and routing, and network capacity brokering. To support experimentation and test, the group manages and operates a 707 test aircraft; a ground-based, portable communications and operations center, and a free-space microwave propagation measurement range. These test assets are used as proofs of concept for advanced communication and networking architectures, both in controlled experiments and operational exercises. Current activities include integrating protected military satellite communications (Milsatcom), high-rate point-to-point tactical data links, and optical laser communication capabilities into the 707 test aircraft, as additions to the numerous existing modes of communication. At the application layer, Group 61 serves as a center for development of network-centric software tools, based on the Service-Oriented Architecture, and built around Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES). Proof-of-concept objectives include utilizing the rich set of communication links with time-varying capacities in a brokered, IP-based, airborne network and demonstrating robust communications through dynamic link management and brokering techniques.
Group 62—Information Systems Technology
The Information Systems Technology Group is engaged in a wide range of information processing–related projects focusing on speech and language processing and information operations. This group's speech and language processing R&D efforts include speech recognition, speaker recognition (identification, verification, and authentication), language and dialect identification, word spotting, speech coding, speech and audio signal enhancement, and machine translation. The group's information operations R&D efforts focus on techniques for protecting from, and detecting and reacting to, intrusions into networked information systems and for preventing software faults and understanding malicious code that exploits those faults. The group is involved in testing and evaluating the security of U.S. Government systems and networks and in identifying and demonstrating vulnerabilities in such systems. The group is also initiating new R&D in analysis of social networks based on speech, text, and network communications and activities. In each of this group's R&D areas, emphasis is placed on realistic data and experimental evaluation of techniques in test beds.
Group 63—Wideband Tactical Networking
The Wideband Tactical Networking Group develops concepts, technologies, and prototypes to provide on-the-move tactical military forces with wideband packet network access. The group's current focus is on the design and integration of increasingly more capable, inexpensive, modular, mobile network nodes that support satellite, airborne, and terrestrial links. The purpose of these nodes is to give mobile warfighters the network access they need to run critical command-and-control applications and situational awareness applications no matter where they are moving in a theater of operations. During testing, nodes are placed on military vehicles and driven in rugged, off-road environments both at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and at military test ranges around the country. New technologies that are being developed and integrated into the modular nodes include multiantenna band feeds, antenna positioning systems, novel waveforms, advanced networking techniques and algorithms, and programmable modems.
Group 64—Advanced Satcom Systems and Operations
The Advanced Satcom Systems and Operations Group is involved in a synergistic combination of research, proof-of-concept test beds, and system engineering/application efforts focused on the goals of enhancing the capacity, the robustness to interference, and the flexibility of future generations of communications satellites, as well as line-of-sight radio communications systems. Current research is concentrating on the design and performance of advanced waveforms (including higher-order signaling constellations and iterative demodulation/decoding), the construction of flexible, adaptive wideband frequency plans, robust acquisition and tracking techniques, dynamic resource-allocation protocols, and advanced networking strategies. Promising research results are verified in hardware/software proof-of-concept implementations
that provide quantitative performance data as well as complexity information. The group's system engineering activities apply new concepts and technologies to specific communications programs in the national interest.
Group 65—Advanced Networks and Applications
The Advanced Networks and Applications Group specializes in networking issues in the context of unique government requirements. One major activity focuses on mobile, ad hoc, heterogeneous networking in an airborne context. High-performance networking (gigabit class and above) over satellite systems to both fixed and mobile systems is another area of focus. In the application area, the group is exploring ways to apply next-generation, service-oriented architectures (semantic web) to sensor and decision-support systems.
Group 66—Advanced Lasercom Systems and Operations
The Advanced Lasercom Systems and Operations Group develops, builds, and operates prototype space and airborne lasercom terminals. The technology developed and the lessons learned from these activities are transferred to operational programs through participation in standards groups and through the operation of a gold-standard test infrastructure. Major efforts include demonstration of a low-cost, high-performance airborne lasercom terminal, design of lasercom interoperability standards, development of a test capability to validate interoperability among various contractor-produced terminals, and investigation into techniques to enable multiple simultaneous lasercom links through a single aperture. This group has close interactions
with both government and industrial partners.
Group 67—Optical Communications Technology
The Optical Communications Technology Group develops advanced laser communications technology for many applications. Research in optical switching and optical logic supports the development of future ultra-high-speed, all-optical routing. Research in superconducting, single-photon-counting detectors, novel modulation formats, and coding supports the development of future high-data-rate, interplanetary laser communications links. These technologies support the most sensitive optical communications links ever developed, enabling communication of several bits per detected photon across vast distances.
Engineering — Division 7
The Engineering Division, working in partnership with all the other MIT Lincoln Laboratory divisions, develops specialized hardware. The division's expertise includes mechanical, fabrication, aero, thermal, optical, and control systems engineering. The division's groups work in cross-divisional teams supporting a wide range of projects, including communications systems, missile defense testing, pointing and tracking systems, aircraft and satellite payload design, and optical systems. Special emphasis is placed on the integration of design and analysis capabilities to support the rapid prototyping of hardware systems.
Group 71—Mechanical Engineering
The Mechanical Engineering Group has expertise in static, dynamic, and thermo-elastic analyses; tribology; and mechanical design for systems ranging from large antenna structures to mechanisms and optical systems. The group is the Engineering Division's center for 3D computer-aided design. It also provides electronics packaging and cable design for airborne and space systems. Example projects include airborne and space-based laser communications systems, biological agent detectors and identifiers, and large radar antenna systems.
Group 72—Fabrication Engineering
The Fabrication Engineering Group provides fabrication engineering for both mechanical and electronic projects. The group is involved from the initial design through manufacturing, assembly, integration, and test. Facilities include a machine shop with a wide range of computer-aided machine tools, plus sheet metal, welding, and polymer facilities. In the electronics area, capabilities include circuit-board design, assembly, and inspection. The group also supports the Laboratory's environmental test requirements with vibration shakers, thermal chambers, vacuum chambers, and clean rooms. Planners and project leaders use a computerized system for quoting, scheduling, part ordering, and fabrication.
Group 73—Aerospace Engineering
The Aerospace Engineering Group has expertise in the areas of low-speed to hypersonic aerodynamics and aerothermal analyses, wind tunnel testing, arc testing, and flight testing. The group has extensive experience in missile payload design and is also responsible for thermal engineering applied to terrestrial, airborne, and space systems. Example projects include missile defense payload development and testing, missile-borne target development for high-energy lasers, and computational fluid dynamics modeling of building interiors for biodefense.
Group 75—Optical Systems Engineering
The Optical Systems Engineering Group applies various aspects of mechanical and optical engineering to the development of space-borne, airborne, and terrestrial optical systems. Expertise includes integrated analysis capabilities combining structural and thermal analyses with optical ray tracing, as well as stray light and optical performance analyses. These analysis tools support optomechanical design and a wide range of testing activities. Example projects include satellite passive imaging sensors, optics for space and ground laser communications systems, and airborne laser radar and imaging systems on both manned and unmanned aircraft. The group also has specialized expertise in very dense, multichip module electronics packaging for radar and processor systems. In addition, the group oversees a rapid development team, which designs, analyzes, fabricates, and integrates fast-developing prototypes for flight testing on a wide variety of manned and unmanned airborne platforms.
Group 76—Control Systems Engineering
The Control Systems Engineering Group has expertise in pointing and stabilization for radars and optical systems, embedded servo control systems, space-qualified electronics, real-time programming, airborne stabilization systems, mechanism control, and power electronics. Example projects include controller, power, and telemetry electronics hardware and software for Laboratory space payloads; stabilization and pointing control systems for airborne laser radars and imaging sensors; and pointing and stabilization systems for terrestrial and shipboard radar antennas. The group is also heavily involved in the development and testing of a wide variety of missile defense payloads.
Solid State — Division 8
The Solid State Division performs research and development on component and subsystem-level technologies that can enable new approaches to DoD systems and that advance the state of the art for U.S. industry. This division's expertise covers a wide front including biology, chemistry, computer science, device physics, integrated circuit design and fabrication, lithography, materials, nanofabrication, optics, optoelectronics, packaging, photonics, quantum
information systems, and RF technology. The Solid State Division strives to understand DoD systems and develops technologies "that will make a difference."
Group 81—Submicrometer Technology
The Submicrometer Technology Group develops concepts, equipment, materials, and processes for nanoscale fabrication. This group also applies chemistry to sensing applications and to emerging areas. Examples of research activities include pioneering the development of 193 nm–wavelength lithography and liquid immersion lithography, both now in commercial use. Work continues on next-generation lithographic techniques. Chemistry-focused work includes the development and testing of chemical sensors for trace explosive and toxic chemical detection. Lithographic and microfabrication technologies are applied to such varied uses as photonic devices and microelectromechanical system devices. Silicon integrated photonic systems have been developed comprising optical filters, modulators, and detectors for application to high-speed optical sampling.
Group 82—Laser Technology and Applications
The Laser Technology and Applications Group develops application-specific solid-state
lasers, beam control and diagnostics for high-energy laser systems, and optically based biological and chemical agent sensors for DoD applications. Examples of research activities include creating new microchip-laser-based illuminators for sensor applications, demonstrating spectral and coherent laser-beam-combining techniques, developing tracking algorithms for use with 3D lidar systems, and developing high-discrimination bioaerosol sensors. These activities span the range from laser device development to optical subsystems through complete optical sensors.
Group 83—Electro-Optical Materials and Devices
The Electro-Optical Materials and Devices Group develops compound semiconductor materials and devices. This group also develops and applies photonic components including semiconductor lasers, amplifiers, and detectors for enhancing the capabilities of DoD systems. Examples of research activities include high-brightness and high-power diode lasers, vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers, quantum cascade lasers, photon-counting avalanche photodiodes, mid-infrared lasers and detectors, and thermoelectric and energy conversion devices. Disciplines span from epitaxial materials research, growth, and characterization, through electronic and photonic device modeling, design, fabrication, testing, and subsystem integration.
Group 84—Biosensor and Molecular Technologies
The Biosensor and Molecular Technologies Group combines molecular and cell biology with various engineering disciplines, enabling the development of new technologies of DoD importance such as biodefense sensors, diagnostic and forensic methods, and power sources. Examples of research activities include demonstration of new classes of biosensors using living cells as the sensing element, development of improved processes and protocols for sensing DNA and RNA, and the demonstration of new concepts for integration of biology with electronic, optical, and microfluidic microsystems.
Group 86—Analog Device Technology
The Analog Device Technology Group performs analog component research and development along with analog-centric subsystem development and demonstrations. Examples of research activities include development of high-performance mixed-signal devices such as ultra-low power and wideband A/D converters, and development of RF front-end technologies such as bulk-acoustic-wave filters, high-Tc superconductive devices, and precision packaging. Low-Tc superconductive Josephson-junction technology is being applied to research in quantum computing. Examples of subsystem development activities include wideband receivers, low-power communication receivers, and radar array modules. Work spans such diverse disciplines as analog circuit design, materials science, microfabrication process development, RF design, advanced electronic packaging technology, and quantum and solid-state physics.
Group 87—Advanced Imaging Technology
The Advanced Imaging Technology Group develops advanced silicon-based focal-plane technologies for both DoD and scientific applications, such as astronomy, remote sensing, and adaptive optics. Focal planes may address special requirements (for example, multiple or very high-speed image samples), time-of-arrival imaging (LADAR receiver), or high quantum-efficiency or very low noise applications. Examples of research activities include design, fabrication, and testing of world-class CCD imaging devices used in a variety of high-end scientific applications (for example, the focal planes for the Chandra X-ray telescope and various major telescopes), demonstration of silicon-based photon-counting detector arrays, and development of unique active-pixel sensors.
Group 88—Advanced Silicon Technology
The Advanced Silicon Technology Group applies its silicon microelectronics capabilities to develop new electronic, microelectromechanical structures and optical devices, with a special focus on silicon-on-insulator complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. Examples of research activities include demonstration of new processes enabling 3D integration of multiple layers of silicon-on-insulator circuits with applications to advanced focal planes and 3D computing architectures, demonstration of approaches to scaling silicon devices into the nanometer regime, and development of microelectromechanical structure devices for RF and optical-switching applications. Work spans from device design and device physics, through integrated circuit design, process development, packaging, and testing.
Aerospace — Division 9
The Aerospace Division develops sensors, technologies, and systems that help to strengthen national security. Focus areas are space control, persistent surveillance, and environmental monitoring. The division's work includes development of system concepts, hardware demonstrations, and technology transfer to industry. The primary technology focus is the application of new components and algorithms to enable sensors with greatly enhanced capabilities.
Group 91—Space Control Systems
The Space Control Systems Group develops technology and techniques for space control and space surveillance missions. The group has its roots in the development of technology to detect, track, and characterize satellites, including the Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep-Space Surveillance System (GEODSS) and the Millstone Hill Radar. The group is currently developing a technology prototype for a unique, large, ground-based Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) to provide a wide-area search capability for small microsatellites in deep space. The group also supports the development and demonstration of a space-based optical system for space surveillance and provides technical support to the Government for the procurement of an operational constellation to perform this task in the future. The group also operates an extensive observational program utilizing space surveillance technology to search for and discover near-Earth asteroids at its electro-optical field site near Socorro, New Mexico. This program, Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR), has discovered more than 50% of the known asteroids in our solar system. The group's core talents are also applied to other mission areas, including the development and demonstration of data fusion and discrimination algorithms for missile defense. Finally, the group's activities include substantial efforts in the modeling and evaluation of technology for new space systems, sensor data collection by radar, and visible and infrared optical systems.
Group 92—Aerospace Sensor Technology
The Aerospace Sensor Technology Group develops sensor technology for aerospace applications. Current emphasis is on advanced wideband radar systems for space-object imaging and exploitation of radar and optical data. A major ongoing effort in the group is the development of a wideband radar system for timely on-demand imaging of small satellites in orbits ranging from low-Earth to geosynchronous (40,000 km range). The new radar will operate in the 92–100 GHz band and will achieve an order of magnitude improvement in inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) image quality. Other areas of research include 3D imaging of space objects using interferometric ISAR techniques and fusion of optical and 3D ISAR data. The group is also responsible for technology development and upgrades to the Lincoln Space Surveillance Complex (LSSC), an operational test bed for radar technology and space situational awareness comprising the Haystack, Haystack Auxiliary, and Millstone radars in Westford, Massachusetts.
Group 93—Space Situational Awareness
There are currently more than 15,000 objects in Earth's orbit, ranging in importance from operational satellites to orbital debris. In order to monitor this large population, the Space Situational Awareness Group develops sensors, algorithms, techniques, and operational concepts to track and characterize these objects. The group operates the Lincoln Space Surveillance Complex (LSSC), comprising the Millstone deep-space satellite tracking radar and the Haystack and Haystack Auxiliary wideband imaging radars. All of these radars, which are used daily, are remotely controlled from the Lexington Space Situational Awareness Center (LSSAC), which serves as a data processing and fusion node for the LSSC and other ground- and space-based space surveillance sensors. Together, the LSSC and LSSAC serve as an operational test bed for space situational awareness technologies and provide access to a rich set of radar and optical data. The group's current research and development efforts focus on problems such as tracking and identification of newly launched satellites, tracking and discrimination of satellites in geosynchronous clusters, automated radar image exploitation, close approach monitoring and collision warning, applications of multisensor data fusion, and decision support. The group is also developing a net-centric, service-oriented architecture that networks all of these capabilities together in an integrated information system.
Group 95—Space Systems Analysis
The Space Systems Analysis Group identifies and evaluates threats to U.S. use of space for military, intelligence, civil, and commercial purposes. This work involves understanding the attributes and vulnerabilities of U.S. space-related systems, including the sensors and networks used to detect, track, and characterize objects in space, the satellites that provide space-based services, and the infrastructure used to control and operate these satellites. A central component of this effort involves consideration of how adversaries might try to exploit vulnerabilities and technically evaluating the knowledge and resources required to mount a credible threat against U.S. systems. The group also develops concepts for reducing U.S. vulnerabilities to these identified threats. This work requires detailed modeling of optical, radar, and propulsion systems; novel ideas for new space systems and on-orbit operations; and consideration of the timelines, architectures, and decision-making processes for maintaining awareness of the space environment. In addition, the group pursues potentially game-changing, innovative ideas for remote sensing of space and the Earth. This part of our work involves sensor design, signal and image processing as well as target and environmental phenomenology. The group seeks researchers from the physical sciences, including physics, mathematics, and chemistry, as well as from a wide range of engineering disciplines (including electrical, computer, mechanical, chemical, aeronautical, and astronautical).
Group 97—Sensor Technology and System Applications
The Sensor Technology and System Applications Group develops environmental monitoring electro-optical (EO) infrared (IR) sensor systems for detecting and tracking natural and man-made phenomena. As such, this group's activities include the extraction of target and feature information from airborne and space-borne hyperspectral imagery; system support of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) environmental satellites in performance analysis and improvement of existing sensors and products; architecture definition and sensor development support for the next-generation NOAA satellite systems; and chemical and biological agent detection sensor and system development. Work includes EO IR sensor design, system and architecture analysis, signal processing, data analysis, and algorithm development.
Group 99—Advanced Space Systems and Concepts
The Advanced Space Systems and Concepts Group's expertise includes advanced passive imaging system hardware development and video-processing technology research and development. These areas of expertise are used to support the development of advanced system concepts (architecture definition; prototype design; and hardware, algorithm, and software fabrication) for Department of Defense and NASA sponsors.
ISR Systems and Technology — Division 10
This division leads MIT Lincoln Laboratory research in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems and Technology, featuring development, implementation, and field evaluation of advanced sensors for undersea, surface, air, and space mission environments. Disciplines of importance include sensor technology and concept development, systems analysis, and signal and image processing. The required evaluation functions include design of signal processor hardware and software, prototyping and field testing of large-scale ISR systems, and collection and analysis of field-test data.
Group 101—ISR Systems and Architectures
The ISR Systems and Architectures Group emphasizes analysis and evaluation of ISR systems and architectures. The goals of the group are to provide systems analysis support to MIT Lincoln Laboratory's ISR enterprises, focused in the division, and to directly support sponsor studies. Relevant activities feature trade studies comparing alternative ISR architectures and systems, including formulation of concepts of operations (CONOPS) and assessment of performance for integrated multi-INT sensor and exploitation systems. Analytic methods as well as software modeling and simulation are applied to derive quantitative comparisons and to evaluate the impact of environmental factors such as target and clutter phenomenology. Field exercises and data collection experiments augment the analysis efforts as appropriate, including formulation and execution of red-blue exercises to test and validate predicted system capabilities.
Group 102—Embedded Digital Systems
The Embedded Digital Systems Group delivers real-time embedded processing capabilities for a broad spectrum of military applications. To this end, the group applies hardware architecture design, embedded software engineering, and signal processing analysis to a wide spectrum of military sensors and weapons systems, including space-borne and airborne radars, submarine and ship-borne systems, missiles, and torpedoes. The group's charter provides for development of expertise in both high-performance system-level prototyping and the enabling hardware and software technology. In pursuing these objectives, the group produces some of the highest-performance digital signal processor hardware technology in the world. At the same time, it is a leader in revolutionary software engineering initiatives that exploit high-level open system architecture and middleware approaches to achieve full cross-platform portability, improved system performance, and enhanced programmer productivity. Applying this multidisciplinary approach, the group is able to address ever more challenging requirements, matching signal processing applications to enabling technologies that range from VLSI application-specific integrated circuits and field-programmable gate arrays to large-scale parallel signal processors.
Group 103—Advanced Sensor Techniques
The Advanced Sensor Techniques Group develops and demonstrates new algorithms for processing signals, images, and data for a broad range of sensor system applications, including space-borne and airborne radar, passive sonar, advanced wireless communications, signals intelligence, and robust navigation. The group's core competencies are developing algorithms and sensor concepts for signal detection, communication, localization, and classification in difficult environments. The group has expertise in adaptive sensor array processing, signal detection and estimation, pattern recognition, multichannel communications, underwater acoustics, and systems analysis. The staff hold advanced degrees in electrical engineering, physics, and applied mathematics. The group conducts a significant amount of field testing and data collection to prove new concepts and collaborates with other groups within the division and throughout the Laboratory in real-time prototype implementation, experiment execution, and systems analysis.
Group 104—Intelligence and Decision Technologies
The Intelligence and Decision Technologies Group develops advanced technologies for processing and integrating data from a variety of sensors, such as radar, electro-optic, and video systems, and others as available. The goal of this processing is to extract critical information for decision makers about targets and areas of interest on the surface of the earth. A key aspect of this work is development of systems architectures and algorithms for timely and efficient distribution of this information and knowledge to analysts and decision makers. Required technologies include multisensor integration, data fusion, and algorithms for knowledge management and decision support to transform high-volume sensor data streams into tactically useful information. Sponsored programs in the group include analysis of airborne and space-based ground surveillance radars for broad-area imaging and moving-target detection, network-centric sensor architectures, sensor data exploitation, sensor grid experimentation, and software development to implement architectures and techniques for integrated sensing and decision support. Technical areas of staff expertise include systems analysis, modeling and simulation, feature extraction and pattern analysis using multisensor data, information-theoretic analysis of decision processes, and design, execution, and analysis of laboratory and field experiments.
Group 105—Advanced RF Sensing and Exploitation
The Advanced RF Sensing and Exploitation Group develops technology solutions for defense-related ISR missions, emphasizing RF sensing, signal processing, target feature exploitation, and prototype system development. Challenging problems are analyzed from a systems perspective. Innovative solutions exploiting small size, weight, and power consumption form the basis for several key program development thrusts in the group. For example, custom RF front-end hardware such as ultra-wideband multifunction antenna arrays and VLSI-based digital receivers are developed for military ground vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles. The group synergistically combines hardware with digital signal processing to enable new radar and intelligence data collection capabilities, and has moved beyond classical radar signal detection and imaging to develop concepts exploiting target features and data fusion from multiple sensor types, thereby enhancing detection and tracking in challenging (e.g., dense urban) environments. The group's programs typically entail system development in existing RF test chambers and unique rapid prototyping facilities, culminating in field test and evaluation. Principal staff expertise in the group includes system engineering, digital signal processing, electromagnetic analysis and antenna design, RF integrated circuits and receiver design, experimental physics, and hardware development and integration.
Group 106—Active Optical Systems
The Active Optical Systems Group's mission is to establish a laser radar center of excellence through development of advanced laser radar technology. One of the major research thrusts in this pursuit is implementation and application of three-dimensional laser radars employing novel receiver technology featuring arrays of detectors that are individually sensitive to single photons. The group is currently addressing the development and operation of airborne and ground-based 3D laser radars, along with data collection, data exploitation, and simulation and modeling efforts for various applications. The group is also pursuing significant efforts in development of coherent laser radar, including adaptation of advanced radar techniques to the optical environment, pushing the bandwidth of coherent systems into the terahertz regime, and using photon-counting detector arrays in coherent receivers. The goals of these efforts range from laboratory demonstrations to development of field-deployable systems. The group is also developing technologies to enable remote sensing systems in the near-optical terahertz regime. The objectives of this work include both receiver and source development for integrated remote sensing systems.
Service Department Summaries
Contracting Services
The Laboratory's Contracting Services Department's (CSD) fundamental mission is to negotiate and administer the prime contract with the United States Air Force (USAF) under which MIT Lincoln Laboratory is authorized to operate. Additionally, the Contracting Services Department solicits, negotiates, issues, administers, and closes out all purchase orders and subcontracts for the goods and services necessary to support the Laboratory's mission of advanced research. Procurements include commercial material, equipment, and construction, as well as research and development and technical consulting support. CSD also manages several related functions such as shipping, receiving, and the internal Laboratory stockrooms.
Facility Services
The Facility Services Department is responsible for the operations and maintenance of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory complex in support of the research mission. It also furnishes the design, engineering, and construction needs of the Laboratory, addressing its ever-changing program requirements. The department's overarching goal is to provide prompt, quality service in a wide spectrum of responsibilities in compliance with state and federal codes and manage many services that impact the workplace quality of life for the Laboratory's population.
Financial Services
The Financial Services Department works in collaboration with the seven technical divisions to manage the financial and business affairs of MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The finance team also makes sure that the Laboratory is always managing the $600M in funds within the bounds of our five-year Air Force contract. The department also ensures that the Laboratory's financial and business processes lead to practices that yield compliance to the Contract and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21 (the government guidelines for universities).
Human Resources
The Human Resources Department provides a wide variety of services to the Laboratory. The Laboratory's recruiting programs, including the college recruiting, summer undergraduate and graduate programs, and student co-op programs, are managed by the Human Resources Department. Additionally, the department supports the Laboratory's diversity and inclusion efforts, and manages training and career development, administration of compensation, classification and performance management systems, benefits counseling and administration, employee and labor relations programs, and the Human Resources information system. The department is customer focused in the design and delivery of services to employees, managers, and candidates.
Information Services
The Information Services Department (ISD) is responsible for providing central information technology services for the Laboratory. The department integrates core transactional and leading-edge information technologies to meet the ever-changing requirements of the Laboratory and its sponsors. ISD is customer focused, providing high-value, cost-effective enterprise solutions and services that provide a secure and stable infrastructure as the foundation of efficient administration, IT security, mission assurance, and research enablement. The department also provides an onsite library with complete information services to facilitate staff's research. It offers a highly focused and comprehensive collection of technical books, reports, and electronic journals and databases in all Laboratory technology areas. The library's information management services include an extensive digital library, metadata design, customized alert services, and document/content management support for projects, teams, and websites.
Security Services
The Security Services Department's overall mission is to provide the security services necessary to ensure a safe and secure environment at all facilities in which Laboratory staff members perform their mission of research and development. To accomplish this mission, this department formulates and implements policies, plans, and actions designed to protect facilities against threats of vandalism, accidental destruction, and sabotage; and safeguards personnel, property, equipment, and other assets, including classified and unclassified sensitive information entrusted to the Laboratory.