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2006-2016: 10 YEARS OF

BUILDING ON A LEGACY

[ 1 0 Y E A R S O F I N N O V A T I O N ]

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MITRE is a not-for-profit corporation that has one core business—to operate federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs).

� National Security Engineering Center—Established 1958

� Center for Advanced Aviation System Development—Established 1990

� Center for Enterprise Modernization—Established 1998

� Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute—Established 2009

� Judiciary Engineering and Modernization Center—Established 2010

� CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare—Established 2012

� National Cybersecurity FFRDC—Established 2014

Our Mission

One public interest company, working with industry and academia to advance and apply science, technology, systems engineering, and strategy, enabling government and the private sector to make better decisions and implement solutions to complex challenges of national and global significance.

As we close out this challenging yet exciting decade of 2006 to 2016, I hope you’ll join

me in celebrating MITRE’s accomplishments. It’s a measure of what we’ve achieved

that we could highlight only a fraction of them in these pages.

Of course, making MITRE what it is requires the combined efforts of thousands,

from sponsors and trustees to our partners in collaboration and—most especially—

our staff. Without the men and women who work at and support this company, our

successes would have been impossible.

For all that you’ve done, and all you will do, I thank you. I’m proud I have had the

chance to lead you through this time.

All the best,

Alfred GrassoPresident and Chief Executive Officer

A Note from Al Grasso

[ 1 0 Y E A R S O F I N N O V A T I O N ] [ 1 0 Y E A R S O F I N N O V A T I O N ]

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A Note from Al Grasso i

2006-2016: Building on a Legacy: An Introduction 1

Goal One: Deliver transformational solutions that drive mission success 4

Activity-Based Intelligence: Analysis Takes a Leap Forward 6

Health: A Shot in the Arm for a Complex System 8

Cybersecurity: A Multifaceted Response to a Global Threat 10

Bistatic Radar: Evolving an Idea into a Game-Changer 12

Across the Decade: A Few Facts About Us 14

Goal Two: Set the standard for systems engineering excellence around the world 16

Systems Engineering: A Pioneering Spirit Thrives 18

Big Data: Navigating a New Resource’s Promises & Pitfalls 20

Civilian Agency Systems: Technical Rigor for the Enterprise 22

Aviation: Advancing the System that Connects the World 24


2006-2016: Ten Years of Innovation Timeline INSERT

Goal Three: Be a world-class organization 26

A Knowledge Organization: Serving the Public Interest 28

Fostering Workplace Excellence: Keeping Our Promises 30

Research: A Program Built to Power the Future 32

Across the Decade: A Few Words from our People & the Media 34

Table of Contents

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[ 1 0 Y E A R S O F I N N O V A T I O N ][ 1 0 Y E A R S O F I N N O V A T I O N ]

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2006-2016: Building on a Legacy

IN TWO YEARS, MITRE TURNS 60. Before we

reach our diamond anniversary, however, we want

to celebrate the decade just ending. These years

have been as momentous as any in MITRE’s history.

This book showcases some of the ways we’ve

addressed new and different challenges over these 10

years. It also describes some of the steps we took to

get there. But in getting there, we never lost sight of

who we are as a company. The thread from 1958 to now

remains unbroken.

To see what we mean, let’s

begin at the beginning.

MITRE opened its doors at the

height of the Cold War. The

Air Force needed to make its continental air-defense

capability—the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment

(SAGE)—operational. We took on that mission, guiding

the implementation of a network of digital computers,

radar stations, and weapon systems.

Along the way, we became pioneers in the then-young

fields of systems engineering and computer technology.

Not long after, this expertise made us a natural choice to

help the new Federal Aviation Administration develop a

unified National Airspace System.

MITRE also joined a small but influential community

providing objective technical expertise and acquisition

guidance to the federal government. Today, we know

them as FFRDCs—federally funded research and

development centers. They have a rich heritage.

MITRE upheld and broadened that tradition, building

a not-for-profit company that serves in the public

interest. With a sole focus on running FFRDCs, we have

always supported our government sponsors without

the organizational conflicts of interest that can hinder

objectivity.

Over our first five decades, MITRE’s reputation as a

go-to company for connecting sophisticated systems

grew. This ability helped us contribute to crucial

technologies that wouldn’t exist without us. Many of

them still make our lives better. Consider just two: GPS,

to get us where we need to go. And TCAS (the Traffic

Collision Avoidance System), to get us there safely, by

alerting commercial jets to potential collisions.

We never lost sight of who we

are as a company.

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increasingly recognized

our technical advances

and workplace practices.

Most important, we

stayed true to ourselves.

As always, we respect the wisdom experience brings,

while welcoming new and different perspectives. We

treat our employees like family even through rough

economic waters. Further, although each FFRDC serves a

key segment of government, each also shares knowledge

that benefits the others. This collaborative spirit remains

one of MITRE’s most distinctive characteristics.

It’s been quite a decade. Today, as in 1958, we provide

unbiased advice and data-driven technical expertise

for our sponsors that we can all be proud of. We created

this retrospective to take a moment and celebrate a job

well done. Although we can’t list everything, we believe

you’ll get a sense of the scope of our accomplishments.

So look back. Then look forward. The landscape keeps

changing, and there are always more opportunities to

contribute to the public good.

Yet we never lost sight of the human factor behind

every complex system. The Internal Revenue Service’s

choice of MITRE to run its FFRDC in 1998 reflected in

part that mixture of capabilities—the technical and the

organizational.

The Cold War ultimately faded into memory.

But changing times didn’t diminish our nation’s

challenges. The tragedy and aftermath of 9/11 brought

asymmetrical warfare to the world stage; military

strategy and intelligence gathering had to evolve.

Meanwhile, a revolution in technology forced everyone,

including federal agencies, to rethink how they operated

and communicated. The government relied on us to

keep pace with a rapidly shifting environment.

Framing the Future During a Turbulent Time

The last 10 years at MITRE have seen us build on that

foundation of achievement. Our belief that “We succeed

only when our sponsors succeed” has taken on ever-

increasing importance.

So—did we succeed? One metric alone tells a big story.

In 2006, we operated three FFRDCs. Today, we operate

blueprint we call the Framework for Public Service. The

goals sharpened and clarified our way forward. They

built on our fundamentals but also promoted agility in

adapting to change. Now, 10 years later, we can look

back and see where those goals took us.

A Decade to Remember

Agility in particular proved crucial, since few could

have predicted the whiplash-inducing changes in

technology, the economy, and the political environment

that lay ahead. We used the goals as a guide to lead

us toward myriad breakthroughs. Areas as diverse as

health IT, mobile technologies, social media tools, radar

and aviation systems, tax-fraud detection, big data

analytics, judicial systems, and more benefitted as we

focused our energies with greater purpose than ever.

And we expanded our independent research program,

which generates inventive solutions for our sponsors’

needs—many of

the breakthroughs

mentioned here spring

from our research.

National organizations

seven. The value and relevance of FFRDCs remain

strong, and we are a leader in providing that value.

So—how did we get here? It wasn’t by chance. A

decade ago, MITRE’s leaders surveyed the changing

world landscape. As a company whose mission focuses

on complex challenges, we saw opportunities to make a

difference and contribute more than ever before.

The demands facing our

nation’s government then

were many. To name a

few: Ongoing conflicts

in Iraq, Afghanistan, and

elsewhere. A massive

increase in global aviation traffic. An overburdened

healthcare system on the cusp of an information-

sharing revolution. Civil agencies constrained by

tighter budgets while also meeting greater constituent

demands. Meanwhile, something called “cybersecurity”

began bubbling up into the public consciousness

(though it was far from new to MITRE).

To best meet those challenges, in 2006 we created

an overarching set of strategic goals within a larger

The value and relevance of FFRDCs remain strong.

So look back. Then look forward. The landscape keeps changing.

“The most important company you

never heard of.”- Fast Company, 2010

[ 4 ] [ 5 ][ 4 ] [ 5 ]2006 - 2016

Deliver transformational solutions that drive mission success

We believe transformations in all the areas we influence—national defense,

cybersecurity, healthcare, air traffic control, homeland security, the well-

being of our veterans, and government use of information technology—can

decisively improve our nation’s prospects for economic competitiveness

and contribute significantly to global leadership in these areas. Over the

decade from 2006 to 2016, we worked with industry and academia to bring

the best solutions forward for the benefit of our sponsors and the nation.

G O A L O N E

2013 | MITRE researchers develop Patient

Toolkit. It’s a mobile app that enables chronically ill

patients to better manage their conditions, track

their symptoms and medications, and communicate

information to their healthcare providers.

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2010 | Using data from

sources such as the Air Force’s

Joint STARS aircraft, MITRE

contributes to a powerful new

form of intelligence analysis.

What if you had immense amounts

of data but no practical way to

discover its meaning? Even more

challenging: How do you search

through the haystack when

you don’t even know what the

needles look like? Answering these

questions led to one of the biggest

breakthroughs for intelligence

analysis in the last decade.

Similar to the origin of bistatic

radar (see page 12), the growing

use of improvised explosive

devices (IEDs) in Iraq served as

a major driver for change. When

the military put out a call in the

mid-2000s for ways to reduce

the number of these devastating

attacks, MITRE jumped in. As part

of a larger effort, we contributed

to the development of a new type

of analysis now known as “activity-

based intelligence,” or ABI.

Applying Analytics to Masses of Data

The MITRE team specifically

focused on comparing data called

GMTI, or ground-moving target

indicators, with known events. Back

then, most archived GMTI data

(gathered by airborne radars such

as Joint STARS) sat in storage, often

in hard-to-access formats.

We saw an opportunity to take the

underused data and break down

the barriers that prevented it from

becoming usable information. Take

an IED attack. If you could look

retrospectively at truck movements

and other “patterns of life,” what

might an analyst see? Like a

detective who recognizes a serial

killer’s routines, we showed ways to

review past activities that provide

important clues—ones that might

prevent an upcoming IED attack or

other dangerous event.

Our team put in long hours to

develop the initial capability, which

they called “GMTI forensics.” Over

time, we experimented with many

new sources of data correlated in

space and time to provide context

to GMTI detections. The successful

results made it easier to analyze the

data faster and with more accuracy,

separating normal activities from

suspicious ones.

Activity-Based Intelligence: Analysis Takes a Leap Forward

By 2010, our engineers had

contributed to a number of related

projects, including enterprise

architecture, sensor and platform

design and development,

algorithms, and additional tools for

analysis and forensics.

A Constant Push to Improve

There are several reasons why

MITRE could contribute to this new

type of analytics. First, we came

into the work unbiased and with

no motive but mission success.

Our partners trusted us with their

data, a crucial element for making

progress. We created software

tools and freely transitioned them

to commercial contractors so they

could build them for the Army.

The successful results made it

easier to analyze the data faster and with more

accuracy.

Wherever possible, we experimented

and applied the scientific method to

learn what worked, what didn’t, and

how we could improve our baseline

prototypes. To build as complete

a picture as possible, we pulled

data from as many as 20 sources

at a time. This need for a variety of

data streams also spurred sensor

development, such as bistatic radar

and other technologies.

Ultimately, MITRE contributed to a

joint effort that resulted in a unique

new form of analysis—one that

saved lives in Iraq and continues to

do so today.

Letitia A. Long, then head of the

National Geospatial-Intelligence

Agency, summed up ABI in 2013.

With ABI, “…decision makers can

plan their strategic responses,

planners can determine their

course of action, and operators

can take action, whether against

a formerly hidden adversary or by

altering our strategies and tactics

against future threats.”

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2016 | Bonnie is a MITRE-developed

tool for testing electronic clinical quality

measures (eCQMs) designed to support

streamlined and efficient pre-testing

of eCQMs.

If any segment of our economy

was ripe for transformation, it was

healthcare. That’s why, a little more

than a decade ago, we surveyed

the national health landscape.

Our conclusion? Applying MITRE’s

objective guidance and technical

acumen to the challenge could

make a material difference to

healthcare in this country.

We focused on several key areas,

including building partnerships

among stakeholders; improving

healthcare-related value, quality,

and access; advancing the science

behind health IT; and helping

government agencies meet

the requirements of changes in

healthcare law. We dedicated

resources and brainpower to the

mission. And we made measurable

progress in just a few short years.

Take value and payment integrity.

We’ve helped the government

achieve a 30-percent adoption

rate of alternative payment models.

These methods cut costs and

red tape compared to standard

fee-for-service payments. Part

of our work involved creating the

Health Care Payment Learning and

Action Network. HCP LAN serves

as a trusted third party for sharing

information. As many as 6,000

organizations and individuals now

collaborate to accelerate the use of

alternative payment models.

Helping Health IT Systems Work Together

Another field where we’ve made

our mark is health information

technology. In 2006, healthcare

IT systems already existed.

But most companies offered

proprietary technologies that

didn’t “play well” with one another.

Done right, electronic health

records (EHRs) give caregivers

and patients a better way to share

crucial information seamlessly and

securely. But the many incompatible

systems on the market kept EHRs

from meeting their full potential.

To help overcome barriers to EHR

adoption, we applied our decades

of experience with data standards,

software interoperability, open

source software, user experience,

and data architectures.

Our internal research program took

on healthcare issues head-on by

tackling EHR data standards and

software interoperability. Those

programs laid the groundwork for

hData, paving the way to a newly

accepted approach to healthcare

data interoperability via the

industry’s FHIR specification. Health

IT developers consider FHIR the

most promising standard for health

data exchange yet.

For certification of EHR systems,

our Cypress tool has become the

official testing platform for the

Office of the National Coordinator

of Health IT. Cypress helps ensure

“meaningful use” of health records

and promotes better quality of care.

To date, more than 600 EHR tools

have passed the test. We’re also

committed to using open source

software design methods. This

simplifies testing for vendors and

makes the government certification

process transparent and fair.

240 Million Records and an FFRDC

So what have we accomplished in

the last decade? We can sum up

our progress in a few major points,

which just scratch the surface.

First, more than 240 million people

have medical data stored in an EHR

system certified by MITRE. Second,

in 2012, the Centers for Medicare &

Medicaid Services (CMS) tapped us

to operate the only FFRDC focused

broadly on health, the CMS Alliance

to Modernize Healthcare (CAMH).

And third, the government’s trust

in MITRE was further validated

when it turned to CAMH to meet

congressional requirements of the

VA Choice Act in 2014. With our

alliance partners, MITRE conducted

one assessment and coordinated

another 12. These reports are helping

pave the path to improved healthcare

delivery for a most deserving

population—our nation’s veterans.

Health: A Shot in the Arm for a Complex System

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MITRE and cybersecurity go

back decades—all the way to the

ARPAnet, the predecessor to the

internet. In 1973, we co-developed

one of the pioneering concepts

behind computer security, the Bell-

LaPadula model.

Over time, as systems grew more

networked and interconnected, we

provided guidance to agencies as

diverse as the DoD, DHS, Treasury,

and the FAA. We’ve known for

just as long that when it comes to

cybersecurity, no one goes it alone.

That’s one reason we created

the Common Vulnerabilities and

Exposures public database in 1999

to make sharing security data easier.

But by the mid-2000s, attackers

had become better organized and

more sophisticated. They developed

patience, lurking in networks to

strike when ready. Random hacking

evolved into the Advanced Persistent

Threat, or APT. The APT causes

havoc inside systems, resulting in

data loss, network failures, and worse.

Something had to change.

Identifying Threats in a Resilient Environment

Throughout the last decade, we’ve

collaborated with our sponsors on

new ways to combat the APT. Many

of these ideas took shape within

our Cyber Security Operations

Centers, which serve as testbeds for

innovation and best practices. After

receiving numerous requests to

help others set up their own CSOCs,

we published Ten Strategies of

a World-Class Cybersecurity

Operations Center in 2014.

One of our ideas, resilience,

takes the realistic attitude that

organizations can’t stop every

intruder. Instead, we provided

guidance on how to keep vital

operations running even after a

damaging cyber-attack. MITRE

hosted a series of workshops that

resulted in the leading contribution

to the resilience strategy in NIST

800-160, an ISO/IEEE standards-

based special publication on

systems security engineering.

Another concept, threat-based

defense, puts analytical science

around threats. We created new

technology to identify common

attack patterns and promote cyber

threat-information sharing. By 2012,

with support from the Department

of Homeland Security, our

researchers had developed STIX™ (a

language for describing cyber threat

information) and TAXII™ (a trusted,

automated method for exchanging

cyber-threat data). The 2015 White

House Summit on Cybersecurity

recommended STIX and TAXII for

automated information sharing.

An international standards body

now supports the continued

expansion of these and other

MITRE technologies. And thanks

to licensing and open source

contributions, you’ll find MITRE ideas

at the heart of several cybersecurity

startups.

A Unified Front Against a Common Enemy

We also believe strongly there’s

safety—or at least better

cybersecurity—in numbers.

Cybersecurity: A Multifaceted Response to a Global Threat For example, we’ve hosted the

New England-based Advanced

Cyber Security Center in our

Massachusetts headquarters for

several years. The ACSC became

the first of a growing wave of

regional consortiums, called

Information Sharing and Analysis

Organizations.

In 2014, we released ATT&CK™

(Adversarial Tactics, Techniques

and Common Knowledge). With

ATT&CK, organizations can better

identify intruders inside their

perimeter, categorize their moves,

and devise a tailored response and

recovery plan. We provide ATT&CK

free to government agencies and

the public; we also encourage users

to contribute to the ATT&CK body

of knowledge.

Nevertheless, we haven’t given up

on the idea of stopping threats

before they start. That’s why we’ve

just launched Common Quality

Enumeration, a new standard for the

cyber community. CQE promises to

improve software quality at its root,

reducing security vulnerabilities.

Building communities proved

foundational to MITRE’s selection

to run the National Cybersecurity

FFRDC on behalf of National Institute

of Standards and Technology in

2014. As the nation’s first FFRDC

dedicated to cybersecurity, the NCF

brings together industry, academia,

and government to address

common challenges. The NCF has

played a central role in the creation

of the NIST National Cybersecurity

Center of Excellence’s new series of

cybersecurity practice guides.

The goal? To make sure that when

it comes to protecting networks,

privacy, and data, no one has to go

it alone.

2014 | We literally wrote the

book on cybersecurity operations

centers.

2015 | In the book Cyber Denial, Deception, and

Counter Deception, MITRE cyber experts outline how to

use deception to deny hackers the access they seek.

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One of MITRE’s biggest

achievements of the last

decade began where so many

breakthroughs do—with a question.

In this case, we asked: What can

we do to help out in Afghanistan

quickly? Our answer: Develop a new

kind of radar at an affordable price.

And do it fast.

It was 2008. Forces in Afghanistan

faced increasing casualties from

improvised explosive devices,

or IEDs. Traditional surveillance

systems, such as Joint STARS,

carried large phased array—

monostatic—radars to scan the

environment. They offer powerful

surveillance capabilities. But they

also have limitations, including

restricted time-on-task and

high cost. Taking down IEDs

required persistence, flexibility,

and speed. We knew there must

be another way.

Beginning with an independent

research project, a MITRE team

set out to make a practical, yet

highly capable, prototype radar.

They wanted to see if they could

use multiple, separated, low-cost

transmitters and receivers, instead

of using one large radar, and achieve

comparable or better performance.

Their work paid off in a capability

with a compact footprint, greater

agility, lower cost—and the ability to

save lives.

An Idea Whose Time Had Come

The concept itself dated back

to World War II. But no one had

brought the idea to fruition; there

were too many complexities older

technology couldn’t resolve. We

took advantage of 21st-century

advances in computational power,

timing, and GPS to develop

unique algorithms that handle

data much more effectively and

efficiently. Put simply, MITRE

moved the complexity of a typical

radar from the front end (with a

large, expensive phased array)

to the back end (using advances

in computational power and

efficiency). All at a fraction of the

cost of larger systems.

A series of live experiments

proved what our prototype could

do. In 2009, the Joint IED Defeat

Organization (JIEDDO) asked us

to move from prototype to an

operational demonstration in

nine months. When commercial

companies showed no interest in

partnering on a low-cost system, we

pushed the work forward ourselves.

We met JIEDDO’s tight deadline,

deploying functional prototypes in

Afghanistan readily adopted by the

warfighters. MITRE staff deployed

with them, helping our soldiers

understand and act on the data

the prototype collected. In 2010,

we transitioned the technology to

the Army, which has used bistatic

systems ever since. The threat

from IEDs has receded, but as the

number of deployed troops grows

smaller, the need for persistent

surveillance remains.

By Land or Sea or Air

Our original idea focused on

gathering ground-based information

of the kind used in activity-based

intelligence (see page 6). Since

then, we’ve continued to refine and

expand the concept. For example,

the Department of Homeland

Security uses a ground-based

Bistatic Radar: Evolving an Idea into a Game-Changer

operational prototype to monitor

airspace for illicit traffic in remote

locations. On the water, the Navy

is investigating using it to defend

carrier battle groups.

Even as this work shows promise

across multiple arenas, in some

ways we’re proudest of our impact

for the warfighter. Over the years,

we’ve received many letters of

commendation from commanders,

particularly those in Afghanistan.

We created a capability that gives

warfighters the ability to collect life-

saving information where they need

it, in any weather, at any time. That’s

the kind of answer we like to give.

2010 | At JIEDDO’s

request, a MITRE team

deployed a functional

version of the bistatic

surveillance system to

Afghanistan.

Our work paid off in

a capability with a

compact footprint,

greater agility, lower cost—

and the ability to save lives.


[ 14 ]

7

6

5

4

3NSEC (founded 1958)

CAASD (founded 1990)CEM (founded 1998)

VA Co-sponsors

CEM

HSSEDI (founded

2009)

JEMC (founded

2010)

CAMH (founded

2012)

NCF (founded

2014)

2016

2006

2016

23

28

44

2615 19

57 53

3851

121

156 180

4537

71 67105 107

114

145 139

26

16 14 1624 25 25 25 26

37 42

2006

Intellectual Property Disclosures

Patents & Patent Applications

License Agreements

155,430

196,970

239,922 246,921

2013

2016

New www.mitre.org

launches

71,236

136,045

2016

195,252

2013

New www.mitre.org

launches

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San Diego

Tokyo

Vicenza

WiesbadenRamsteinStuttgartBrussels

The Hague

Molesworth

Seattle

La JollaLos Angeles

Honolulu

Fort Huachuca

West Fort HoodSan Antonio

Hill AFB

BoulderColorado Springs

OmahaFort LeavenworthKansas CityOklahoma City

Eglin-HurlburtOrlandoTampaMiamiKey West

Fort BraggHuntsvilleMontgomeryFort GordonShaw AFB

Ann ArborIndianapolisScott AFBWright-Patt. AFB

BurlingtonRome Bedford

Hanscom AFB

PicatinnyEatontownPrinceton

Clarksburg

District of ColumbiaAberdeenBaltimore

Silver SpringSuitlandLexington Park

Fort Meade

New CarrolltonRockville

Fort Belvoir

Mission RidgeQuantico

Warrenton

Hampton RoadsHerndonMcLean

DahlgrenClarendon

Fairfax

CharlottesvilleChantillyArlington

Singapore

10

61Domestic

International

Across the Decade: A Few Facts About Us

A unified approach to addressing our nation’s challenges is characteristic of MITRE. But sometimes it’s

worth taking a look at a few of our achievements independently. As these illustrations show, 2006 to 2016

has been a time of growth and progress in both technical and organizational areas. (And for more about

this decade, we invite you to dive into the timeline included in this retrospective.)

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING GUIDE PAGE DOWNLOADS ON THE NEW MITRE.ORG

DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL LOCATIONS

MONTHLY PAGE VIEWS ON THE NEW MITRE.ORG

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITY

MITRE STAFF

FFRDCS OPERATED BY MITRE

BOOKS WITH MITRE CONTRIBUTORS/EDITORS

TECHNICAL PAPERS PUBLISHED ON MITRE.ORG

8,1262016

617706,311

2006

[ 16 ] [ 17 ][ 16 ] [ 17 ]2006 - 2016

G O A L T W O

2015 | Few systems are as

interconnected as the world’s

skies. MITRE Asia Pacific Singapore

(MAPS) includes a subset of the

R&D laboratory capabilities MITRE

uses to support the FAA’s work

program. MAPS will benefit both

Singapore and the global aviation

community.

Set the standard for systems engineering excellence around

the world

Because we work for multiple sponsors and on challenges that often

extend beyond our national borders, we are in a position to create

unprecedented, large-scale efficiencies by thinking horizontally, integrating

across sponsor domains, and employing new processes, technologies,

and solutions wherever they apply, regardless of where they were first

created. We will place renewed emphasis on applying our capabilities

to solve complex, cross-cutting challenges and be known as the best

in the world in the application of systems engineering capabilities.

[ 18 ] [ 19 ]


2013 | The Systems Engineering

Guide appears in print for the

first time, and the digital version

becomes the most popular section

of the relaunched www.mitre.org.

The words “MITRE” and “systems

engineering” have been synonymous

since our founding. Countless

government programs in defense,

homeland security, aviation,

healthcare, and civil-agency

modernization have benefited

from our pragmatic expertise

over decades. We are systems

engineering pioneers, but we don’t

live in the past. We always look for

ways to apply systems engineering

to the challenges of the present

and future.

For example—well before 2006—

we could see that the Internet

was changing everything across

all aspects of government.

Operational tempo increased. Data

and information sharing became

essential to mission success.

Individual programs evolved into

networked systems. Complexity

grew, but not necessarily ways to

deal with it.

In response, we became pioneers

again. We explored and expanded

the new areas of complex

systems, enterprise systems, and

their subspecialties. In 2006, for

example, systems-of-systems (SoS)

engineering barely existed. Now, we

lead the way, defining SoS’s core

capabilities for the wider community.

Better Ways to Explain a Complex World

Expanding beyond classical

systems engineering didn’t mean

discarding it. Instead, we built on

our expertise.

To meet our sponsors’ needs, we

developed new capabilities, such as

model-based engineering and the

“wave model” of SoS engineering.

Our model-based approach

uses advanced software-based

visualization techniques and the

standard Unified Modeling Language

(UML). Engineers using UML

create detailed working designs

for concept testing, analysis, and

improvement.

The wave model, also known as

the “implementers’ approach,”

provides a pragmatic methodology

for practitioners to implement

SoS engineering principles in their

programs. Increasingly, it’s becoming

a standard reference throughout the

engineering community.

Applying such approaches gets more

stakeholders to the table. This yields

better results for users and greater

cost control. It’s having a powerful

impact on programs such as the Air

Force Joint STARS recapitalization

effort, the VA’s initiative to end

veterans’ homelessness, and the

military’s Enterprise Ground System

program, which is unifying DoD

satellite networks.

Moreover, using these and related

tools and techniques, MITRE is

helping our sponsors “own the

technical baseline.” Agencies can

better assess proposed solutions,

define standards and architectures,

and manage risks and acquisition

costs for their programs. This puts

them on an equal footing with their

commercial partners.

Building a Body of Knowledge

In 2010, we collected decades of

wisdom gained from working on

government programs into one

collection for our staff. Since then,

MITRE’s Systems Engineering Guide

(SEG) has grown into a public online

Systems Engineering: A Pioneering Spirit Thrives resource and companion book with

more than 100 articles by dozens

of authors. The SEG is consistently

the most popular section of www.

mitre.org, receiving thousands of

views per month from around the

world. We update it often to reflect

new approaches and practical

experiences.

As the SEG notes, “While it’s

impossible to predict how the

traditional and new forms of

systems engineering will evolve,

a robust future lies ahead.” We

predict that MITRE will be part of

that evolution.

We are systems engineering

pioneers, but we don’t live in the past.

But systems engineering is never

just about technology. So we better

integrated “people” elements,

such as the budget environment,

agile development practices, and

organizational change management.

That ability to see the big picture

is key. It’s one of the reasons why

MITRE has become a central player

in one of the most significant

systems engineering challenges of

our time—integrating unmanned

aerial systems into civilian airspace.

[ 20 ] [ 21 ]


Big Data: Navigating a New Resource’s Promises & Pitfalls

Today, big data is the new oil, a

national asset of great strategic and

economic value. Knowledge hidden

and untapped in the zettabytes of

digital files generated across the

globe is estimated to be worth

over $1 trillion per year. Unlike oil

and gas, this resource is growing

exponentially every year, and there’s

no end to the supply.

Already, it’s had a huge impact

on industry—from marketing to

manufacturing. But there are

equal opportunities to apply big

data to national challenges as

well. That’s why we’ve worked for

more than a decade to show how

masses of information, combined

with sophisticated analytics, can

provide our sponsors with powerful

decision-making tools.

We tackle this from all sides. We

use our systems engineering

expertise to develop technical and

analytical approaches to collect,

manage, and parse massive

amounts of data for our sponsors’

missions. We’re also making inroads

on keeping personal data private—

a growing concern.

The Watchword Is Trust

Perhaps most important, we pair

technical know-how with our role

as a trusted third party. That lets us

build public-private partnerships

for information sharing that puts

data to work where it’s needed

most. Activity-based intelligence,

discussed on page 6, works by using

a similar model.

One of the clearest examples of this

is a groundbreaking collaboration

between the FAA and the aviation

industry called ASIAS. It stands for

Aviation Safety Information Analysis

and Sharing; it was first launched

in 2007. Before ASIAS, aggregate

data from across the aviation

industry from sources such as

aircraft “black boxes” did not exist.

With ASIAS, we can fuse internal

FAA data, airline proprietary safety

data, manufacturers’ data, publicly

available data, and more. Once

analyzed, the aggregated data helps

identify safety trends and assess

the impact of process changes.

ASIAS began with a handful of

stakeholders. It now boasts a

membership of more than 100

organizations and counting. This

only happens because government

and industry trust us to handle and

secure data they normally wouldn’t

share with each other.

From Data Comes Understanding

We continue to expand our big

data analytics into other realms.

Take our Social Radar tools, which

originated in our research program

in 2011. They use public social

media feeds, such as Twitter, to

develop situational awareness

for sponsor missions. In 2015, the

non-profit AtrocityWatch licensed

our technology. It’s providing

peacekeepers and others with a

better picture of their surroundings

based on real-time local social

media reports.

Enforcement Analytics Program

garnered us the DHS Under

Secretary’s Award for Building

Partnerships in 2014. As part of

the Healthcare Fraud Prevention

Partnership, we’ve helped identify

more than a billion dollars’ worth of

fraud within the healthcare system

over the last two years.

And to support a wider variety of

initiatives, especially small-to-

midsize ones, we’ve developed an

innovative big data platform. This

secure, location-agnostic platform

brings the analytics to the data. It

helps sponsors and other partners

cut project startup time by months

and saves money.

As big data continues to grow in

influence and value, MITRE will help

influence the government policies

that shape it going forward. In

keeping with our public-interest

role, we will continue to help our

sponsors sort hype from truth,

making sure the promises of big

data analytics yield practical, high

impact results.

MITRE pairs technical

know-how with our role as a trusted third party.

For the Internal Revenue Service,

we’ve supplied analytics for an

array of tax compliance programs,

including the Joint Operations

Center for Fuel Tax Compliance

(also discussed on page 22).

Our work for the Department

of Homeland Security’s Border

2007 | The ASIAS program is

one of the first to demonstrate

a model of trusted sharing in

the era of big data.

[ 22 ] [ 23 ]


Civilian Agency Systems: Technical Rigor for the Enterprise

When you think of “systems

engineering,” what comes to

mind? Probably sizable pieces of

technology: planes, naval ships,

communications networks. But

every organization is a system, too.

Nowhere is that truer than within

government. Each federal agency

employs thousands of staff,

manages large budgets, and

interacts with hundreds of partners

and stakeholders. They also use

complex technical capabilities and

interrelated processes.

For almost 60 years, MITRE has

applied systems engineering

principles to help agencies operate

efficiently and cost-effectively. This

has been increasingly important

for our civilian agency sponsors

over the last decade. The needs

and expectations of the public

evolve. Legislative priorities shift,

and budgets struggle to keep up.

Meanwhile, advances in technology

have accelerated the need to

transform older systems.

To meet these conditions, the

federal government must improve

and advance existing services

or launch new ones. As always,

MITRE’s FFRDCs are helping

address these challenges.

states, MITRE developed the

prototype Joint Operations Center

for National Fuel Tax Compliance, or

JOC. We used specialized analytics

to track excise tax compliance and

detect potential tax-avoidance

schemes. The result? More than

$125 million in tax captured for

the highway trust fund. We’ve now

transitioned the JOC to the IRS.

By assisting the IRS to become

its own program integrator, we

helped create a core capability

that saves the agency money and

allows for better execution of large-

scale programs, such as CADE2

(Customer Account Data Engine).

Since CADE2’s launch in 2012, the

IRS processes returns and delivers

refunds in days, not weeks. This

new capability was also a key driver

for the General Accountability

Office to remove the IRS from its

high-risk watch list.

We’ve been no less active

supporting the needs of our

nation’s veterans. When the VA

created a program to reduce

veterans’ homelessness, we

provided an interactive simulation

using model-based engineering

methods to help the VA better

allocate its budget. We are proud

to have contributed to a program

that’s reduced homelessness

among veterans by more than 45

percent in just a few years.

MITRE also played a significant role

in working with the VA Secretary’s

senior staff to create the “MyVA”

enterprise program, currently in

progress. We helped establish

the plans and launch activities

fundamental to transforming the VA

and address systemic issues that

have undercut the department’s

ability to best serve our veterans

and their families.

Cross-Collaboration Makes Systems Stronger

Between 2006 and 2016, MITRE

was chosen to operate four new

FFRDCs: for the Department

of Homeland Security, the U.S.

Courts, the Centers for Medicare

& Medicaid Services, and the

National Institute for Standards

and Technology. We believe this

demonstrates the continued value

of the FFRDC model and the

technical rigor that comes with it.

For example, the Judiciary

Engineering & Modernization

Center, founded in 2010, brings

advanced guidance to the

federal judiciary as it upgrades

its telecommunications systems,

addresses cyber threats, improves

the security posture of federal

courts, and modernizes other

services. We’re also sharing our

expertise with the global judicial

community, which faces similar

technical and organizational

challenges related to upholding the

rule of law.

This ability to find common ground

is a hallmark of MITRE. And while

we never take a “one-size-fits-all”

approach, we also never miss an

opportunity to apply knowledge

learned from one sponsor to the

challenges of another—whether

we’re providing data-driven analysis

to support wise technology

investments or finding innovative

ways to integrate capabilities across

government programs.

Our ability to find common ground is

a hallmark of MITRE.

2012 | MITRE collaborated

closely with a Census team

focused on developing a

framework for how the

Census Bureau would

publish data in the future.

From Modernization to Transformation

Consider the Center for Enterprise

Modernization, sponsored by the

Internal Revenue Service since

1998 and co-sponsored by the

Department of Veterans Affairs

since 2008. Over the last 10 years,

we’ve helped the IRS and the VA

achieve key outcomes.

For example, we’ve helped the

IRS protect revenue by adopting

new tax compliance methods

and partnerships. Working

in collaboration with the IRS,

Department of Treasury, and 14

[ 24 ] [ 25 ]


Aviation: Advancing the System that Connects the World

People often refer to the 1950s and

1960s as “the Golden Age of Travel.”

But nostalgia can be deceiving. In

fact, flying then was considerably

more expensive and—most

important—more dangerous. When

the Federal Aviation Administration

first engaged MITRE in 1959 to help

create a unified National Airspace

System (NAS), there was plenty to do.

The FAA chose us in 1990 to

operate its FFRDC, the Center

for Advanced Aviation System

Development. Our pioneering work

on air traffic management and

collision avoidance made flying

safer, more affordable, and more

convenient. It’s a true success story.

But there’s always more to do. Over

the last decade, we’ve focused

on NextGen, the next-generation

air transportation system. MITRE

has collaborated on everything

from developing new automation

platforms to major redesigns of

airspace across the country. We’ve

developed arrival and departure

procedures and routes for many

major airports that increase

efficiency and save money—without

sacrificing safety.

We’ve also created new

technologies to improve

communications, navigation, and

surveillance capabilities that benefit

both commercial and general

aviation. To test and refine aviation

system improvements, we created

laboratories with robust and

adaptable modeling and simulation

capabilities. And in 2008, we shared

in the prestigious Collier Trophy

for our contributions to Automatic

Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast.

This GPS-enabled technology

serves as a foundational element of

NextGen.

Where National and International Aviation Meet

We’re also helping the FAA chart a

path for longer-term improvements.

This aspect of NextGen requires

not only technical advances but a

shift in how aviation stakeholders

work together. MITRE’s role as

a trusted adviser to the aviation

community—exemplified by our

ASIAS program (discussed on

page 21)—has proven essential to

creating this culture change.

Part of this change will involve

harmonizing national and global

aviation systems. We work with

the FAA and the international

community to align standards,

technology, and operations. We’ve

expanded our international work

program, reaching new agreements

with countries from India and

Indonesia to Mexico and Argentina.

Until now, geography limited our

ability to offer our laboratory

capabilities beyond our borders.

That changed in 2015, when

we opened MITRE Asia Pacific

Singapore. This landmark R&D

facility both supports aviation in a

fast-growing region and allows us to

bring what we learn back home.

The Systems Engineering Challenge in Your Backyard

The next big complexity for the

NAS involves unmanned aircraft

systems (UAS), also called drones.

MITRE already supports all the

major governmental agencies with

a stake in integrating UAS into

civilian airspace, including the FAA,

DHS, and DoD. This puts us in a

prime position to play a leading role

in this effort.

Our work has been wide ranging.

We started with internal research

programs more than 10 years ago,

making advances in sense-and-

avoid and command-and-control

technology, among others. We take

part in rule-making committees,

roadmap development, and

helping to select test sites. In

2016, we launched a new MITRE

Challenge competition to bring new

ideas forward about countering

unauthorized UAS operations.

We’re serving in a key role as

a bridge between the safety

culture of the government and

the entrepreneurs who want to

move faster—once again helping

deliver on the promise of a

transformational technology. 2013 | Our IDEA (Integrated Demonstration

and Experimentation for Aeronautics) Laboratory

provides a way to see how new technology

performs without calling air traffic to a halt.

[ 1 ]

2006-

Al Grasso becomes 8th CEO and PresidentMITRE co-authors IRS technology modernization vision and strategy reportImproved warfighter battlefield awareness through live-video streams

Major awards FAA Alaska Regional Visionary AwardFortune “100 Best Companies to Work For” Computerworld “100 Best Places to Work in IT”

ExternalFacebook opens to anyone over age 13Twitter launchesNASA’s New Horizon probe leaves on mission to Pluto

10 Years of

2006• Alfred Grasso becomes 8th CEO and President• MITRE co-authors IRS technology modernization vision and strategy report• Improved warfighter battlefield awareness through live-video streams• Biotechnology-Nanotechnology (“Bio-Nano”) lab opens in McLean• Location-based mobile alert system Geocast licensed for commercial development• DARPA Grand Challenge vehicle finds second life helping find IEDs• MITRE improves Blue Force Tracking for Army aviation

• FAA Alaska Regional Visionary Award• Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For” (5th year in a row)• Computerworld “100 Best Places to Work in IT” (2nd year in a row)

• Facebook opens to anyone over age 13• Twitter launches• NASA’s New Horizon probe leaves on mission to Pluto

2008• MITRE celebrates 50th anniversary• Dept. of Veterans Affairs becomes co-sponsor of Center for Enterprise Modernization • Joint MITRE/Princeton research effort on quantum error correction launches• 3D-SLAM sensors on small robots provide warfighters with real-time 3D views of their locations

• Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Service in honor of MITRE’s 50th anniversary• Collier Trophy for outstanding achievement in aviation (member of ADS-B team)• Air Force Association Theodore von Karman Award• Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For” • Computerworld 100 “Best Places to Work in IT”

• Barack Obama elected 44th President of the United States• Worldwide stock markets crash causing the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression

2010• September 2, 2010: The Judiciary Engineering and Modernization Center becomes MITRE’s 5th FFRDC• MITRE demonstrates prototype Joint Operations Center for National Fuel Tax Compliance• Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) Beacon Radio named R&D 100 winner• Prototype smartphone app COIN Collector provides situational awareness in Afghanistan • BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) connects warfighters in remote locations

• Fast Company World’s Most Innovative Companies (#1 for defense)• Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For” • Intranet Innovation Awards for Handshake social network tool• Computerworld 100 “Best Places to Work in IT”

• Operation Iraqi Freedom ends• SpaceX becomes the first privately held company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft

2012• October 1, 2012: The CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare becomes MITRE’s 6th FFRDC• MITRE partners with Singapore and India to support aviation growth• E Building, with state-of-the-art laboratories, opens in Bedford• Public simulation experiment (SIMEX) shows impact of social media on crisis response• MITRE, NASA, U. of North Dakota & Draper Lab test UAS sense-and-avoid technology • Hyperspectral sensing research a breakthrough in remote sensing

• Glassdoor.com’s 50 Best Places to Work list• MITRE receives two Alliance for Workplace Excellence awards

• Hurricane Sandy devastates the U.S. East Coast• Kickstarter and other crowd-funding sites become worldwide phenomena• Anonymous hacks U.S. government and entertainment industry websites

2014• Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. James Schlesinger dies; Sen. Charles Robb becomes chairman.• September 23, 2014: National Cybersecurity FFRDC becomes MITRE’s 7th FFRDC• GeoQ provides crowdsourced situational awareness for disaster response• Analysis for Rehabilitative Motion Sensing (ARMS™) wearable sensor measures response to therapy • Low-Cost Surface Awareness™ provides enhanced situational awareness of airport surface operations• “Sociocultural Behavior Sensemaking” published

• InformationWeek 500 list for innovative use of business technology• DHS Science & Technology Directorate’s Under Secretary’s Award for Building Partnerships

• 200 nations signed the Lima Accord to combat climate change• Malala Yousafzai & Kailash Satyarthi win the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize• Largest Ebola outbreak in history

2016• MITRE brings record 28 sessions to HIMSS16, the world’s largest health IT conference• MITRE 4 building opens in McLean• MITRE Challenge for Internet of Things launches• Commonwealth of Massachusetts and MITRE launch Massachusetts Innovation Bridge

to help federal agencies tap into area’s high-tech ecosystem• Digital Copilot app will serve as “second set of eyes” for general aviation pilots

• Forbes list of America’s Best Employers (2nd year in a row)• IDG Computerworld 100 “Best Places to Work in IT” (9th time on list)• InformationWeek Elite 100 list for innovative use of business technology

• Belgium bombing in airport and subway• Zika virus outbreak spreads worldwide• Scientists and entrepreneurs announce interstellar project to send a fleet of robot

spacecraft to Alpha Centauri

2007

• Joint IED Defeat Organization chooses MITRE as key partner.• MITRE explores sense-and-avoid concepts for unmanned systems• Project Laika offers new framework for electronic health record interoperability• Enterprise Technology Lab opens to support civil agency experimentation• MITRE’s role on Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) begins

• Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For” • Computerworld 100 “Best Places to Work in IT”

• Apple debuts the iPhone• Mortgage crisis deepens• Spacecraft Cassini provides impressive views of Saturn

2009

• March 6, 2009: Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute becomes 4th FFRDC operated by MITRE

• MITRE-SANS Institute Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors list released• First MITRE Cybersecurity Operations Center (CSOC) opens• Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures public database of software vulnerabilities marks 10th anniversary• Audio Hot Spotting receives patent for multi-media information retrieval

• Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For”• Computerworld 100 “Best Places to Work in IT” • FAA Excellence in Aviation Research Award

• 3D scanning enters the consumer market• Motorola launches the first smartphone with an Android OS• Government bailout of GM and Chrysler keeps companies afloat

2011

• MITRE/Harvard team demonstrate first programmable nanoprocessor• First MITRE Challenge on “Multicultural Person Name Matching” launches.• Engineering Mega-Systems & Enterprise Systems Engineering published• DHS awards contract for developing tunnel-detection technology• Collaborative Research into Threats™ (CRITs) enables efficient cyber threat information sharing

MITRE’s Aviation Safety Discovery Lab opens

• Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work for” (10th year in a row)• MAKE Award for intranet • Computerworld Top 10 Privacy Advisors

• U.S. forces kill Osama bin Laden • Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights

2015

• MITRE manages assessment and reports for VA Choice Act• MITRE hosts healthcare experts to counter Ebola outbreak• DEEPLANG natural language processing project scores highest in 2015 SemEval competition• MITRE Challenge for countering unauthorized UAS launches• MITRE recognized as first .org registered on the domain’s 30th anniversary• FFRDCs: A Primer published• MITRE “Technology, Data, and Computation to Promote the Rule of Law” panel at World Bank conference

• Marine Corps Director of Intelligence Innovation Award• Forbes list of America’s Best Employers

• Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory announces discovery of gravitational waves • North American Blizzard of 2015 buries the Northeast in record-breaking snowfall

2013

• STIX™ and TAXII™ become language and protocol for cyber threat sharing • MITRE and Aerospace publish “Key Questions for Acquisition Success”• New www.mitre.org site launches• Secure Virtual Mobile Platform demonstrates open source “virtual smartphone”

that places sensitive data in the cloud

• InformationWeek 500 list of Top Technology Innovators• CSO Magazine’s CSO40 Award for cybersecurity excellence• James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Award• Air Force’s Gen. Edwin W. Rawlings 2013 Team Award for Cursor on Target

• U.S. government shuts down for three weeks• Boston Marathon bombings• NASA’s Curiosity Rover discovers calcium deposits on Mars

LEGEND

Notable MITRE News

Our Major Awards

World Events

[ 6 ]

-2016

[ 26 ] [ 27 ][ 26 ] [ 27 ]2006 - 2016

Be a world-class organization

Our success at achieving our first two goals depends entirely on

having an engaged workforce. We also know that we must not lose

sight of the importance of excelling at how we operate our FFRDCs. If

we do both well—focus effectively on our staff and their needs, while

continuing to pay close attention to financial, business, and infrastructure

best practices—we will have built a world-class organization.

G O A L T H R E E

2016 | MITRE’s greatest asset is our

employees. That’s why we take time to

celebrate their hard work, commitment,

and talent—whether at a team building

event, summer fair, or our annual

Program Recognition Awards.

[ 28 ] [ 29 ]


2015 | Computer servers

need cold air to function

properly. We’re using

innovative technology to cool

the servers, instead of the

room. It saves money and lets

us add capacity to conduct

more projects, such as big data

analytics, for our sponsors.

By 2006, MITRE already provided an

exceptional corporate infrastructure

that benefited our employees,

and in turn, our sponsors. After all,

our intranet, the MII, had provided

broad access to resources across

the company since 1995. And

we kept our people connected

outside our walls through the use of

BlackBerry and Treo devices. They

were the state of the art for the

early 21st century.

Few could have predicted what

was coming in the decade to follow,

however. Widely available Wi-Fi. The

explosive growth of social media.

The development of smartphones

and apps. The shrinking of electronic

components. All these and more

changed not only technology, but

the workplace itself.

In response, we took up the

challenge of what we call “arming

the knowledge worker.” We wanted

to put the right tools, connected to

the right information sources, into

the hands of our employees. We

became leaders in the growing field

of knowledge management (KM),

turning knowledge into a managed

asset—one that pays dividends

every day.

By 2009, the outside world had

taken notice, as CIO Magazine

commented in February. “MITRE’s

knowledge management approach

is evolutionary. They pilot new ideas,

watch user experimentation, then

add capabilities as they prove viable

and valuable.”

Neither Snow nor More Snow Keeps MITRE Down

We took advantage of new

technology and new ways for

thinking. For example, within just

a few years, we had exponentially

improved our staff’s ability to work

smarter for our sponsors, regardless

of location. Our multi-year rollout of

stable remote-access capabilities

now allows upwards of 5,000

MITRE employees to work from

home when bad weather strikes

A Knowledge Organization: Serving the Public Interest

or forest fires rage. Even when our

government sponsors’ offices close,

MITRE keeps working.

We began to communicate

differently, too. Take the MITRE-

developed Handshake, which

originated in our research program.

It began as a kind of “internal

Facebook” for our staff—one of

the first in a corporation anywhere.

Thousands of participants, including

our sponsors and researchers,

now know Handshake as the

MITRE Partnership Network, or

MPN. Authorized users access

MPN to discuss projects, store

documentation, and collaborate

securely across vast distances.

An Integral Part of MITRE’s Mission

As MPN shows, infrastructure at

MITRE isn’t separate from the rest

of the company—it’s an extension

of our mission. For example,

just as the company has long

championed using open-source

software for our sponsors, in 2013

we redesigned our corporate

website using the open-source

Drupal platform. We developed an

in-house enterprise computing

environment that provides

corporate-wide economies of scale

for secure computing. And our

infrastructure group contributed

to a new capability for providing

data analytics to sponsors—one

that cuts costs in half and speeds

project startup time. In 2016,

InformationWeek honored us with

a place on its Information Elite 100,

which spotlights “the country’s

most innovative users of business

technology.”

We achieved many of our advances

with homegrown solutions,

sometimes combined with the

careful inclusion of commercial

products. We kept costs down

while improving service, security,

capacity, and the user experience.

Taking a “preach what we practice”

approach, we demonstrate to our

sponsors the benefits of knowledge

sharing, creative use of IT resources,

and repeatable processes.

[ 30 ] [ 31 ]


In many ways, MITRE is like other

technology companies. We

compete for the same pool of

talented individuals, for example.

But in other ways, we’re very

different. When we hire, we’re

keeping promises to our FFRDC

sponsors. So we work to make

MITRE a place where people don’t

just do jobs—they build careers.

By 2006, our work program had

expanded beyond many of our

traditional skill sets. We broadened

the scope of our hiring, while

remaining conscious of keeping

costs in line with our sponsors’

budget pressures. Yet even with

these constraints, we never

wavered in our commitment to

providing work-life balance, lifetime

learning opportunities, and long-

term financial stability.

For example, in 2012, we introduced

a two-week time-reporting system

that makes it easier to achieve the

balance among work, family, and

personal needs. We doubled down

on education when many other

companies cut their development

benefits. We added remote and

virtual training to our in-house

MITRE Institute offerings. Our

staff can pursue undergraduate

and advanced degrees with

generous reimbursement and

flexible scheduling. We encourage

volunteerism with paid time off.

We also maintained a strict policy

of offering only retirement plans

that keep the best interests of

employees in mind. In 2016, that

became a federal rule, but it’s what

we’ve always done.

Heightened Attention to Inclusion and Diversity

This last decade has seen

continuing growth—from interns

to officers—in our population

of women and people of color.

Diversity at MITRE spans more

than race and gender, however. We

also value generational diversity

and diversity of thought. By bringing

together diverse teams we gain

better collaboration and innovation.

Further, our sponsors rely on us to

act as the institutional memory for

their programs. Passing the torch

Fostering Workplace Excellence: Keeping Our Promises

from one generation to the next is

an essential part of our knowledge-

sharing culture.

We also promote the science,

technology, engineering, and math

(STEM) fields among young people,

with a focus on encouraging

underrepresented groups to

choose STEM-related careers. All

of these efforts have resulted in

MITRE receiving more than two

dozen major awards for diversity.

Maintaining the Trust

But any company can say it

supports its workforce during good

times. The real test of a company’s

leadership comes during the tough

stretches.

Like many organizations, MITRE

has felt financial strain from the

Congressionally mandated cuts

called budget sequestration. The

multi-week government shut-

down in 2013 made the situation

even more difficult. Unlike many

companies, though, we didn’t force

layoffs on our staff during the shut-

down. And we didn’t leave them in

the dark.

Instead, we communicated daily

through email and other company

news channels. Officers convened

town halls to answer questions

and address concerns. CEO Al

Grasso held frequent live-streamed

discussions about where we stood.

And where we stood was with our

employees. In the end, we paid our

employees throughout that time—

with one exception. We closed for

one day out of three weeks, which

most employees took as paid

leave. Moreover, hundreds of staff

contributed extra leave hours to

their coworkers who needed them.

It was an outpouring of generosity

typical of our people—the kind we’re

proud to call our MITRE family.

By bringing together diverse teams we gain

better collaboration and innovation.

2014 | Our Women’s

Leadership Conference

encourages participants

to “Be Engaged. Be

Yourself. Be Impactful.”

Since 2012, the WLC has

become a yearly career

development highlight.

[ 32 ] [ 33 ]


Research: A Program Built to Power the Future 2012 | In places like our Bedford

laboratory building, we provide the

tools and collaboration spaces to

make innovation happen.

The word “research” lies at the

very heart of “FFRDC.” So it’s

hardly surprising MITRE has had a

robust independent research and

development program since its

birth in 1958. We’ve always looked

to the challenges of the future,

sometimes years beyond our

current work program, and explored

the emerging technologies that

might solve them.

As far back as 1965, for example,

we explored the possibility of a

functional silicon-based storage

device. In 1991, we investigated

autonomous control of robots

for NASA space station repair

modules. In 2000, we worked with

groups around the country to

develop cyber intrusion-detection

techniques to protect critical

networks.

Throughout much of that time, the

program went by the name MITRE

Technology Program. During the

last 10 years, however, we shifted

focus. We emphasized not only

pushing the boundaries of new and

existing technology, but also finding

solutions that work for multiple

sponsors. So we stepped up our

collaborations with researchers

from government, academia,

and industry to more quickly find

solutions. With that shift came a

new name, the MITRE Innovation

Program, which better defines its

broader purpose. Whatever we call

it, we always align our research with

our sponsors’ needs.

Creative Ways to Encourage Creativity

Between 2006 and now, our staff

made dozens of breakthroughs

(many of which we discuss

elsewhere in this retrospective).

Here’s just a small sampling: Bistatic

radar. Computer vision. Fraud

prevention. Healthcare IT. Human

language processing. Low-cost

surface awareness for general

aviation. Social radar analytics.

Threat-based cyber defense.

Advances in nanotechnology and

quantum computing. By 2010,

our rapid fingerprint recognition

prototype landed us on Fast

Company’s 2010 list of the “World’s

50 Most Innovative Companies,”

earning us praise as “the most

important company you never

heard of.”

We also made it easier and more

affordable for our sponsors to

benefit from these innovations.

Throughout the decade, we

expanded our technology transfer,

licensing, open source, and

commercialization activities. By

licensing our technology, industry

can develop affordable products

that meet our sponsors’ needs.

We also frequently collaborate

with startups, which are willing to

take risks that more-established

companies often can’t.

In 2011, we launched our first

MITRE Challenge. It drew on the

ideas of people throughout the

world—ideas the government might

otherwise never have heard of—

to find innovative ways to identify

individuals across large databases.

In 2016, we launched two more

challenges, one on countering

unauthorized unmanned aerial

vehicles in civil airspace and one

on identifying devices on Internet

of Things networks. Based on

the response from competition

entrants, the days of MITRE being

a company “you never heard of” are

long gone.

A Benefit for Sponsors and Staff

Our independent R&D programs

fuel our direct work projects and

contribute significantly to the state

of the practice in a variety of fields.

They also attract and provide

opportunities for our staff to

develop their skills and interests.

We have a responsibility to help

grow the next generation of

talented engineers, scientists,

and mathematicians. That’s

one reason we introduced a

fellowship-like initiative, the Early

Career Research Program, to

teach early career staff how to

conduct research projects of their

own. Provided with mentors and

training, the ECRP participants

have produced some attention-

getting original research, leading to

patents, more research, and work

for sponsors.

But whether someone has two

years’ experience or 22, our

research program gives our staff

wide-ranging opportunities to

pursue ideas that may result in

the next big breakthrough for our

sponsors. And that’s a benefit for

everyone.

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Across the Decade: A Few Words from our People & the Media

MITRE developed GeoQ for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency as Hurricane Sandy bore down. The app allows analysts to compare real-time images after a disaster with existing satellite imagery to conduct damage assessments.

Federal Computer Week, 3/17/2014

If you’re interested in something and you have a passion for it, there is the opportunity to go and find your place in it.

Sara Iacobucci, 2016

India signed an agreement with The MITRE Corporation for consultancy on the design of area navigation routes over Mumbai and Delhi. MITRE is offering its design tool TARGETS (Terminal Area Route Generation, Evaluation, and Traffic Simulation), which is used across the U.S. to design new arrival and departure routes and procedures.

Aviation Daily, 5/23/2007

The University of Virginia and MITRE Corporation have teamed up to create a fully autonomous, hand-launchable drone made using a 3-D printer and off-the-shelf parts.

NationalGeographic.com, 11/17/2014

I feel like we’re always looking ahead and trying to anticipate what’s going to come next.

Tiffany Bergeron, 2013

While large corporations attract attention in matters of tax avoidance and tax evasion, partnerships with their separate tax rules are a growing source of worry for authorities. A recent paper by M.I.T. and MITRE investigated how an algorithm could detect known tax shelters by partnerships.

The New York Times, 10/09/2015

The flexibility we all have to make an impact across the corporation is very exciting.

Karen Rigopoulos, 2006

MITRE’s commitment to work-life balance has allowed me to enjoy and contribute to my family’s enrichment in a way I never imagined possible.

John Gonda, 2011

MITRE’s “software-defined radio” is being used to develop a single wireless chip. The “universal” chip has the potential to be used in cell phones and other wireless devices, extending their battery life...

MIT Technology Review, 5/1/2006

My colleagues have incomparable technical ability. Everyone is humble, yet everyone is a star in his or her own right.

Mimi Dobbs, 2008

Sometimes open-source software is just more flexible than commercial packages. MITRE has been experimenting with open-source software for two years, most recently for its in-house social network application, Handshake.

Computerworld, 11/22/2010

Unlike the armed services, which are testing lasers and other weapons to shoot drones down, MITRE’s Countering UAS Challenge wants only solutions that can be used in crowded cities without collateral damage.

Breaking Defense, 7/6/2016

There are times when you think, wow—we really are making a difference here, really improving the safety and security of our country.

Jennifer Fabius, 2007

The “world’s first” programmable processor…is being described as nothing short of a quantum jump forward in the complexity and function of circuits built from the bottom up.

Engadget, 2/11/2011

What I like best about my role is that I can bring ideas to the table, get sponsor buy-in, and ultimately see those ideas come to fruition.

Rosie Posadas Pridemore, 2012

The MITRE difference is the commitment to creating strategies that don’t necessarily develop in a short period of time, but require time and thought and multiple areas of expertise.

Joy Tobin, 2009

Researchers at MITRE have conducted a study that, for the first time, looks at the particle distribution of exhaled breath to better understand how airborne pathogens spread in aircraft cabins—and how best to detect the particles that may carry viruses.

MIT Technology Review, 5/19/2009

MITRE’s public mission is about seeing the bigger picture, about solving the long-term problem.

Shamik Das, 2015

To overcome the obstacles confronting other tunnel detection technologies, MITRE has designed its sensors to go underground.

Homeland Security Today, 10/31/2011

At MITRE you aren’t just reacting or plugging holes. You’re given the time to step back, do the research, and think about the best way to solve a problem.

Derek Anderson, 2014

Even though less than 1% of companies in any industry are adopting artificial intelligence, the companies adopting it seem to be leaders of their industry. There are the usual suspects, such as Google and Facebook, but also companies like MITRE, a nonprofit that operates federally funded research and development centers, that aren’t household names.

O’Reilly, 8/29/2016

One of the best things about working at MITRE is that regardless of what stage you’re at in your career, you’re encouraged to keep learning and to do what you really love doing.

Rosalie McQuaid, 2010

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Sustainability

The MITRE Corporation is committed to the development of a sustainable environment. The printing company is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council™.

The MITRE Corporation’s 10 Years of Innovation was printed using paper with 10% post-consumer recycled fiber on Finch Fine, manufactured by Finch Paper, in the USA.

www.mitre.org

© 2016, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.

Approved for Public Release. Distribution unlimited. Case number 16-3721.

Photos and illustrations by MITRE Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. Additional photos courtesy of Defense.gov and Bigstock.com.

Created by MITRE Corporate Communications and Public Affairs.

Our work makes

a difference, and this is

the place to make an impact.

Dan Speece, 2016

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www.mitre.org

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