Program Managers
IARPA Program Managers are experts in their fields of research who bring imagination and dedication to challenges facing the Intelligence Community (IC). The work of IARPA PMs directly and substantially impacts the IC's future capabilities and, more broadly, the field of science. This includes a broad spectrum of cutting-edge technology that ranges from machine learning and quantum computing to human cognition and linguistics.
Dr. Jack Cooper
Dr. Jack Cooper joined IARPA in October of 2020. In his current assignment as a Program Manager, Dr. Cooper focuses on areas of scientific research that include remote sensing, computer vision, trajectory analytics, and large-scale microsimulation. He is IARPA's Program Manager for three programs focused on automating and scaling the IC's ability to detect and characterize human activity in a variety of mediums. These programs are:
SMART, which seeks to automate the broad area search for a specific activity in satellite imagery; DIVA, which aims to automatically find and prioritize activities of interest in massive volumes of security video; and HAYSTAC, which will automatically identify anomalous activity by deeply modeling normal human movement in large-scale trajectory data.
Prior to joining IARPA, Dr. Cooper worked at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in the Research Directorate, where he was a Senior Staff Scientist for Predictive Analytics. There Dr. Cooper created and executed significant programs to automate Motion GEOINT processing and analysis, resulting in the transfer of multiple analytics into operations in both NGA and IC Partner enterprises. During his time at NGA, Dr. Cooper also built research programs to prepare the agency for future satellite systems and data streams through field experiments, simulation, and creation of new processing algorithms and architectures.
Dr. Cooper graduated from Clemson University in 2012 with a Ph.D. and Master's degree in mathematical sciences. He previously graduated from the University of Maryland in 2007 with a Bachelors' degree in mathematics and government and politics.
Dr. Jack Cooper joined IARPA in October of 2020. In his current assignment as a Program Manager, Dr. Cooper focuses on areas of scientific research that include remote sensing, computer vision, trajectory analytics, and large-scale microsimulation. He is IARPA's Program Manager for three programs focused on automating and scaling the IC's ability t...