At some time in our lives, most of us have learned that matter is made of molecules, molecules are made of atoms, and atoms are made of protons, electrons, and neutrons. But what’s less commonly learned is what’s going on inside those atoms and molecules, such as when a bond breaks or internal components are rearranged through a chemical reaction.

In this episode, we sit down with Keith Whitener, Ph.D., a program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO), who discusses the inner workings of reaction mechanisms and how atoms and molecules behave at the smallest possible levels.

In this episode we discuss how key mentors influenced Keith’s career as a physical chemist, how his stent as a Jeopardy champion connects to his DARPA work, and how his DARPA program portfolio tackles some of the military’s largest operational and logistics problems:

• SeREne: Aims to make explosives safer to handle and tunable on the fly
• HNO3: Aims to eliminate a supply chain risk by enabling high-efficiency production of nitric acid directly from air and water
• ExCURSion: Aims to bypass fuel supply line challenges by generating energy at point of need
• ExPEDitions: Aims to create a new chemistry for electrically rechargeable batteries to have both the power and energy density of carbon-based fuel

As promised, you can match wits against Keith by reading through a fan-created archive of Jeopardy appearances, including all the questions and answers for the episodes in which he competed.

Music in this podcast episode includes an excerpt of “Tuesday (Groove)” composed by Keith Whitener, available on his legacy personal website.

In this episode, we sit down with David Rushing Dewhurst, Ph.D., a program manager in DARPA\'s Information Processing Techniques Office, IPTO. Dewhurst works at the complex intersection of economics, data science, and national security to develop tools that help America navigate a world where economic competition has become a primary battlefield. 

Dewhurst shares his unconventional path to the agency and takes us through two of his programs: 

Anticipatory and Adaptive Anti-Money Laundering, A3ML: An innovative program that aims to eliminate global money laundering by treating it as an economic supply-and-demand problem, while preserving privacy through a decentralized approach. 

National Security Economic Theory, NASCENT: A program focused on establishing a principled theoretical foundation for geoeconomics and building generic playbooks for economic statecraft. 

Tune in to discover how Dewhurst is redefining the tools of economic statecraft to prevent pan-domain strategic surprise. 

What does it take to solve the world's most urgent national security and economic challenges? At DARPA, it starts with questioning past assumptions. In this episode, we go behind the scenes of a major organizational pivot to hear directly from the office leaders driving the change. 

We unpack the "why" behind the new names on the doors of two tech offices: 

• The Multi X Office (MXO): Formerly the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), MXO is breaking down the walls between physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science. Learn how this integrated approach aims to secure critical supply chains and build resilient physical capabilities. 

• The Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO): Reaching back to a legendary name from DARPA’s history, the former Information Innovation Office (I2O) is focusing on the first principles of computational power and resiliency that will be required to invent the next forward-looking breakthrough technologies for national security. 

Listen in to hear how DARPA is retooling its strategy, embracing massive scale, and transforming its structure to secure America's future. 

MXO

IPTO

Smash

Promethean Clay

Crystal Palace

IPTO history

BTO Program Manager Lt. Col. Adam Willis, M.D., U.S. Air Force, joins Voices from DARPA to share his remarkable journey from a ROTC physics major to a leading innovator in military medicine.

Dr. Willis discusses how a desire to apply science to help people led him down the dual paths of a Ph.D. in theoretical and appliled mechanics and a medical degree with a focus on neurology. He recounts the moment a demonstration of the DARPA-funded Revolutionizing Prosthetics program sparked his interest, leading him to cold-email a military doctor and future mentor, Col. Geoffrey Ling, who gave him a simple, life-changing piece of advice.

In this episode, Dr. Willis explains his work on groundbreaking programs like Golden Hour Evacuation (GOLDEVAC) and Making Anatomical Sense of Hemorrhage (MASH), which aim to revolutionize battlefield medicine by bringing critical care capabilities directly to the point of injury. He details his vision for an "ICU in a box" and autonomous surgical tools that could save countless lives when evacuation to a surgeon isn't possible. He also shares his unique perspective as a "Rosetta Stone," translating complex medical challenges into the language of physics and engineering to find novel solutions.

It started with a movie. It led to a mission.

In this episode of "Voices from DARPA," we sit down with Michael Feasel, Ph.D., a program manager in the Biological Technologies Office, to discuss his extraordinary journey to the forefront of American innovation. From a pre-med student who found his calling in an inorganic chemistry class, to career inspiration from a Nicolas Cage film, Mike's path was anything but conventional. He shares how a chance Thanksgiving conversation launched his career in chemical and biological defense, and how he was later recruited to DARPA.

Mike offers a unique look inside the agency, detailing the challenges of managing programs far outside his initial expertise and the incredible impact of fostering world-changing ideas. Discover the story behind his Protean program, which aims to revolutionize how we counter chemical threats, and hear his reflections on what makes DARPA a one-of-a-kind place for innovators.

Related Content:

DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center

ABC

Hermes

RIDDL

We go beyond the cutting-edge technology and "secret labs" to explore the most vital part of DARPA's mission: its people.

Six former Program Managers discuss their experiences and what comes after a tour of duty at the agency.

They share their initial anxieties, the challenges of working on projects outside their expertise, and the unique culture of support and urgency that defines DARPA.

Discover how they transitioned from the agency back to the private and public sectors, and how their time at DARPA continues to shape their careers and the future of technology

www.darpa.mil/careers

The AI Cyber Challenge, AIxCC, marks a pivotal inflection point for cyber defense.

Numerous attacks in recent years have illuminated the ability for malicious cyber actors to exploit vulnerable software that runs everything from financial systems and public utilities to the health care ecosystem.

AIxCC Competitors successfully demonstrated the ability of novel autonomous systems using AI to secure the open-source software that underlies critical infrastructure, with winners revealed at DEF CON 33.

Hear from DARPA and ARPA-H on the game-changing results the competitors achieved.

And although the competition is over, the challenge continues.

All seven finalist teams’ CRSs have been made available as open-source software under a license approved by the Open Source Initiative.

Hear from teams on their experiences through the competition and how they are moving their systems to the real world.

LINKS:

Competition website

Finalist teams

Open source archive

Information Innovation Office

ARPA-H Resilient Systems Office

The Service Chiefs Fellows connect their operational insights with potential DARPA breakthroughs.

We explore DARPA’s Service Chiefs Fellowship Program (SCFP), a 12-week immersive experience that brings together participants from various backgrounds across the Department of Defense (DOD) and other U.S. agencies. Its dual core purposes are to educate future leaders from military services and other agencies, helping them "infuse some of the DARPA magic into their home base," and to inform DARPA program managers and performers, many of whom lack military or government backgrounds, about the mission and the needs of current warfighters. This blending of ideas fosters new connections and can even lead participants to return to the agency, as exemplified by Rob McHenry, DARPA's current Deputy Director and the agency’s first Service Chiefs Fellow.

As part of DARPA’s broader strategy to engage the U.S. military and other U.S. government partners, the SCFP helps ensure vital ideas take root and flourish where they are most needed.

Service Chiefs Fellowship Program webpage

Biological Technologies Office (BTO)

Information Innovation Office (I2O)

Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC)

Dr. Michael Feasel (BTO program manager)

Commercial Strategy Office

RACER enables off-road vehicles to travel autonomously and reliably at high speeds over cross-country terrain, enabling new capabilities for our warfighters. 

Since the DARPA Grand Challenge kicked off more than 20 years ago, the Department of Defense has been very publicly invested in creating the capabilities necessary for ground vehicles to travel autonomously in areas without roads, signs, maps, or even GPS signals. 

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Stuart Young, who leads the Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program, which is creating platform agnostic autonomy capable of operating in complex, mission-relevant, off-road environments that are significantly more unpredictable than on-road conditions. 

We also speak with Dr. Trent Mills, a Colonel in the U.S. Army and special assistant to the DARPA director. Mills shares a warfighter perspective on what the Army has learned from RACER, and how autonomy is being integrated into the way the Army prepares and thinks about future engagements.  

Check out videos from earlier experiments to better envision what testing looks like in the field: 

• RACER Experiment 4 – Heavy Platform Highlight Video 
• RACER Experiment 4 – Cockpit view of an autonomous off-road run in TX 
• RACER Experiment 3 – Highlight video 

In the interview, Young shares: 

• The importance of real-world experimentation and testing 
• How the RACER program has evolved over its time  
• How performers on RACER have spun out innovative companies to accelerate bringing new capabilities to the warfighter 
• The confluence of technologies that have made off-road autonomy viable 
• What edge case scenarios RACER is still exploring and trying to solve, and what success means for the program 

What do smart bandages, ocean-powered sensors, and quantum biology have in common? They’re all part of Dr. Leonard Tender’s work at DARPA. On the latest episode of Voices from DARPA, he discusses his fascinating research in the Biological Technologies Office and how these innovations are shaping the future of national security.

Bioelectronics for Tissue Regeneration (BETR)

BioElectronics to Sense and Treat (BEST)

ReSource

BioLogical Undersea Energy (BLUE)

Microelectronics are the foundation of technology today, but what about tomorrow? Ten years from now? Twenty?

Real breakthroughs don’t come from simply refining what already exists—they come from reimagining what’s possible. In this episode, Dr. Whitney Mason, Director of DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), takes us inside the research that is pushing microelectronics beyond conventional thinking. She explores the potential of organic circuits to revolutionize computing, not by replacing existing technology, but by opening entirely new frontiers in electronics design. From assessing the potential of quantum computing to novel material innovations that could redefine performance and efficiency, MTO is driving advancements that go far beyond conventional chipmaking.

Dr. Mason also shares her perspective on how DARPA’s risk-taking culture enables groundbreaking discoveries, and why the speed of innovation is critical to maintaining U.S. technological advantage. She discusses MTO’s focus on next-generation manufacturing approaches that integrate best-of-breed materials to achieve disruptive performance leaps. By moving beyond traditional microelectronics and embracing unconventional ideas, MTO is working to create the future of technology—one where microelectronics aren’t just smaller and faster, but smarter, more resilient, and capable of things we have yet to fully envision.

Show notes and links:

Dr. Whitney Mason

Microsystems Technology Office

Voices from DARPA Episode 42: The Infrared Visionary

Voices from DARPA Episode 72: The Quantum Mechanic

QBI: Quantum Benchmarking Initiative

AMME: Additive Manufacturing of MicrosystEms

NGMM: Next-Generation Microelectronics Manufacturing

Episode 85 posting date: January 31, 2025