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. J. Brent Parham
Program Name(s):
SINTRA
Dr. J. Brent Parham joined IARPA in August 2026 as a program manager, working in space systems, sensing, and the space environment.
He came to IARPA after 17 years at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where he worked from concept through experiment to demonstration in support of national security as part of the Space Systems and Technology Division. His career has spanned spacecraft systems engineering, ground and space-based instrumentation across the RF and optical spectrum, physics-based modeling of the near-Earth environment, threat assessments, and analysis of new measurement approaches against operational needs. He is presently leading IARPA's efforts on the SINTRA program that aims to detect, track, and characterize orbital space debris that is currently difficult to track.
Dr. Parham holds an SB in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and an MS in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Boston University. He is a Senior Member of AIAA, a member of the American Geophysical Union, and an Eagle Scout.
Program Name(s):
SINTRA
Dr. J. Brent Parham joined IARPA in August 2026 as a program manager, working in space systems, sensing, and the space environment. He came to IARPA after 17 years at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where he worked from concept through experiment to demonstration in support of national security as part of the Space Systems and Technology Division. His care...