Victoria Coleman sworn to DARPA director post

Victoria Coleman, appointed as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) 22nd director, received the oath of office from Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Kratsios.

Coleman, who most recently served as senior advisor on microelectronics technology policy to the director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at the University of California, Berkeley, succeeds Steven Walker, who left the agency in January 2019.

Prior to her service at Berkeley, Coleman was the CEO of Atlas AI P.B.C., a Silicon Valley startup providing AI solutions to sustainable development initiatives – combining satellite data with other data sets. Atlas AI’s proprietary deep learning models helped create insights for clients across governments, NGOs, and commercial companies, authorities noted.

She is a former member of the Defense Science Board and a member and founding chair of DARPA’s Microsystems Exploratory Council. Coleman also served in an advisory capacity to Lockheed Martin’s Technology Advisory Group, Airbus Industries Starboard, and Santa Clara University’s Advisory Board for the Department of Computer Engineering.

DARPA, based in Arlington, Va., supports 210 government employees with research conducted by a wide array of public and private-sector performers through 2,000 contracts, grants, and other agreements.