Gabor Karsai, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Vanderbilt, and a team of researchers have been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create advanced software development tools and processes that meet changing military needs.
The researchers will work on adapting large-scale software systems to address emerging threats such as asymmetric warfare. (Asymmetric warfare refers to conflicts between groups with differing resources, often involving unconventional warfare strategies and tactics such as terrorism.)
The DARPA project, led by BAE Systems, a global defense industry, also includes researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The initial contract is valued at $3.4 million and includes a $3.4 million option for a second phase. Vanderbilt’s portion of the first-phase contract is about $1 million.
DARPA’s Producible Adaptive Model-based Software (PAMS) program will develop software that enables systems to monitor their performance relative to changing conditions and adjust accordingly.
The PAMS tools and processes will be tested using flight-control and vehicle-management software and on software-defined radios, such as the Joint Tactical Radio System, to show their applicability across various software domains.
Work on the first phase of the program, which is expected to run until January 2009, will be conducted at Vanderbilt, MIT, and at BAE Systems facilities in Burlington, Mass.; Wayne, N.J.; and Johnson City, N.Y.