It is time for another controversial hire at a tech giant and this time it is at Google. Yes, Google is reported to hire the director of DARPA, Regina Dugan. The news came through Wired tech news venture which has also confirmed the news with Google. Dugan held a top position at the imminent research project of Pentagon to take the job offer from the “innovative company”
Regina Dugan is quitting her on and off tenure at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) that lasted for past three years. She is being “offered and accepted at senior executive position” at Google which is confirmed by Eric Mazzacone, spokesperson from DARPA. Dugan’s new role at the Google has been reported as a ‘senior position’ but Google has not given any more information regarding what would be her specific role and job description. Instead Google’s official comment on hiring Regina Dugan was –
“Regina is a technical pioneer who brought the future of technology to the military during her time at DARPA. She will be a real asset to Google and we are thrilled she is joining the team.”
Nonetheless, hiring Regina Dugan reminds of Google’s announcement of autonomous cars which is a part of the project of Google X team. The car includes technology of driverless cars and was developed by Sebastian Thrun, the co-inventor of Google Street View and director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The autonomous car project won the competition of driverless cars, the DARPA Grand Challenge. Hence, Google X is assumed as a befitting project for the director of DARPA, Regina Dugan. Nonetheless, Google is tightlipped about her probable role in Google X. Currently Google X is led by Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google.
Regina’s Roles and Recognitions at DARPA
Now-former DARPA director Regina Dugan received recognition for her contribution from her department on leaving in words of:
“Regina is a technical pioneer who brought the future of technology to the military during her time at DARPA. She will be a real asset to Google and we are thrilled she is joining the team.”
Dugan’s qualifications and contributions include –
- Her input on next-generation manufacturing and cybersecurity brought her acclaim from the President and co-operation from the White House
- She retained the budget of the DARPA in times of crisis of Pentagon.
- Her reached for hackers and communities to tighten the security of military was an unusual approach for military research and development.
- She channelized her funds for long-term research and development for blue-sky project at DARPA toward operating costs of battlefields. Her values won her immediate praise from commanders. Her comments on this “There is a time and a place for daydreaming. But it is not at Darpa,” was once again noted as revolutionary for an agency like DARPA which was known for million dollar projects of mind-controlled limbs, Mach 20 missiles, and shape-shifting robots.
- She also published books on thermodynamics and had her own patents.
Regina Dugan’s final switch to Google is pending for a few weeks. On her hiring, we will get more information on her exact role and designation at Google.
