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.
December 5, 2019
In August, Zachary Burchfield represented APL in a 42-day excursion aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy for the Office of Naval Research’s Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) initiative.
December 4, 2019
In August 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe — designed, built and managed by Johns Hopkins APL — launched to space, soon becoming the closest-ever spacecraft to the Sun. Now, four new papers in the journal Nature describe what scientists have learned from this unprecedented exploration of our star — and what they look forward to learning next.
November 26, 2019
Researchers at APL have demonstrated a novel and groundbreaking way to additively print gallium nitride — a material that can be used to produce semiconductor power devices as well as radio-frequency components and light-emitting diodes — using a combination of liquid and gas.
November 15, 2019
Patrick Stadter, a program area manager with Johns Hopkins APL, has earned the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Award for Exceptional Public Service, the highest such honor presented to a civilian by the Air Force.
November 13, 2019
Parker Solar Probe has been awarded the NASA Silver Achievement Medal in recognition of its “stellar achievement” as humanity’s first mission to explore the Sun’s corona and the solar wind within the extreme environment around our star.
November 13, 2019
Andy Driesman of APL’s Civil Space Mission Area was awarded NASA’s Outstanding Public Leadership Medal for his role as project manager on Parker Solar Probe, NASA’s mission to “touch” the Sun.
November 13, 2019
Admiral John M. Richardson, former Chief of Naval Operations, has joined Johns Hopkins APL as a Senior Fellow. He and the Laboratory’s other Senior Fellows will help guide development of APL’s capabilities toward solving our nation’s most pressing challenges.
November 11, 2019
What began as a curious idea in his basement has morphed into a global force for good. Wayne Pavalko’s homemade buoys are now part of a system used by The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit organization developing advanced technologies to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
November 7, 2019
Natasha Alonso Zimmerman, a chemist in the Research and Exploratory Development Department, has earned a 2019 Women of Color STEM Award for her accomplishments in helping shape technology for the future.
November 6, 2019
The APL team building NASA’s first planetary defense test mission — the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — has completed two key mission reviews that bring DART steps closer to the challenging task of diverting an asteroid.
November 6, 2019
After four decades, the discoveries keep coming from NASA’s Voyager spacecraft and their sets of science instruments — including the durable charged-particle detectors developed at APL.
November 1, 2019
APL’s breakthrough lithium-ion battery technology has been recognized with a 2019 R&D 100 Award, celebrating industry-changing products and technologies.
October 29, 2019
Vickram Rajendran and William LeVine were two self-described “kids” just having fun with computers and math — but their work landed the early-career scientists a slot at the prestigious Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) conference.
October 23, 2019
The Lab’s Ciara Sivels was chosen to serve as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) IF/THEN Ambassador, joining a group of 125 talented women with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) from a variety of industries, companies, universities and laboratories in the United States.
October 22, 2019
She’ll lead the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. She’ll also lead the next generation of women in planetary science.
October 17, 2019
Originally slated for a two-year mission, the second of the twin Van Allen Probes spacecraft will be retired just prior to running out of propellant, more than seven years after launch and rewriting textbooks on radiation belt science.
October 16, 2019
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and School of Medicine (SOM) have, for the first time, demonstrated simultaneous control of two of the world’s most advanced prosthetic limbs through a brain-machine interface.
October 14, 2019
The flexible lithium-ion battery that can operate under extreme conditions — including cutting, submersion and simulated ballistic impact — now adds incombustible to its resume.
October 8, 2019
The application period for APL’s 2020 intern programs is open. The programs are highly competitive, with approximately 550 of 6,600 applicants selected in 2019, and the Lab has seen a 15–20% increase in applications nearly every year of this millennium.
October 1, 2019
APL researchers are capitalizing on recent advances in computer vision — including developments in object recognition, depth sensing, and simultaneous localization and mapping technologies — to augment the capabilities of two commercial retinal prostheses.
September 27, 2019
Innovation Leader will give out the 2019 Impact Awards at their annual Impact gathering in San Francisco in October.
September 26, 2019
In most cases, the preparation for and response to natural disasters don’t match up to the damage they cause and the devastation they leave behind. But a team of engineers and researchers in the Asymmetric Operations Sector is using its expertise in artificial intelligence to change this narrative.
September 25, 2019
On Oct. 7, APL and IEEE will host a workshop to focus on the many technical impacts and potential applications of fifth-generation wireless, or 5G, on government tactical and first responder networks.
September 16, 2019
APL has been tapped by the Department of Energy to develop advanced quantum computing and networking technologies as part of a larger effort to address basic research gaps in the ideas, methods and tools that connect quantum computing applications to hardware.
