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New Head of DOD Research and Engineering Steps Into Role

The Senate confirmed the undersecretary last week.

Emil G. Michael (r), speaks to Troy Meink, who became the Secretary of the Air Force, during their March 27 nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Credit: DOD photo by EJ Hersom

Emil G. Michael (r), the new undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, speaks to Troy Meink, who became the secretary of the Air Force, during their March 27 nomination hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Credit: DOD photo by EJ Hersom

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced today that Emil Michael was in his job as the new undersecretary of defense for research & engineering (USD R&E), having been sworn in on Tuesday.

“Nominated to the position by President Trump on Inauguration Day, Mr. Michael’s mission is to drive innovation within the Department,” the DOD’s May 22 announcement said.

“I’m excited about leading this office through the challenges that lie ahead, and we will meet those challenges head-on with more expedient innovation and efficiency, as an office, and as a department,” said Michael in the statement.

The Senate, in a 54-43 vote, confirmed Michael last week, following his appearance testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 27.

In present-day parlance, the USD R&E also is the DOD’s chief technology office, providing technical leadership, oversight, strategic priorities and guidance.

He will continue to support advanced technological innovation, for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous warfare systems, quantum computing, directed energy and hypersonic capabilities.

Michael is also DOD’s senior responsible official for the supervision of all of the programs and activities in the R&E Enterprise across DOD. This means leading the defense research, engineering, developmental prototyping and experimentation, developmental test and evaluation, and the microelectronics-related activities across the DOD components.

“The USD(R&E) also establishes policies and strategic technical guidance to ensure that all programs receive an objective viewpoint as to their technical feasibility and the tradeoffs among different technology approaches,” said Michael in his Senate testimony.

To the private sector, Michael warned that the DOD needs to enable “a more robust and competitive” defense industrial base by “providing more realistic requirements, inviting smaller and innovative companies with less burdensome processes, and becoming more agile in how and when we grant contracts.”

“The private sector too should bear some more responsibility for the risks of their own failure,” he emphasized. “A healthy ecosystem will provide for weapons that are better, cheaper and faster.”

Under the previous Biden administration, Heidi Shyu was the USD R&E for four years, pursuing 14 priority areas for technology development in support of the then-National Defense Science and Technology Strategy.

A first-generation immigrant like Shyu, Michael is of Egyptian descent, graduated from Harvard University and earned a J.D. degree with honors from Stanford University. As a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Michael created several companies, including Tellme Networks (acquired by Microsoft in 2007); Klout (acquired by Lithium Technologies in 2014); and Bandit (acquired by GoPuff in 2020).

After building Uber, he spent many years as the company’s chief business officer, including leading the company’s business in China, driving Uber China’s $30 billion merger with the DiDi company.

Michael also served as a White House fellow and was a special assistant to then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

“Michael’s confirmation marks an exciting new chapter for the R&E office,” said James Mazol, who had been performing the duties of the undersecretary until Michael’s confirmation. “His leadership will drive innovation and accelerate breakthroughs in key defense technologies.”