MIT Lincoln Laboratory, also known as
Lincoln Lab, is a
federally funded research and development center managed by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and primarily funded by the
United States Department of Defense.
Lincoln Lab is located at
Hanscom Air Force Base in the town of
Lexington, Massachusetts, and was founded in 1951.
History
In 1950, MIT undertook a summer study, named Project Charles, to explore the feasibility of establishing a major laboratory focused on air defense. The summer study recommended the establishment of a laboratory, named Project Lincoln to be operated by MIT for the Army, Navy and Air Force. The name "Project Lincoln" was chosen because the Laboratory sits near the towns of
Bedford,
Lexington, and
Lincoln, Massachusetts, and the names "Project Lexington" and "Project Bedford" were already taken by other DOD efforts.
The Lincoln Lab was the mother to a revolution in modern computing in 1956, the
TX-0 computer. The
TX-0 was born in the Lincoln Lab, created as a military development and shipped over to the
MIT campus on a long-term loan. This loan was priceless in terms of its value towards
computer programming, as
Peter Samson and
Jack Dennis used the computer to take giant leaps in programs development, and this loan to the institute was probably of more value than could have ever come from its role in the military.
In the early years, the most important developments to come out of Lincoln Lab were
SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), a nationwide network of radar and anti-aircraft weapons linked to digital computers conceived by professor
George E. Valley, and the
DEW Line (Distant Early Warning Line), a radar surveillance system placed along the polar gateway to the United States. In the 1980s the Laboratory explored compensating for the effects of atmospheric turbulence by using adaptive optics and developed a high-power laser radar system.
The laboratory has had a long history with computers and computer systems. Lincoln was the first to develop a real-time computer which was used to process radar data. To make such systems more reliable, the laboratory developed magnetic-core storage. Some of the earliest computer graphics and user interface research was done at the laboratory, including Sutherland's
Sketchpad system. Research into "packetized speech," (now
VoIP) done in collaboration with other researchers, led to the creation of
UDP. More recently, under sponsorship from
DARPA, Lincoln conducted one of the largest evaluations of intrusion detection systems, and makes corpora from that evaluation and others available to security researchers.
MIT's relationship with Lincoln Lab has come under intense scrutiny several times. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, growing disaffection with U.S. involvement in
Vietnam led to student demonstrations demanding that MIT halt defense research like that being conducted at Lincoln Lab and
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. MIT responded by spinning off the semi-autonomous Draper Labs entirely and moving all on-campus classified research to Lincoln Lab.
In 2000, MIT Professor
Theodore Postol accused Lincoln Lab researchers and the MIT administration of condoning
research misconduct relating to a technical evaluation of an interceptor for the
National Ballistic Missile Defense system. An outside investigation later dismissed these allegations, but its impartiality was never fully accepted.
Organization
The laboratory is organized into seven Technical Divisions:
- Division 3: Air and Missile Defense Technology: The Air and Missile Defense Technology Division's role is to work with government, industry, and laboratories to develop an integrated missile defense system. This division's main focus is investigating system concepts, developing technology, building prototypes, and conducting measurements to support the development of long-range radar and optical sensors, interceptors, and networks for missile defense systems. A strong emphasis is placed on partnerships and the transfer of technology to industry.
- Division 4: Homeland Protection and Tactical Systems: The Homeland Protection and Tactical Systems Division is leading MIT Lincoln Laboratory efforts in the Homeland Defense and Security, Air Traffic Control, Counterterrorism, and Air Force Red Team areas. The division has world-class expertise in systems analysis, system development, and field testing, and is leading a Lab-wide Blue Team effort to support rapid innovation capability. It focuses on a wide variety of areas including biological-chemical sensing, air vehicle survivability, electronic attack and electronic protection, detection of improvised explosive devices, and homeland air surveillance and air control. Recent efforts include architecture studies for the defense of civilians and facilities against potential biological attacks, development of the Enhanced Regional Situation Awareness system for the air defense of the National Capital Region, and development of technology for civil and military air traffic control. In addition, this division operates the Lincoln Laboratory Flight Facility, which provides aircraft, personnel, and ground support services for Laboratory programs' flight operations.
- Division 6: Communications and Information Technology: The Communications and Information Technology Division develops and demonstrates new technology to enable worldwide networked operations for the military and other government agencies. The efforts draw on a core expertise in RF, fiber and free-space optics, network protocols and services, information operations, communications processing, and speech and language technologies to address the needs of next-generation satellite, airborne, and terrestrial networks.
- Division 7: Engineering: The Engineering Division, working in partnership with all the other MIT Lincoln Laboratory divisions, designs and builds advanced technology systems of national importance. Projects include space and aircraft payloads and ground-based systems. The division's expertise includes mechanical, fabrication, aero, thermal, optical, and control systems engineering. The division's groups work in cross-divisional teams supporting a wide range of projects. Special emphasis is placed on the integration of design and analysis capabilities to support the rapid prototyping of hardware systems.
- Division 10: ISR Systems and Technology
Research
The laboratory's annual research expenditures in 2006 were $625.3 million, (larger than the rest of MIT's total research expenditures). The laboratory's research is largely classified national defense research, but also contributes to worldwide communications and civil air traffic control.
A feature of the relationship between Lincoln Lab and MIT is that intellectual property generated at Lincoln is owned by MIT and managed by the MIT Technology Licensing Office (TLO).
Directors
- Albert G. Hill, 1952-1955
- Marshall G. Holloway, 1955-1957
- Carl F.J. Overhage, 1957-1964
- William H. Radford, 1964-1966
- C. Robert Weiser, acting director, 1966
- Milton U. Clauser, 1967-1970
- Gerald P. Dinneen, 1970-1977
- Walter E. Morrow, Jr., 1977-1998
- David L. Briggs, 1998-2006
- Eric D. Evans, July 1, 2006 - present
