Episode 62: The Model (& Simulation) Researcher

For this episode of the Voices from DARPA podcast, we talk with new DARPA program manager, Dr. Alvaro Velasquez, a self-described "researcher at heart." His current research interests are at the intersection of formal language theory and machine learning for sequential decision-making.

Velasquez discusses his path to DARPA and how it serendipitously led him to inheriting management of a new AI program called Assured Neuro Symbolic Learning and Reasoning (ANSR). He also describes his idea for his next project, which will look at neuro symbolic knowledge transfer to accelerate the adoption of machine learning outcomes within modeling and simulation for military systems.

• Blubrry (podcast host): https://blubrry.com/voices_from_darpa/87814067
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-vK1WAJ0x8
• iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/voices-from-darpa/id1163190520

Image Caption: ANSR will include multiple demonstrations of use cases relevant to the Department of Defense, where assurance and autonomy are mission-critical. One such example includes using an autonomous system to create a common operating picture in a highly dynamic and dense urban environment as depicted in this rendering. (Conceptual image/U.S. Army)