Directed a portfolio of large-scale, integrated research initiatives at FAIR, driving advancements in key areas such as Large Language Models (LLMs), conversational chatbots, simulation environments for AI training, advanced medical image interpretation, and privacy-preserving computation. rch.

Pioneered the field of Explainable AI (XAI) through the establishment of one of the first and most recognized programs in the area. Conceptualized and led the Machine Common Sense (MCS) program to develop AI systems with human-like commonsense reasoning, leveraging large-scale AI models and cognitive frameworks inspired by infant learning. Managed the Communicating with Computers (CwC) program to enhance human-computer interaction through natural language dialog, and the Big Mechanism program to develop AI systems capable of extracting semantic graphs of biological processes from medical literature.

I was on an IPA assignment to DARPA from PNNL where I directed advanced research projects in Artificial Intelligence.

Directed strategic planning and execution of a diverse portfolio of data science and machine learning projects. Initiatives spanned from foundational research to commercial applications, including anomaly detection, behavioral analytics, privacy-preserving computation, fraud detection, and the development of advanced analytical tools and infrastructure.

Directed long-range research efforts pursuing Project Halo’s vision of “Digital Aristotle” — a system containing large amounts of scientific knowledge encoded into an intelligent reasoning system for use in education and research. In particular, directed the development of “HaloBook” — an intelligent textbook that enables students to ask questions as they read and get answers from a knowledge base covering the technical contents of the book. See http://inquireproject.com/ for a description of the current HaloBook prototype, Inquire Biology.

Directed DARPA’s Personalized Assistant the Learns (PAL) project that produced pioneering research in artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, and human-computer dialog. The PAL project integrated the best of these techniques to create a first-of-a-kind cognitive assistant that learns to help decision-makers manage information overload and accomplish complex tasks. A significant spin-off of this project was the personal assistant Siri, later acquired by Apple for use on the iPhone. The research products from PAL included an avalanche of core machine learning and reasoning techniques (e.g., Statistical Relational Learning, Markov Logic Networks (MLNs), Probabilistic Relational Models (PRMs), Conditional Random Fields (CRF), Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), and Bayesian inference) that set the stage for the revolution in machine learning and big data.Created and managed the Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architecture (BICA) program, advancing fundamentally new computational models of cognition inspired by recent discoveries in cognitive neuroscience.Participated in all three DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges (2004, 2005, 2007), advancing autonomous vehicle technologies and robotics innovation.Participated in all three DARPA Grand (and Urban) Challenges (2004, 2005, 2007)Awards: DARPA Technical Achievement Award for the creation of the Cognitive Computing initiative (DEC 2005); DARPA Director’s Award for Sustained Technical Performance of the PAL Program (AUG 2007); Best Technical Presentation at the DARPATech annual conference (AUG 2005)

Provided technical consulting to DARPA and other government agencies on research related to knowledge extraction, link discovery, and collaborative intelligence analysis.Co-lead the initial strategic planning and business development for SET, which grew from a three-person consulting firm in 2002 to a 50-person technology development enterprise, acquired BY SAIC in 2010.

Directed Cycorp’s development efforts to build the Cyc knowledge base and to create a variety of intelligent software applications involving reasoning, natural language understanding, question answering, database integration, computer security, and web search, based on Cyc. This included managing three departments (with a staff of 40 technical people): Ontological Engineering, Inference and Reasoning, and Natural Language Dialogue.

Created and managed a number of R&D projects that produced significant advances in knowledge-based reasoning, agent-based systems, machine learning, information integration, human-computer interaction, and language understanding. For those of you who speak DARPA acronym-eze, the projects were: CPOF, EELD, HID, HPKB, RKF, I3, DDB, CoABS, and TIPSTER.Created and managed the Command Post of the Future (CPOF) project, which the Army adopted in 2004 as the division level command and control system in Iraq. In 2008, DARPA designated CPOF as one of the agency’s 50 most significant accomplishments in its 50 year history. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_Post_of_the_Future)

Led the development of the Air Force's Integrated Maintenance Information System (IMIS) from initial concept definition in 1983, through technology demonstration in the late 1980's, to implementation on the F-22 in the 1990's. Hand picked by the F-22 Program Director to lead an Integrated Product Team (IPT) to define the initial concepts, architecture, and development plan for an F-22 Integrated Weapon System Data Base (IWSDB) to integrate the major engineering, manufacturing, and logistics information systems for the entire F-22 program.

Managed the Computer-Based Maintenance Aids System (CMAS) project. Led an in-house team of five engineers and psychologists in the design, development, and field-testing of DoD's first Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) system.

Designed and developed the human-computer interface for several advanced aircraft crew stations, including the Air Force's first all-electronic cockpit for the F-16 C/D aircraft and a modernized avionics suite for the KC-135 transport aircraft. Planned and conducted user evaluations of the new cockpit information systems using high-fidelity flight simulators at the ASD’s Crew Station Design Facility.

Worked with a team of pilots and engineers to design a computerized navigation and flight management system for the Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) aircraft. Planned and conducted user evaluations of the new cockpit information systems using the Flight Dynamics Laboratory's flight simulation facility at Wright-Patterson AFB.

Drafted into the Army at the end of the Vietnam conflict. Served as a Personnel Psychologist Specialist in the Armed Forces Examination Station in Detroit, MI, and in the Community Services Center at Ft. Carson, CO.