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Dr. Dean Collins Deputy Director
Dr. Dean R. Collins was appointed the Deputy Director of the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) in March 2005. In this capacity, he is responsible for the monitoring, analysis, and evaluation of research projects directed by the MTO Program Managers. In addition, he is responsible for supporting the MTO Director for the conceptual planning necessary to lead MTO into new program areas far in advance of the current state-of-the-art in the areas of electronics, photonics, MEMS, component architectures, and algorithms. He is also actively involved as a Program Manager himself and manages a number of programs focused on silicon integrated circuits. He initiated and is managing a major new office thrust, TRUST in Integrated Circuits, which is focused on evaluating potential threats from integrated circuits designed or fabricated offshore.
Prior to joining DARPA, Dr. Collins was Director for Advanced Research and Development Activity in Information Technology (ARDA). ARDA functioned as a joint activity of the Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense addressing high risk/high payoff Information Technology "problems" which had broad impact across both supporting communities. The focus was to do a "few" things well rather than initiate "many" activities at a shallow level. The annual budget increased 300% during his tenure and funded academia, National Labs and industry efforts. He was also a member of the Intelligence Community Advanced Research and Development Committee and managed the ARDA Quantum Information Science effort.
Prior to joining ARDA, Dr. Collins was with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He was Chief of the High Performance Systems and Services Division, one of the largest Divisions at NIST. This position focused on Information Technology with a strong commercial bias and the topics investigated ranged from biometrics to electronic books. He also had operational responsibility for NIST's communication networks and high performance computers. Prior to joining the High Performance Systems and Services Division, he was Director of Electronic and Photonics Technology Office of the NIST Advanced Technology Program, where he was responsible for directing high-risk technical programs focused on high commercial economic benefit.
Prior to joining National Institute of Standards and Technology, Advanced Technology Program, Dr. Collins was with Texas Instruments (TI), as Director of the System Components Lab, responsible for all research on III-V devices, nanoelectronics, photonics, and neural networks. Prior to being Director of the System Components Lab, he was Director of the Interface Technology Lab, responsible for all sensor and display research, including LCDs, DLPs, and CCDs. In this position he was also the program manager of one of the first three major DARPA sponsored Artificial Intelligence programs, FRESH, focused on solving logistical problems for CINCPACFLT. Prior to being Director of the Interface Technology Lab he was Director of Charge Coupled Device Lab, responsible for all CCD imaging efforts for military, space, and commercial thrusts.
Dr. Collins's achievements at Texas instruments include Charged Coupled Device Imagers (CCD Imagers) and the Digital Light Product (DLP). The DLP is a light modulator consisting of millions of individual micromirrors suspended above the cells of a random access memory integrated circuit. The DLP technology is used today to produce HDTV sets and viewgraph projectors. He fabricated the first CCD at Texas Instruments and stayed in charge of the project until the corporation had sold the 100,000th device. He initiated both the CCD and the DLP projects at Texas Instruments, provided technical leadership, and made significant technical contributions to both projects.
Dr. Collins received the S.B. (EE), and S.M. (EE) degrees from MIT and his Ph.D (EE) from the University of Illinois, where he was a Westinghouse Fellow. Dr. Collins honors include Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Eta Kappa Nu, and Tau Beta Pi. He was awarded The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Public Service Group Achievement Award for the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field/Planetary Camera Texas Instruments Team, the NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award for Galileo Solid Stat Imaging/ Charge Coupled Device Design and Development, and the United States Department of Commerce Certificate of Appreciation for contributions to the Open Electronic Book Authoring Group.
Dr. Collins is a member of the American Physical Society and a Registered Professional Engineer. He has published more than 40 refereed articles and has ten issued U.S.patents, including the basic patents on the liquid crystal wrist watch.