Wanted: Toolsmiths

"As we honor the more mathematical, abstract, and scientific' parts of our subject more, and the practical parts less, we misdirect the young and brilliant minds away from a body of challenging and important problems that are our peculiar domain, depriving these problems of the powerful attacks they deserve." I have the privilege of working at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and currently serve as the Acting Deputy Director of the Defense Sciences Office (DSO). Our goal at DARPA is to create and prevent technological surprise through investments in science and engineering, and our history and contributions are well documented. The DSO is sometimes called "DARPA's DARPA," because we strive to be at the forefront of all of science--on the constant lookout for opportunities to enhance our national security and collective well-being, and our projects are very diverse. One project uses cold atoms to measure time with 10 18th precision; another is creating amazing composite materials that can change the way in which we manufacture.