Dr. Pamulapati is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology (S&T) Foundations in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. He is responsible for overseeing all foundational initiatives within the Department of Defense (DoD) S&T Enterprise. In this role, he champions the DoD S&T Enterprise, maintains oversight and awareness of research and development (R&D) throughout the Department, and advocates for the Department’s S&T workforce and laboratory infrastructure.
Dr. Pamulapati is responsible for overseeing the DoD R&D enterprise consisting of the defense research laboratories and warfare/engineering centers and the Department’s federally funded research and development centers and university affiliated research centers. His responsibilities also include oversight of the DoD's basic research investments, from establishing Department-wide policy for grants to guiding and managing education and workforce development programs, including historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics initiatives across the Department, as well as the Department’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. As advocate for the Department’s S&T workforce, Dr. Pamulapati is responsible for more than 63,000 scientists and engineers who work in over 60 DoD laboratories, warfare centers, and engineering centers across 22 states and the District of Columbia. Dr. Pamulapati also oversees the Department’s technical interchange between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States (Five Eyes).
Dr. Pamulapati was selected for the Senior Executive Service in January 2016. Prior to this, from June 2006, he was in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, where he was responsible for developing and implementing policy initiatives for the Army’s laboratories. He also fulfilled the role of the Executive Director for Strategic Plans and Programs, a Senior Executive Service position, where he was responsible for the Basic Research, Innovation Enablers, Manufacturing Technologies, Technology Wargaming, and international portfolios.
During his time with the Army, Dr. Pamulapati also served as a senior policy analyst within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, responsible for a broad portfolio of national security interest items; as the Chief Scientist and Chief Technical Officer responsible for technology integration for the Army’s Future Combat Systems program and as a scientific liaison to the Army Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8, where he provided technical expertise and insight on S&T issues.
Dr. Pamulapati began his distinguished career at the Army Research Laboratory, where he developed advanced ultra-submicron high-speed devices for next-generation optoelectronic integrated circuits and monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuits, infrared materials for forward-looking infrared imagers, and high-power infrared laser sources for countermeasures applications. Dr. Pamulapati received his B.S.E., M.S.E., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He holds 11 patents and has contributed to more than 40 archival journal publications and three books. On numerous occasions, he has been invited to lecture at national and international fora for industry and academia. Besides teaching assignments at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway.
Dr. Pamulapati has a myriad of talents and interests outside of science and technology. Besides being an avid golfer and tennis player, he is also a pastry arts and design chef holding a degree in pastry arts from L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland.