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Jaffe, Paul

Jaffe, Paul

Lecturer
Aerospace Engineering
Website(s):

Dr. Paul Jaffe is a Program Manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, where he oversees the Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) project. Prior to joining DARPA, he spent 30 years as an engineer and researcher at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). At the NRL, he led or held major roles on dozens of space missions and breakthrough technology development programs for NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the military services, and other sponsors. These include the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI), the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO), TacSat-1, TacSat-4, Operationally Responsive Space (ORS), the Photovoltaic Radiofrequency Antenna Module (PRAM), the Microwave Imager/Sounder (MIS), CARINA, Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS), Power TRansmitted Over Laser (PTROL), Space Solar for Forward Operating Bases and Remote Installations (S2FOBs), the Light-Emitting Rectenna STEM demonstration on the International Space Station (LEctenna), and the Space Wireless Energy Laser Link (SWELL) which was the first demonstration of optical power beaming in space.

He served as the electrical segment lead for multiple complex space missions, including the Microwave Imager/Sounder (MIS) project. In this capacity he led a large team of hardware and software engineers and managed a budget of nearly $100M in the development of microwave, digital, and analog electronics subsystems for a large radiometer for an operational weather satellite.

Dr. Jaffe served as a coordinator of the NRL’s seminal studies of the military applications of space solar, and as an editor of the study groups’ acclaimed final reports. He was the principal investigator for a ground-breaking research effort involving the development and testing of modules for conversion of sunlight into microwaves. The modules have a number of potential applications, including satellites for space solar, and have been launched and tested in space via the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Space Test Program (STP) and have returned valuable data to inform future efforts. He was also the champion for the first power beaming STEM demonstration in space, conducted on the International Space Station by Astronaut Jessica Meir. He oversaw a portfolio of power beaming and space solar projects for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2019-2022.

As part of his work, Dr. Jaffe has authored and presented over 60 peer-reviewed scientific papers and articles for international journals and conferences, as well as several patent disclosures.  He has been an invited keynote and colloquium speaker, conference presenter, and panelist on many occasions, most recently in relation to space solar and power beaming. He served as the Deputy Director of the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Operational Energy Innovation office from 2021-2022. He has made presentations to a wide range of audiences on science and technology topics, and has appeared worldwide in television, radio, print, and online media as a science and technology expert on MSNBC, on the Science Channel’s “Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman,” the Energy Cast podcast, CuriosityStream, and as a TEDx speaker. His work has been featured by Wired, Der Spiegel, CNN, the Huffington Post, the Drudge Report, Politico, and dozens of other outlets. His publications and work with STEM and educational outreach have received numerous awards and recognition. He led the team that took top honors at the Secretary of Defense’s 2016 Defense, Diplomacy, and Development (D3) Innovation Challenge.

Since 2001, he has worked with K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students as a tutor and mentor for a range of STEM topics. Many of his student’s projects have received international honors and recognition. He serves as a lecturer for the Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Maryland College Park, where he has taught the course “Introduction to Power Beaming and Space Solar” since 2017.

He received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, graduating with honors. He earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading, playing word games, picking up litter, and kiteboarding. He has had a life-long fascination with both space and energy.


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