Microsystems Technology Office to host Office-Wide Proposers Day

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Nothing is more iconic of today’s high technology than the semiconductor chips inside our computers, phones, military systems, household appliances, fitness monitors, and even birthday cards and pets. Since its inception in 1992, DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) has helped create and prevent strategic surprise through investments in compact microelectronic components, such as microprocessors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and photonic devices. MTO’s pioneering efforts to apply advanced capabilities in areas such as wide-band-gap materials, phased array radars, high-energy lasers, and infrared imaging, have helped the United States establish and maintain technological superiority for more than two decades.

On September 20, MTO will host an office-wide Proposers Day to familiarize participants with the Office’s mission, existing programs, and vision for future research, and to learn from potential proposers about their capabilities and ideas. As described in a recent Request for Information (RFI; DARPA-SN-16-60), program managers will also conduct a limited number of one-on-one discussions with potential proposers during this event—in person or via telecommunications. MTO encourages innovators wishing to be considered for such discussions to submit one-page white papers responsive to its RFI. The deadline for submission of these papers has been extended to 3 PM EDT on August 22.

MTO has identified three thrust areas of particular interest for this Proposers Day event: 1) controlling and exploiting the electromagnetic spectrum with unprecedented versatility and finesse, 2) creating new generations of sensors that could keep warfighters informed as they never have been before, and 3) providing safe, secure, and assured access to an increasingly globalized microelectronics supply chain.