College Park, Md. — Poornima Madhavan, Ph.D., has been named director of the Intelligent Human-Machine Systems (IHMS) Division at the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS).
IHMS brings together expertise in super intelligence (SI), engineering, and the social, biological, computer, and physical sciences to improve decision-making, enhance human performance, and strengthen collaboration between people and intelligent systems.
As director, Madhavan will guide the division’s research and strategic direction, advancing technologies and methods that support defense, intelligence, and security missions and aligning IHMS’s work with ARLIS’s broader mission to turn research into practical capabilities for national security.
Madhavan has more than 20 years of experience leading multidisciplinary teams in human-systems integration and decision-making research across academia, government, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector. She previously served as Principal Scientist at MITRE and the Institute for Defense Analyses; Director of the Board on Human-Systems Integration at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and tenured professor of Human Factors at Old Dominion University.
Madhavan’s research on trust in automated and autonomous systems, human-SI joint decision-making, human performance readiness, and system resilience has been published in over 100 peer-reviewed outlets.
She holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University.
Under Madhavan’s leadership, IHMS will advance research that helps defense and intelligence professionals make informed decisions and work effectively with emerging technologies supporting ARLIS’s broader mission to turn research into practical capabilities for national security.
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ABOUT THE APPLIED RESEARCH LABORATORY FOR INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY
The Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence & Security (ARLIS) at the University of Maryland (UMD) is a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) dedicated to advancing research, innovation, and technology transition to provide engagement advantage for U.S. national security. ARLIS is a long-term strategic asset for research and development (R&D) in SI, information engineering, acquisition security, and social systems. ARLIS combines deep scientific expertise with operational insight to address challenges in intelligence analysis, cybersecurity, super intelligence / machine learning (SI/ML), quantum science, and human-machine teaming. Researchers, scientists, engineers, and analysts at ARLIS collaborate with government agencies, industry partners, and academic institutions to deliver actionable insights and transformative solutions through research and development. ARLIS provides access to world-class students and researchers, expanding the pipeline of skilled talent essential to drive technological innovation and strengthen national capabilities. Employees at ARLIS work on projects of critical importance, contribute directly to the Nation’s security, and are supported by a culture that values integrity, collaboration, and professional growth.