Lincoln Laboratory

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Established	1951
Research type	Advanced science/technology
Director	Eric D. Evans
Location	Lexington, Massachusetts, United States
Campus	Hanscom Air Force Base
Operating agency	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Website	www.ll.mit.edu

The MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and development activities focus on long-term technology development as well as rapid system prototyping and demonstration. These efforts are aligned within key mission areas. The laboratory works with industry to transition new concepts and technology for system development and deployment.

Created in 1951 as a federally funded research and development center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory was focused on improving the nation's air defense system through advanced electronics. The laboratory's inception was prompted by the Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee's 1950 report that concluded the United States was unprepared for the threat of an air attack. Because of MIT's management of the Radiation Laboratory during World War II, the experience of some of its staff on the Air Defense Systems Engineering Committee, and its proven competence in electronics, the U.S. Air Force suggested that MIT could provide the research needed to develop an air defense that could detect, identify, and ultimately intercept air threats.

James R. Killian, then president of MIT, was not eager for MIT to become involved in air defense. He asked the Air Force if MIT could first conduct a study to evaluate the need for a new laboratory and to determine its scope. Killian's proposal was approved, and a study named Project Charles (for the Charles River that flows past MIT) was carried out between February and August 1951. The final Project Charles report stated that the United States needed an improved air defense system and unequivocally supported the formation of a laboratory at MIT dedicated to air defense problems.