3 ms·
As principal investigator for three of the listed DARPA projects (APAC, CRASH, STAC), I have to say that DARPA is by far my favorite research agency to work wit
by mattmight 11y ago
As principal investigator for three of the listed DARPA projects (APAC, CRASH, STAC), I have to say that DARPA is by far my favorite research agency to work with.
Every DARPA project I've worked on goes through the same three phases:
1. This is impossible.
2. This is impractical.
3. Holy shit! It works!
DARPA is unique in many ways: all agency positions are temporary (2-4 years usually), so there's no technical stagnation.
There's a high tolerance for risk. It would be remarkable for more than half the teams on a project to reach the objective.
And, they actually give you all the funding you say is necessary to complete the objective.
I certainly have my gripes with DARPA too, but in comparison to virtually any other federal research agency, it's a pleasure to work with them.