Sarah Popkin Program Manager, Tactical Technology Office DARPA

Sarah Popkin joined DARPA in January 2023 as a program manager in the Tactical Technology Office. Areas of focus include hypersonics and very low Earth orbit technologies. Prior to joining DARPA, Popkin managed the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) High-Speed Aerodynamics basic research portfolio covering a range of topics including boundary-layer physics, fluid structure interactions, and nonequilibrium chemistry. Popkin also managed the BOLT family of flight experiments while at AFOSR. Prior to AFOSR, Popkin was senior professional staff at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where she held numerous roles. Popkin holds a Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Science, and Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.