We solve complex research, engineering, and analytical problems that present critical challenges to our nation. APL—the nation’s largest university affiliated research center—provides U.S. government agencies with deep expertise in specialized fields to support national priorities and technology development programs. We also serve as independent trusted technical agents to the government, providing continuity for highly complex, multigenerational technology development systems.
Our purpose is to make critical contributions to critical challenges. At APL, we feel it is our responsibility to try to solve these national challenges with the full measure of our dedication and expertise.
The Lab’s core values are unquestionable integrity, trusted service to the nation, world-class expertise, and game-changing impact—all in an environment that is collaborative, fulfilling (and even fun!).
APL’s purpose and core values guide our future, and it is no less than to create defining innovations that ensure our nation’s preeminence in the 21st century.
July 2, 2020
David Porter, a longtime chief scientist in Johns Hopkins APL’s Force Projection Sector, was selected as a 2020 Blackboard Catalyst Award winner in the Teaching and Learning category for his graduate-level online course, Introduction to Oceanography, in the Johns Hopkins Engineering for Professionals (EP) program.
July 2, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on and a cautious reopening of the state continues, APL staff members remain uniquely focused on hitting their targets. In an unprecedented situation, teams in the Lab’s Space Exploration Sector and Research and Exploratory Development Department are evolving and adapting to ensure the Lab’s critical work remains on time and up to snuff.
July 1, 2020
Radar data from the Miniature Radio Frequency instrument aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter suggests a trove of metal-rich minerals lies deeper below the Moon’s surface, according to a recent study that includes Johns Hopkins APL researcher Wes Patterson. The finding could resolve a dilemma about the Moon’s formation.
June 30, 2020
M. Khair ElZarrad, the Deputy Director of the Office of Medical Policy in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration, will be the featured speaker in the July installment of APL’s National Health Virtual Speaker Series.
June 25, 2020
The uncanny resemblance of two near-Earth asteroids to spinning tops can arise from the rupture of a single asteroid, a new study that included Johns Hopkins APL’s Olivier Barnouin shows, raising the possibility that these asteroids aren’t mere products of happenstance but siblings birthed from the same cataclysmic event.
June 25, 2020
APL and Purdue University have signed an agreement that will allow both institutions to harness one another’s capabilities and expertise in the field of hypersonics.
June 24, 2020
APL is among Insider Pro and Computerworld’s Best Places to Work in IT for the third consecutive year.
June 23, 2020
In 2022, a binary asteroid system — an asteroid with its own moon — will be the target of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first full-scale demonstration of an asteroid deflection technology for planetary defense. The DART spacecraft will execute a kinetic impact, deliberately crashing into the asteroid’s smaller moon, Didymos B, to change its motion in space. To mark this historic mission, Didymos B is getting an official name of its own: Dimorphos.
June 16, 2020
Jennifer Cooper, a program scientist at Johns Hopkins APL, was recently selected to serve on the Executive Council of the Acoustical Society of America, the country’s main professional society for acoustics.
June 11, 2020
NASA’s MESSENGER mission uncovered many mysteries about the planet Mercury, but data from the APL-built spacecraft is also giving researchers a new way to solve another decades-old mystery with cosmic consequences: how long can a neutron last on its own?
June 9, 2020
The MEGANE instrument, a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer designed by APL scientists and engineers for the Japanese-led MMX mission, passed a critical design milestone May 26, moving the project one step closer to solving the mystery of how Mars got its moons.
June 4, 2020
Andy Oak has been named mission area executive for Homeland Protection at APL, where he will direct efforts to create disruptive capabilities that safeguard and secure the homeland against asymmetric threats.
May 29, 2020
On the heels of a successful demonstration of its Reconnaissance Blind Chess competition at one of the largest gatherings of artificial intelligence researchers in the world, APL has launched another round of the game, designed to advance machine decision-making under uncertainty.
May 29, 2020
NASA may be best known for focusing on what’s beyond Earth’s atmosphere, but the agency also has another role — searching for human life on our home planet, especially when those lives are in danger.
May 28, 2020
Teresa Wilburn, a group office administrator at APL and a registered nurse, just completed a three-week volunteer stint with Maryland Responds.
