Episode 70: Innovating How We Innovate

There are many ideas in the world, but truly good ones are few and far between – especially when it comes to breakthrough technologies that can change the course of history. Surfacing these types of ideas calls for a constant infusion of fresh perspectives and imagination.<br />That’s why DARPA created the DARPA Innovation Fellowship, a two-year position for early career scientists and engineers. Fellows push the limits of existing technology by exploring new ideas for answering high-risk, high-reward “what if?” questions in the realm of national security. <br />In this episode of the Voices from DARPA podcast series, we hear from Dr. Jinendra Ranka, director of DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO) – which oversees the Innovation Fellowship Program – about how the program offers unique opportunities for Fellows to make connections, demonstrate what’s possible and take risks. We also speak with four Fellows from the program’s first cohort – Dr. Rebecca Chmiel, Lieutenant Krishnan (Krish) Rajagopalan, Dr. Allegra A. Beal Cohen and Dr. Alex Place – for their perspectives on what it takes to develop high-impact, exploratory technology efforts for the Department of Defense.<br />Current DARPA Innovation Fellows