Clint Kelly
Dr. Clinton W. Kelly III
Experience
Dr. Clinton W. Kelly III is a retired engineer who led research and advanced technology projects in both government and industry since 1972. In 2022, he flew into space on a Blue Origin New Shepherd rocket and, subsequently, motivated in part by this experience, and drawing on his prior work, has given talks on the technology that made his flight possible and the growing space economy more generally.
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)
1988 - 2018
Prior to his retirement, he was the Senior Vice President for Advanced Technologies at Science Applications International Corporation, a diverse employee-owned science and technology services company which, as of his retirement date, had revenue of about $8 billion and 40,000 employees.
He was responsible for the conduct of the corporation’s independent research and development (IR&D) program, a discretionary investment tended to provide the corporation with the basis for developing contract research and development support in areas of strategic importance. He carried out periodic audits of the corporation’s core technologies and competencies and was responsible for benchmarking the corporation’s technical capabilities against best practice. To carry out these responsibilities, he visited leading research universities and government laboratories to highlight best practice and to identify emerging technologies of potential future significance to the corporation and its customers.
Prior to joining SAIC, Dr. Kelly, at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) was Director of the U.S. Strategic Computing Program, the national fifth generation high performance computing research initiative, and Executive Director of the DARPA Information Science and Technology Office, at that time, the leading source of funding for advanced computer science research in the United States.
As part of the Strategic Computing Program he started and managed the Autonomous Land Vehicle project at DARPA in 1984 and is credited with creating the foundation of the technology base leading to today’s driverless cars.
From 1986 to 1989, Dr. Kelly directed the U.S. Department of Defense study on Japanese Manufacturing Technology. In conducting the study, he visited 18 U.S. manufacturing companies and 23 Japanese companies to identify key determiners of manufacturing competitiveness and consulted with U.S. and Japanese academics. He authored the Technology Assessment Team report, has given briefings and speeches on Japanese manufacturing competitiveness and other competitiveness issues.
Prior to the Strategic Computing Program, Dr. Kelly directed the DARPA Engineering Applications Office with oversight of all DARPA research programs in robotics and autonomous systems, intelligent processing of materials, multi-media communications, and simulation technology.
Decisions and Designs, Inc.
1972-1980
Dr. Kelly was a founder and Director of Research of Decisions and Designs, Inc. a company specializing in the development and application of decision analysis to public and national security policy problems.
Education
Duke University, B.S. (EE) 1959
University of Michigan, M.S. (EE) 1967; Ph.D. (EE) 1972