New technologies and changing geopolitical dynamics have radically transformed the intelligence landscape, and Intelligence Community officials are racing to stay ahead of the competition.
The Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Intel Summit on September 19 will bring together key IC leaders and industry executives to dive into the intricacies of modern intelligence operations and the forces shaping the future of the field. One featured speaker is Dr. William Benard of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, a seasoned researcher and intelligence expert who will close out the event with a keynote address. Keep reading for a look into Benard’s career background and scientific endeavors.
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William Benard’s Career Background
Benard currently serves as director of IARPA’s Office of Collections. In this role, he leads research programs across a wide range of disciplines, including the science of design, distributed sensing, the design and manufacture of complex products and additive manufacturing as well as semiconductor materials, devices and architectures. He was appointed to the position in May.
Benard has extensive experience in technology research. He most recently served as chief of the Photonics, Electronics and Quantum Sciences Division within the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, and he has held a variety of other roles within the agency, including senior campaign scientist for materials research, acting chief of the Electro-Optics and Photonics Division and manager of its Specialty Electronic Materials and Sensors Cleanroom.
He has also conducted research for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. His projects with DARPA covered a wide range of areas, such as inertial sensors, X-ray lithography systems, optical switches, NASA payloads, genomic X-prize efforts and radiation detectors.
Office of Collection Priorities
IARPA’s Office of Collection currently oversees nine research initiatives. Below are three key projects you should know about.
MicroE4AI
The Microelectronics for Artificial Intelligence, or MicroE4AI program, is intended to advance hardware and software algorithm-architecture to elevate the performance of AI and machine learning applications hosted on microelectronic devices.
Through this effort, IARPA hopes to make these algorithms more accessible to edge users by reducing the size of technologies needed for AI/ML tools and increasing cost-effectiveness. To do so, MicroE4AI aims to:
- Create new materials
- Boost performance
- Emphasize compactness and low energy requirements
ELQ
Shortened to ELQ, the Entangled Logical Qubits program seeks to progress science in the area of universal fault-tolerant quantum computing using logical quantum bits. The objective of the project is to present high-fidelity entanglement between error-corrected logical qubits using a modular architecture.
To achieve this goal, IARPA will integrate the properties of quantum coherence and entanglement within an error-corrected environment by creating systems that can encode quantum information in qubits. This approach is expected to improve quantum error correction to prevent degradation of these properties.
EquAL-P
Known as EquAL-P, the Effective Quantitative Antenna Limits for Performance effort serves as a pipeline to progress electrically small antennas, or ESAs, by activating them using non-linear, time varying methods.
Today, radio frequency communication systems operating across long distances require proportionally sized antennas to function. Though smaller antennas are in high demand, using them for these wavelengths can cause performance issues.
These RF systems are typically activated using linear, time-invariant, or LTI ideas, but progress with this approach has slowed. A major goal of EquAL-P is to establish measurements for non-LTI antennas to provide a path for better understanding these techniques.
Hear From Benard at 2024 Intel Summit
Want to know more about what IARPA is up to? At the 2024 Intel Summit, you will get to hear from Benard directly during his keynote speech, in which he will share his insights on relevant IARPA topics. These three research projects are just a preview of the many areas he may discuss, so head over to the Potomac Officers Club website to register for the event and harness the opportunity to learn more.
