Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Draper Laboratory is a research and development laboratory, employing more than 750 engineers, scientists, and technicians on a broad array of programs for government and commercial sponsors among its 1,025 employees.

Its sponsored work encompasses capabilities in the following business areas:

Strategic Systems

Space Systems

Tactical Systems

Special Operations

Biomedical Engineering

The Laboratory’s unparalleled expertise in the areas of guidance, navigation, and control systems remains its greatest resource. Draper is among the leaders in fault-tolerant computing, reliable software development, modeling and simulation, and MEMS technology. It applies its expertise to a broad range of domains, including autonomous air, land, sea, and space systems; information integration; distributed sensors and networks; precision-guided munitions; air traffic flow management; military logistics; and biomedical engineering and chemical/biological defense.

To this end, Draper has nurtured a highly skilled and motivated work force supported by a network of exceptional design, fabrication, and test facilities. This combination of highly trained technical talent and state-of-the-art facilities enables the Laboratory not only to deliver the design and development of first-of-a-kind systems incorporating innovative technology, but also to offer high-value-added engineering services to a broad range of government and commercial sponsors.

These efforts are enhanced by our robust Independent Research and Development (IR&D) program through which we invest more than $20 million each year, supporting both internal efforts and collaborative projects with the country’s leading universities. IR&D enables us to work on projects focused on technologies that we anticipate will meet the future near-term and long-term requirements of our sponsors, while allowing us to continuously refresh our core competencies.

Primary Activity

Material Manufacturer