Partnering with Johns Hopkins Medicine to Revolutionize Health
For nearly 60 years the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has collaborated with Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) to study pressing health and health care problems and develop innovative solutions. Early accomplishments in ophthalmology, neurophysiology, oncology, and cardiology led to better understanding of and new and improved treatments for various conditions. Today, through its National Heath Mission Area, APL is furthering its partnership with JHM to apply rigorous data analysis and systems engineering practices to the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The collaboration leverages the institutions’ systems engineering and medical expertise to create a learning health system that will speed the translation of knowledge to practice while enabling new discoveries through the development and application of advanced analytic tools. This article briefly describes how the partnership has revolutionized health and health care and is poised to continue to do so.
The Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy: Enabling a Future of Trust for Autonomous Systems
Autonomous systems are becoming increasingly integrated into all aspects of our lives. To work toward ensuring these systems are safe, secure, and reliable and operate as designed, the Johns Hopkins University established the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy (IAA), run jointly by its Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Whiting School of Engineering. The IAA takes a holistic approach to assuring autonomous systems by working across three pillars: increasing reliability of the technology, improving interactions within the integrated ecosystem, and engendering trust through policy and governance. This article discusses the need for the IAA, its goals and approach, and some of its initial research efforts.
The Future of Graduate-Level Education at APL
Graduate-level education has been the cornerstone for developing the capabilities of staff members of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and those of neighboring governmental and industrial organizations for over five decades. This article briefly discusses the development of graduate-level engineering and applied science education at APL along with its strong historical ties to the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. In particular, this article focuses on the 2020 education upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and offers thoughts about what the future may hold in store for graduate-level professional education at APL and its Whiting School partner.
The APL Workforce of Today and Tomorrow
When the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) reaches its 100th anniversary in 2042, its workforce can be expected to comprise a broad set of technical capabilities and staff attributes, some new and others enduring and recognizable from the Lab’s history. This article reviews APL’s workforce of 2020, discusses how that workforce and the work being performed are changing, and looks ahead at the workforce of APL at its centennial.
APL’s New Campus Master Plan
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has had a long history of campus land planning, beginning with its purchase of a 290-acre property in Laurel, Maryland in 1952. With the APL campus currently encompassing nearly 500 acres including owned and leased properties, the Laboratory faces several challenges in planning for future development. First it is hitting ceilings on available land on which to build. The continued tightening of government regulations, including environmental and zoning requirements, limits APL’s property development potential to approximately 250 acres. Second is the increasing complexity of the facilities APL requires today. Facilities often need to be uniquely tailored to meet specific sponsor or program needs, limiting their ability to be repurposed later. Third is the continued land planning efforts necessary to address the ever-evolving workplace requirements and needs of APL staff. Beyond simply indicating where staff are to work, development plans must fully consider how staff need to work. In response to these challenges, the Laboratory undertook a new master planning effort for its campus. The subsequent new Campus Master Plan, developed during the Campus Development Process, is grounded in the Laboratory’s core values and addresses the evolving aspects of technology, sponsor needs, environmental and regulatory requirements, and workplace culture and effectiveness.
The APL Communications Department
This article describes the context, foundation, and features of APL’s Communications Department, which formed in the summer of 2020. Although the department is not yet a year old as of this writing, a story of its trajectory might reveal insights about its future.
Air and Missile Defense: Defining the Future
Since the development of the proximity fuze in 1942, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has been leading the nation in the development of air and missile defense capabilities to defend our military forces, our allies, and the nation. Throughout these 78 years APL has strived to solve many of the most critical challenges in air and missile defense and in doing so has made critical contributions to the nation. As we look toward APL’s centennial in 2042, global threats to our nation’s military, allies, and homeland are evolving at a pace that will significantly challenge today’s air and missile defenses. This article describes the grand challenges in future air and missile defense and how APL, by anticipating these future warfighting environments and leveraging technology innovations, is working to revolutionize air and missile defense to ensure our nation’s preeminence in the 21st century.
Astrobiology at APL—On the Path to Discovery
Astrobiology is an exciting field of science focused on understanding the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. NASA focuses much of its research and technology developments on astrobiology, and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is a major contributor through research, technology, and missions. Astrobiology efforts at APL range from constraining when life first emerged on Earth and researching biosignature (i.e., signals of past or present life) preservation, to developing instruments and missions aiming to detect biosignatures and characterize the capability of an extreme planetary environment to harbor and support life. Beginning with APL’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which searches for past wet and potentially habitable regions on Mars, APL has continued to develop cutting-edge techniques and instruments to search for biosignatures, remotely and in situ. Additionally, APL is leading and serving as a key partner in several exciting NASA missions that will occur in the coming decades with habitability and biosignature detection goals. In this article, we summarize current efforts and look forward, over the coming 25 years, to the potential astrobiology exploration and discoveries that await.
Analysis at APL in 2042
As the role of technology continues to expand around the world, rigorous, multidisciplinary analysis is increasingly needed to inform technical solutions to the nation’s most pressing challenges. With their deep technical and operational knowledge, analysts at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have long partnered with senior government decision-makers to help them solve immediate challenges and to envision and prepare for future challenges. These partnerships will be stronger than ever when APL celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2042, as APL continues to provide the robust, insightful, and well-communicated analysis that our nation’s senior leaders require.
APL’s Asymmetric Operations Sector: Driven by Envisioned Futures
As the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) looks toward its 100th anniversary in 2042, its leaders are undertaking strategic planning efforts to imagine the challenges the future Lab—and indeed the future nation and world—will face. APL’s Asymmetric Operations Sector (AOS) created envisioned futures for 13 challenges spanning its four mission areas, Cyber Operations, Special Operations, Homeland Protection, and National Health, and is focusing its efforts on creating disruptive technical solutions to realize these envisioned futures. This article describes the envisioned futures and the strategic efforts involved in their formulation.