Richard Mason

Richard Mason is a senior engineer at the RAND Corporation. His research spans a range of defense technology issues. He has led projects on artificial intelligence for Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC); on laser weapon systems for AFSOC and for the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; on backup systems to GPS for the Department of Homeland Security; on advanced technologies for Air Mobility Command; and on stratospheric surveillance airships for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He has written about photovoltaic aircraft and about low-cost air systems that deliver contraband into North Korea. Between 2003 and 2007 he developed three autonomous robot ground vehicles for DARPA. Mason received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and his A.B. in physics from Harvard University.