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Dr. Karen Wood, Program Manager

Dr. Wood joined DARPA in 2003, as Program Manager in the Tactical Technology Office. She joined the Strategic Technology Office in 2006. From 2002-2003 she supported SPO as an employee of ANSER working on chemical sensors for WMDs and large space structures with the ISAT program. While in TTO, she developed the Boomerang system, a rapid reaction, acoustic gunshot detection system, currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. She also initiated the CROSSHAIRS, Counter RPG, RPGnets and LASSO programs, along with numerous seedling efforts. From 1991 to 2001, Dr. Wood worked in various positions at NASA Langley Research Center in both the Advanced Materials Processing and Nondestructive Evaluation Sciences Branches. Her work included materials characterization and NDE of large space structures.

Dr. Wood's research interests include all areas of force protection, urban operations and emerging wide area surveillance technologies. She is also interested in large aperture space structure fabrication and assembly, and lunar ISRU.

Dr. Wood received a BS in Chemistry and a PhD in Applied Science with concentration in Polymer Chemistry at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.