MIT/LL Beaver Works Center in
Cambridge
December 2014
This work is sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002.
Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not
necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
DoD Federally Funded Research and Development Center
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mission:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Massachusetts
Technology in Support of National Security
Key Roles: System architecture engineering
Long-term technology development
System prototyping and demonstration
Mission Areas:
Air and Missile
Defense
Homeland
Protection
Air Traffic
Control
Communication
Systems
Cyber
Security
Advanced
Technology
Space
Control
ISR Systems
and Technology
Tactical Systems
Engineering
FY14 Funding: $948M
BW Overview-2
RTS 12/22/2014
Number of Employees: 3858
Motivations for Enhancing
MIT Campus – LL Collaborations
Benefits to Lincoln Laboratory
• Greater access to MIT students, faculty
and technology
Benefits to MIT Campus
• Strong project-based learning
opportunities for students
–
Strong coupling to world leaders in
advanced technology development
– Opportunities for system-level funded
Capstone course and research projects
–
Opportunity to strengthen S&T base
–
Staff exposure to entrepreneurial culture
– Prototyping opportunities leading future
system concepts
–
Campus location for sparking new
collaborations
• Opportunity to advance system and
technology development through joint
Capstone and research projects
–
Leverage faculty and student expertise,
innovation and enthusiasm
• Recruitment of top graduates
– Access to Lincoln mentors
– Access to full-featured prototyping, research,
and classroom facilities
• Enhanced MIT participation in national
security challenges
– Strong coupling to national expertise in
systems and missions
• Student exposure to Lincoln career
opportunities
Greater opportunity to make impact in “service to the nation and world”
BW Overview-3
RTS 12/22/2014
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Beaver Works
Research, Education and Innovation through Project-Based Learning
MIT/LL Beaver Works
300 Technology Square, Kendall Square
MIT Campus
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Cambridge, MA
•
Lexington, MA
Greater impact on pressing global problems by Lincoln staff, MIT students, faculty and
researchers working together
–
–
Center for innovation, collaboration and hands-on development
Research and education through project-based learning
•
Large-scale Lincoln and MIT campus collaboration projects leveraging synergies between MIT
campus research and Lincoln Laboratory technology development
•
Beaver Works Capstone Project Courses
–
–
BW Overview-4
RTS 12/22/2014
One-year design/build research project in conjunction with a two-semester course
Exceptional project-based education opportunities for students
300 Technology Square
Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA
MITx
Draper
VOLPE
ISN
CSAIL
RLE
EECS
A.A.
M.E.
C&E E.
BW Overview-5
RTS 12/22/2014
MITEI
Media
Lab
Sloan
MIT/LL Beaver Works Center
Phase 1: 300 Tech Square 2nd Floor (~5,000 sqft)
BW Overview-6
RTS 12/22/2014
Opening Ceremony Speech Highlights
12 November 2013: 300 Tech Square, Cambridge, MA
• President Rafael Reif, set the tone for the event
‒ “We are only about 100 yards away from where the concept of Lincoln Lab
started…and now we find a way for Lincoln to join us back in Cambridge”
‒ “We announced an innovation mission which is something very important to
MIT, and Beaver Works fits right into that… It already feels like something
really innovative going on here.”
• Eric Evans discussed the Lincoln perspective and reflected on the
history of Beaver Works
‒ “This facility is dedicated to the proposition that innovative engineering
prototyping is an art – and the art can be learned through experience on great
projects.”
‒ “I don’t think that we have completely defined all that can happen here and
the possible benefits – but in true MIT fashion, I think that we are going to see
some remarkable results that many others will want to follow”
• Dean Ian Waitz discussed the importance of Beaver Works to the
School of Engineering
‒ “Lincoln Laboratory and MIT Campus represent incredible resources for
innovation, and there are many long-standing…and ad hoc relationships, but
we could do much more”
‒ “[Beaver Works can] provide an exceptional educational experience which is
unparalleled and develop relationships between faculty, staff and researchers
at Lincoln which move us into a more strategic relationship”
BW Overview-7
RTS 12/22/2014
Beaver Works Collaboration Project
Areas and Campus Partners
Beaver Works Collaboration Projects
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems
Cyber security
Engaging supercomputing
Transportation
Autonomy and robotic systems
Non-destructive evaluation
Energy systems
Imaging and computer vision
Distributed dynamic systems
System-on-a-chip
Signal processing
Earth remote sensing
Decision support
Bioengineering technology
Campus Beaver Works Partners
•
•
•
•
School of Engineering
•
•
•
Mechanical Engineering
•
Deshpande Center for Technological
Innovation
•
•
•
•
Gordon Engineering Leadership Program
Aeronautics and Astronautics
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science
Center for Transportation and Logistics
Computer Science and Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory
International Design Center
Microsystems Technology Laboratories
Wireless@MIT
Humanitarian Initiative
Broad areas for collaboration projects with strong support from many DLCs
BW Overview-8
RTS 12/22/2014
Sponsored Course Concept:
Beaver Works Capstone Projects
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Beaver Works
Capstone Projects
MIT Campus
• One-year design-build-test
projects in classroom setting
• Real-world
problems in
National Security
• Compelling system-level
projects and funding provided
by Lincoln (~$200k)
• Mission expertise
and mentors
• Close collaboration between
MIT students/faculty and
Lincoln staff
• Funding and
government
connections
• Dedicated space for innovation,
research and prototyping
• Access to worldclass faculty and
students
• Deep research
expertise
• Team-oriented
innovation and
development
• Multidisciplinary
engineering and
technical expertise
• Prototyping
opportunities
leading to future
systems
• Innovative concepts
• Risk-reduction prototypes
• Novel designs
• Spin-off opportunities
Beaver Works Capstone Projects provide high-impact project-based learning
BW Overview-9
RTS 12/22/2014
Beaver Works Capstone Projects
Aero/Astro Dept (Fall 2009 to Spring 2014)
Project Icarus (16.82)
Project Perdix (16.82)
Course 16.82
Fall 2009 – Spring 2010
Fall 2010 – Spring 2011
Fall 2012 – Spring 2013
Small UAV for airborne antenna
pattern measurements
Deployable micro-UAV system
for environmental monitoring
Modular UAV concepts
Project MicroMAS (16.851, 16.89/16.83)
Course 16.82
Course 16.82
Fall 2010 – Spring 2011
Spring 2012
Spring 2014
Micro-sized Microwave Atmospheric
Satellite space craft bus development
Large UAV design optimized for
sensor payload
UAV for Humanitarian assistance and
Disaster Response (HADR) missions
BW Overview-10
RTS 12/22/2014
2013 MIT/LL Cyber
Capture-the-Flag Competition
• 25-27 October 2013 at MIT Campus
• Defense: Support several
applications, each consisting of
Android application/front-end and
web service back-end
• Offense: Attack other teams’ backend services and Android apps
stealing their flags
• Scores calculated based on
availability and integrity of the
services and apps
• Teams with highest scores win real
cash prizes
–
1st : Vtech (MIT) : $3,000
–
2nd: GTFO’ (UMass) : $2,000
–
3rd: BUILDS Team 2 (BU) : $1,000
244 registrants, 170 registrants on teams, 25 teams, 10 schools;
Development and competition staging at Beaver Works
BW Overview-11
RTS 12/22/2014
MIT/LL Cyber Patriot Teams
• 1500+ teams in annual
national cyber defense
competition
2014 MIT/LL Cyber Patriot Teams
2014 Semifinal Competition
• MIT/LL staff have mentored
teams of local high school
students since 2011
– Learn theory and practice of
securing computer systems
– 2014 is largest team yet with
3 teams of 5 students each
• 2014 Highlights:
– 1st in the Northeast Regional
round
– 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the
Massachusetts State round
– 16th, 20th and 29th nationally
in the Semifinal round
BW Overview-12
RTS 12/22/2014
2014 Team with MIT/LL Staff at Beaver Works
BW Overview-13
RTS 12/22/2014