Robert Runkle
Pacific Northwest National Lab
I am a physicist at Pacific Northwest National Lab with a passion for driving science and technology into national security - reaching from fundamental science into field applications. My technical focus rests on the application of autonomy to laboratory and field settings. My goal is to harness the power of AI and robotics and fundamentally change how we perform research and development. I currently have the honor of leading the Physical Detection Systems Division. Our mission is to discover, develop, and deploy physical detection systems, at home and in over 100 countries abroad. Former roles include serving as Chief Science and Technology Office for the National Security Directorate and working in the Program Development Office as an account manager for Nuclear Security Science and Technology. My scientific contributions to national security include development of algorithms for radiation detectors used for law enforcement and international border security. I've had the joy of publishing 78 peer-reviewed articles with colleagues, including four review articles in the field of radiation detection. One of my favorite sidebar activities is giving a lecture entitled 21st Century Battlefields: Technology as a Driving Force in Conflict to help people understand the current national security landscape. Originally from upstate New York, I joined PNNL in 2003 after receiving a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in nuclear astrophysics.