Arati Prabhakar
Advocating for science & technology for our future. Former Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
Palo Alto, California
Overview
Work Experience
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
2022 - 2025
As President Biden’s science and technology advisor and a member of his Cabinet, I had the opportunity to help set the course for artificial intelligence, health outcomes, climate and clean energy, and the innovation to enable a prosperous and secure America.
Council on Environmental Quality works in the development of environmental policies.
Cofounder and CEO
2018 - 2022
A nonprofit organization to conduct bold, rigorously managed R&D programs that create powerful new options for society’s hardest challenges.
Fellow
2017 - 2018
I started work on a project to rethink the U.S. R&D ecosystem and also had the opportunity to learn about social scientists.
Director
2012 - 2017
I led the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Defense Department agency with the mission to anticipate, explore, and achieve breakthrough technologies for national security. Working with an exceptional staff of about 200 government employees, I focused DARPA's efforts on fundamentally rethinking complex military systems; developing the next generation of artificial intelligence and data science; and planting new seeds of technological surprise in fields as diverse as social science, synthetic biology, and neurotechnology. We established a new office dedicated to biological technologies, demonstrated foundational approaches to enhancing computer security and deep-web search, and initiated new system-of-systems and space programs with the potential to radically transform military capabilities.
DARPA is a central research and development organization for the US Department of Defense.
Partner
2001 - 2011
I identified, invested in, and served as a board member for early-stage semiconductor and cleantech startup companies with the promise of significant growth. I had the opportunity to work with high-performing teams in energy and efficiency technologies, components for consumer electronics, and semiconductor process and design technology.
VP/President
1998 - 2000
Interval was a private lab inventing new ways for consumers to use information technology. I focused the company on opportunities in broadband technologies and applications, and launched new companies and licensing opportunities.
SVP and CTO
1997 - 1998
Raychem was a publicly held $1.8 billion global company that used its expertise in polymer technology, product design, and communications systems to address electronics, industrial, and telecommunications markets. I developed the corporate technology strategy and defined an investment framework for the company’s $100 million R&D budget.
Director
1993 - 1997
President Bill Clinton nominated me to this Senate-confirmed Presidential appointment. NIST works with hundreds of companies – startups to major firms – on broad-based technologies for U.S. economic growth. I managed an annual budget of $500 million to $1 billion, motivated a staff of 3200, and added a strengthened mission focus and new directions while reinforcing NIST’s traditional culture of quality. Accomplishments included: starting 11 focused programs in the Advanced Technology Program, expanding the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to full national scale, creating the Information Technology Laboratory within the NIST Laboratories, and expanding the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to cover education and healthcare.
A US government organization that builds and publicly shares solutions to cybersecurity problems faced by U.S. businesses.
Prog. Manager DSO; Director MTO
1986 - 1993
I defined strategic directions for and managed investments of up to $300 million/year in electronics R&D projects in universities, companies, and other labs. I initiated and managed (1) projects that enabled 193-nm photolithography, (2) the Microelectronics Manufacturing Science and Technology (MMST) program for flexible and scalable production, (3) device and materials research to extend Moore’s Law scaling beyond CMOS, and (4) demonstration projects to insert new semiconductor technologies into military systems. I established a new microelectronics office with responsibility for investment in SEMATECH, MMST, lithography, optoelectronics, infrared imaging, nanoelectronics, neural networks, flexible manufacturing, and insertion programs. New capabilities resulting from these investments now underpin leading-edge semiconductors and optoelectronics and are providing our military forces with significant technological advantages in the field. I also recruited into DARPA a series of excellent program managers, many of whom later provided office and agency leadership.
DARPA is a central research and development organization for the US Department of Defense.
Congressional Fellow and Analyst
1984 - 1986
I conducted a study on critical issues in microelectronics R&D for the House Science, Research and Technology Subcommittee.
Education
MS and PhD
1979 - 1984
BS
1976 - 1979