Philip Perconti Chief Technology Officer Leonardo DRS

Dr. Philip Perconti is the Leonardo DRS Chief Technology Officer leading the corporate research and development strategy, accelerating technology innovation, and expanding partnerships resulting in integrated technology solutions to produce enhanced warfighting capabilities.

Previously, Dr. Perconti was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology and Army Chief Scientist. He was responsible for policy and oversight of the Army’s Research and Technology program which spanned 17 Laboratories and Research, Development and Engineering Centers, and employed nearly 12,000 scientists and engineers.

In that position, Dr. Perconti was charged with identifying, developing, and demonstrating technology options that inform and enable effective and affordable capabilities for the Soldier.

Prior to this assignment, Dr. Perconti served as Director of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), the Senior Executive responsible for setting the strategy, mission and programs for the Army’s Corporate Research Lab, he focused resources, defined technical competencies, prioritized, and leveraged partners through collaborations to execute and transition high-impact research to meet Soldier technology needs. He was responsible for six major technical business units, with over 3000 government & contractor employees and over $1.2 billion annual budget. He had direct oversite and responsibility for the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO), sponsoring over $300 million/year for University Affiliated Research Centers, grants and other university initiatives.

He ran the ARL Sensors & Electron Devices Directorate and was responsible for leading and transitioning the Army’s primary basic and applied research programs in sensors, electronics, sensor information processing, and power and energy technologies. He also started the Army’s major research initiatives in Quantum Information Sciences and Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Perconti ran the Science and Technology Division at the Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate and led the Army’s applied research and manufacturing technology programs for uncooled and high performance cooled infrared sensors; the uncooled technology is used in multiple Soldier night vision and targeting sensors; the cooled (3rd) Gen technology is entering production for the next generation of infrared targeting and reconnaissance systems.

He holds a Doctor of Science degree from The George Washington University. He is a Federal Laboratory Consortium Laboratory Director of the Year and is Northeastern Maryland Technology Council Visionary Leader. He is a Technical Fellow of the Military Sensing Symposium. Dr. Perconti has published extensively on many aspects of military sensing, machine learning and countermine/counter IED technology. He has authored and co-authored over 50 publications, including three book chapters. He holds two patents.