Dr. Whitney Mason is the director of the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO). Previously, she held the deputy director role in the agency’s Strategic Technology Office (STO) from June 2022 to October 2023. Prior to joining STO, Dr. Mason served as a program manager in MTO from November 2017 to May 2022. Her research interests include imaging sensors that provide multifunction capability. In particular, she is interested in novel device structures, optics, and electronics that enable new capabilities compared to current state-of-the-art imaging systems.

Dr. Mason joined DARPA from the Army C5ISR Center, formerly the Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, where she was the director of the Science and Technology Division within the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In that role, she led a team of scientists and engineers in the pursuit of new and improved focal plane array materials and devices; advanced read-out circuits; and enhanced optical materials and designs, lasers, and image processing. Dr. Mason holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Georgetown University.