Meet Awardees From Across the Defense Enterprise in the DoD Innovator Spotlight Series
The DoD Innovators Spotlight Series is an opportunity for the public to meet and learn from exceptional DoD scientists & engineers. The Office of the Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Research and Technology awards exceptional personnel throughout the Defense Enterprise in the fields of Research and Development, STEM and Technology Transfer with the following awards:
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Meet the awardees and learn about their cutting-edge work and best practices.
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Recent Innovator Awardees

Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter
Dr. Darin Sharar
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
Dr. Darin James Sharar is a Mechanical Engineer and Team Lead of the Thermal Sciences and Engineering team in the Power Integration and Architecture Branch at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, MD. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland between 2010 and 2016 and was hired as a Department of Defense (DoD) civilian in 2018. During his graduate studies, he led efforts to reveal the phenomenological insights of two-phase cooling in micro- and meso-scale channels and launched efforts with industrial and academic partners through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Thermal Ground Plane (TGP) program exploring planar vapor chamber performance under high inertial loads. Upon completion of his graduate research efforts, he created a solid-solid transient cooling thrust at ARL, developing and directing the Army’s foundational 6.1 and 6.2 research portfolio on thermal management and thermal storage for Army Directed Energy applications while managing Congressional collaborative agreements and multiple customer-funded programs including an Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E) Applied Research for the Advancement of Priorities (ARAP) Seedling. Dr. Sharar has authored/co-authored over 60 journal papers, refereed proceedings papers, and chapters in books with nearly 470 peer citations (including a Featured Article in Applied Physics Letters); has delivered over 25 research and invited lectures at major technical conferences and institutions; and has authored 5 U.S. patents.
Meet More DoD Innovator Awardees
Elizabeth “Libby” Hite
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Jennifer Martin
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Yolanda Tanner
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Kelly Thompson
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Tonya Hamann
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Erica Borgers Klonkowski
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Dr. Linda J. Mullen
SMART Scholars and Mentors of the Year

David Illig
SMART Scholars and Mentors of the Year

Dr. Tyler Helble
SMART Scholars and Mentors of the Year

Dr. Regina Guazzo
SMART Scholars and Mentors of the Year

Dr. Richard C. Ordoñez
SMART Scholars and Mentors of the Year

Khaldoon M. Ishmael
SMART Scholars and Mentors of the Year

Lynn Zanow
Technology Transfer Advocate of the Quarter

Marshall Schroeder
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Mr. Wayne Jordheim
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Matthew (Matt) Jones
Technology Transfer Advocate of the Quarter

David Y. Lee
Technology Transfer Advocate of the Quarter

Dr. Sara Quraishi
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Dr. Oluseyi (Seyi) Ayorinde
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Kiana Y. Williams
George F. Linsteadt Award For Excellence in Technology Transfer

Karen Presley
George F. Linsteadt Award For Excellence in Technology Transfer

Linda Burger
George F. Linsteadt Award For Excellence in Technology Transfer

Tim Miedzinski
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

John Bennewitz
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Adam Wechsler
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Kyle Verrinder
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Dr. Gregory Anderson
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Dr. Benjamin Gould
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Dr. Cynthia Gagliano Doil
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Ms. Sarah Buttrick
Technology Transfer Advocate of the Quarter

Dr. Jonathan Vernon
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Dr. Khanh D. Pham
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Dr. Igor Linkov
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Tiffany Owens
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Dr. Edward Diehl
Technology Transfer Advocate of the Quarter

Dr. Oscar A. Perez
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Dr. Abigail Juhl
Laboratory Scientist of the Quarter

Jenna Dix
Technology Transfer Advocate of the Quarter

Steven Corbin
STEM Advocate of the Quarter

Annie Bullock-Yoder
Technology Transfer Advocate of the Quarter
