The Department of the Army officially announced that Dr. Philip Perconti will be the fifth Director of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
Since April 2016, Perconti had been serving ARL as its acting director when Dr. Thomas Russell was reassigned to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology.
ARL consists of approximately 2,000 military and civilian employees with annual revenue exceeding $1.8 billion.
"I am thrilled to be serving our nation's Soldiers and leading the laboratory's scientists, engineers and support staff in its efforts to discover, innovate and transition science and technology that will provide unprecedented capabilities for the future force," Perconti said. "Through our Research Management and Leadership Strategy, coupled with our on-going work in our Essential Research Areas, we are executing a strategy that ensures the Army of the future maintains decisive overmatch in an every increasingly complex global environment."
Prior to becoming the Director of ARL, Perconti was the director of ARL's Sensors and Electron Devices Director where he was responsible for leading and transitioning the Army's primary basic and applied research programs in sensors, electronics, signal processing, and power and energy component technologies.
Prior to joining ARL in January 2013, Perconti was the director of the Science and Technology Division of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center's Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate for 12 years.
He received a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering from George Mason University, a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from The George Washington University.
Perconti is a Fellow of the Military Sensing Symposium, a member of the Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Army Acquisition Corps, the Technical Cooperative Program Sensors Multi-Sensor Integration Panel and the Institute of Electrical Engineers, and serves as chairman for the Military Sensing Program, Passive Sensors Committee.
He has published extensively on many aspects of military sensing and countermine/counter improvised explosive device technology, has authored and co-authored over 40 publications including three book chapters, and he holds two patents.
Perconti was selected for the Senior Executive Service in January 2013.
