News Releases

For the seventh consecutive year, APL has been named one of Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators, recognizing the Lab’s sustained commitment to empowering bold ideas and transformative research.

NASA’s Dragonfly mission has cleared several key design, development and testing milestones and remains on track toward launch in July 2028.

Andrew Mara has been named head of the Force Projection Sector at APL. Mara joined APL in 2023 as the head of the National Security Analysis Department, where he led the development of advanced technical capabilities to enable high-impact analyses of strategic challenges.

Angela Thompson has been appointed National Security Analysis mission area executive at APL. Since joining the Lab in 2007, she has served in key leadership roles guiding programs that advance U.S. national security.

Johns Hopkins APL researchers are exploring ways to produce food on demand by using readily available water to grow edible microbial products — an effort that could have significant implications for deployed military.

More than 600 participants from across the submarine force, allied nations, industry and academia gathered at Johns Hopkins APL for the 37th Submarine Technology Symposium. The symposium provided a forum for technical exchange and discussion under the theme “Lethality Today and Innovation for Tomorrow.”

APL researchers won a 2025 R&D 100 award for their nano-engineered materials called CHESS that significantly improve the efficiency of thermoelectric cooling devices. Their breakthrough nearly doubles the performance of traditional materials at room temperature, opening the way to much better cooling systems and energy-saving technologies.

A new startup, BIOPAC Medical Systems LP, has been launched to advance a novel neural blockade monitoring technology toward clinical use. The venture is a collaboration between APL, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, BLOCKsynop, Inc., and BIOPAC Systems, Inc., and will pursue regulatory approval and commercial deployment of a device that provides real-time, objective evaluation of regional anesthetic effectiveness.

Melissa Terlaje has been appointed chief government relations officer at APL. In this role, she will lead the Laboratory’s strategic engagements with government sponsors and stakeholders, ensuring APL’s critical contributions remain aligned with and continue to advance national priorities. Additionally, she will serve as board secretary for the Laboratory’s Board of Managers, which provides oversight of APL.

APL researchers have demonstrated that a quantum algorithm can be used to speed up an information analysis task that classical computers struggle to perform.