If you’re not ready to ‘invent the internet,’ don’t look for a job at DARPA

By Bruce Brown July 14, 2016

DARPA gremlin drone fleet artist concept — DARPA

If you’re thinking it could be a big notch on your career belt to work at DARPA, the U.S. military’s advanced technology and innovation group, you’re right, if you can score a position. But don’t think that if you do get a job there, you can settle in for a lengthy, secure career, because that is not going to happen, according to CNN Money.

DARPA is short for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. All employees have an “expiration date” on their ID badges. With 220 employees in six offices, the agency has a 25-percent annual turnover. Most people stay no longer than four or five years.

Recommended Videos

DARPA has had roles in developing some significant technologies, including the computer mouse, early versions of GPS and of Apple’s Siri, parts of the Hubble Space Telescope, and high altitude in-flight refueling. So DARPA takes on big projects. And it expects results. The rapid job turnover policy means a steady influx of people who are up on current technologies.

DARPA was formed after the Soviet Union beat the United States to the Moon in 1958. It’s therefore appropriate that the agency was engaging in “moon shots” before Google started using the term to stand for tough projects that could take 10 years or more. But DARPA doesn’t want to wait for 10 years for you to perfect your assignment, you won’t be around that long.

The assignments are all big, and normally deemed impossible. And that’s why the agency doesn’t keep employees for a long time — if they stick around and have an institutional history of failure, they’re more likely to dismiss new ideas as impossible. And there are failures. Failure is an option because DARPA is about innovation, which isn’t just moving the rock down the road a few feet.

DARPA program manager Phillip Alvelda said, “If half the people don’t respond to a publicly announced challenge saying it’s impossible, we haven’t set the bar high enough.”

“No idea is too crazy. The reaction is never, ‘That’s impossible.’ We say, ‘How would you do that? How would you get there? Write down the steps,'” said DARPA’s deputy director of the biological technologies office Barry Pallota.

To work at DARPA you have to want to create something big and it has to work. DARPA program manager Matt Hepburn summed it up: “If you don’t invent the internet, you get a B.”

So if you still quiver in anticipation of the chance to work at DARPA, go for it. Just get ready for your own personal “best-used-by” date.

Topics

Contributing Editor

Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…

Outdoors

The best portable power stations

EcoFlow DELTA 2 on table at campsite for quick charging.

Affordable and efficient portable power is a necessity these days, keeping our electronic devices operational while on the go. But there are literally dozens of options to choose from, making it abundantly difficult to decide which mobile charging solution is best for you. We've sorted through countless portable power options and came up with six of the best portable power stations to keep your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets functioning while living off the grid.
The best overall: Jackery Explorer 1000

Jackery has been a mainstay in the portable power market for several years, and today, the company continues to set the standard. With three AC outlets, two USB-A, and two USB-C plugs, you'll have plenty of options for keeping your gadgets charged.

Emerging Tech

CES 2023: HD Hyundai’s Avikus is an A.I. for autonomous boat and marine navigation

Demonstration of NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

This content was produced in partnership with HD Hyundai.
Autonomous vehicle navigation technology is certainly nothing new and has been in the works for the better part of a decade at this point. But one of the most common forms we see and hear about is the type used to control steering in road-based vehicles. That's not the only place where technology can make a huge difference. Autonomous driving systems can offer incredible benefits to boats and marine vehicles, too, which is precisely why HD Hyundai has unveiled its Avikus AI technology -- for marine and watercraft vehicles.

More recently, HD Hyundai participated in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to demo its NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system for recreational boats. The name mashes together the words "neuron" and "boat" and is quite fitting since the Avikus' A.I. navigation tech is a core component of the solution, it will handle self-recognition, real-time decisions, and controls when on the water. Of course, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes with HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation solution, which we'll dive into below -- HD Hyundai will also be introducing more about the tech at CES 2023.

Computing

This AI cloned my voice using just three minutes of audio

acapela group voice cloning ad

There's a scene in Mission Impossible 3 that you might recall. In it, our hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) tackles the movie's villain, holds him at gunpoint, and forces him to read a bizarre series of sentences aloud.

"The pleasure of Busby's company is what I most enjoy," he reluctantly reads. "He put a tack on Miss Yancy's chair, and she called him a horrible boy. At the end of the month, he was flinging two kittens across the width of the room ..."