Jonathan Edwards

Mr. Edwards has 20 years of experience in development of innovative technologies to address some of the nation’s most difficult and critical challenges for DARPA and similar customers. He joined META from BAE Systems, where he was a second-level Technical Director (TDII) supervising an R&D portfolio focused on multimodal (EO/IR and RF) sensing and processing. He has a long history of bringing automation and intelligence to novel sensing systems. His recent portfolio included management of diverse capabilities, including pioneering open software architectures supporting embedded perception; advanced mixed signal techniques for computation; unique digital engineering concepts within operational engagement frameworks; new approaches for analog photonic processing; systems for quantum sensing of RF signals; and state-of-the-art methods for radiation tolerance in space-borne COTS electronics.

Previously, as a Physicist, Technical Lead or Principal Investigator at BAE Systems, Mr. Edwards created multiple real-time sensemaking algorithms, developed advanced sensor models and processing pipelines, and architected multiple exploitation systems for ISR payloads. He combines business capture acumen with technical execution ability focused on producing revenue quickly from white-space concepts. Programs for which he played a technical lead role transitioned to product lines with multiple $100M+ business impacts. He also has a penchant for talent identification and grooming the next generation of high-potential technical leaders. To this end, he completed BAE Systems’ business development capture leadership and mid-career executive leadership programs.

Mr. Edwards’ specific domain expertise is ground, air, and space borne ISR systems spanning EO, IR and hyperspectral architectures, multifunction RF systems, and embedded sensor processing and technology. His technical expertise spans high-fidelity sensor models, systems and software engineering, detection algorithms, computer vision and signal processing, and applied math deployed for automation and artificial intelligence applications.

Mr. Edwards holds a B.S. in Physics and a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has 12 invited or refereed publications and multiple IP claims. Mr. Edwards has won numerous prestigious awards, including International Science and Engineering Fair Grand Champion, Banneker Key Scholar, JR Dorfman Prize, and BAE Systems’ Chairman’s Gold Award for Innovation.