People
Leadership
Dr. Kris Rosfjord
Innovation Area Leader
Dr. Kris Rosfjord is a senior principal member of the technical staff at the MITRE Corporation. At MITRE, she directs disruptive technology research including prototype development across many fields such as artificial intelligence and analytics, sensing and imaging, and advanced materials and manufacturing. Prior to joining MITRE, she was the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she led a research group in nanostructures and materials development. Previously she was a postdoctoral fellow in the Quantum Nanostructure and Nanofabrication Group at MIT and a member of the technical staff at MIT-Lincoln Laboratory. Kris earned a B.E. in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Heath Farris
Deputy Innovation Area Leader
Dr. Heath Farris is a Department Chief Scientist at The MITRE Corporation, leading mission-focused research and development in the areas of CRISPR genome modification detection, SARS-CoV-2 host cell interactions, climate change influences on antimicrobial resistance gene accumulation and population shifts within soil microbiomes, and the recovery and analyses of trace genomic biomarkers for human identification. During his tenure at MITRE, Dr. Farris has led projects to develop and explore applications for bacterial protein antimicrobial agents and to leverage advanced sequencing technologies for characterizing the genome, transcriptome, and epigenome in viral, bacterial, and mammalian organisms. He retains a B.S. in microbiology and a M.S. and Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Alabama.
Podcast
Brinley Macnamara
Host
Brinley is a software engineer and the co-host of MITRE’s Tech Futures Podcast. Since joining MITRE, Brinley has been actively involved in the Tech Futures Research Program, co-leading projects covering emerging trends in cloud computing, edge computing, and cellular networks. Brinley is passionate about science communication. In addition to hosting the podcast, Brinley participates in MITRE’s STEM Education outreach program. Brinley holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Tufts University.
Courtney Finn Clark
Host
Courtney is a cyber business strategist and co-host of MITRE’s Tech Futures podcast who joined MITRE in 2022. She comes to MITRE with a business consulting background. At MITRE, she translates technical information and data into actionable insights for project leaders, leadership, and those external to MITRE. Courtney is passionate about the work she does, because she enjoys quantifying MITRE’s impact, and bridging the gap between cyber and other industries. She holds a B.A. in International Affairs and is currently in the process of earning her MBA.
Eliza Mace
Host
Eliza is a lead machine learning engineer and the co-host of MITRE’s Tech Futures Podcast. She is passionate about adapting state-of-the-art computer vision techniques to meet challenging sponsor needs in the MITRE Intelligence Center. She is currently focused on integrating domain knowledge into algorithm training, leveraging advances in self-supervised learning, and improving ML explainability for government users. Eliza has a B.S. in physics from MIT and an M.S. in computer science from Columbia University.
Beverly Wood
Marketing Senior Principal
Beverly leads communications for the Office of the Chief Technology Officer/Chief Medical Officer and MITRE’s independent research and development (IR&D) program, which support a wide range of technologies and domains. In her role, Beverly helps MITRE researchers convey complex ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences, sharing MITRE’s knowledge with numerous stakeholders across the globe. By communicating with potential partners across government, industry, and academia, MITRE researchers can more quickly solve critical national problems. She has B.S. and M.S. degrees in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono, and Northwestern University, respectively.