Sarah O’Donnell

Biography


Juan E. Gilbert Engineering and Applied Physics
M.S., Engineering Physics, University of Virginia
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Virginia

 

O’Donnell currently serves as Naval Division Distinguished Chief Engineer at the National Security Engineering Center (NSEC) Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) administered by the MITRE Corporation. She specializes in providing technical options to resolve complex, emergent mission problems to achieve strategic advantage against adversaries to mitigate risk for the U.S., its allies and coalition partner operations. Previously, she served as the Director for NSEC’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) Program. In this capacity, she developed and led initiatives that provided solutions for programs operating at the seams of the intelligence, military, and civilian communities and at the convergence of Armed Forces, Foreign Relations, War and National Defense authorities.


Prior to her work leading national security programs, she led experimental and theoretical work in condensed matter physics related to nanostructured electronic materials including collaborative experimental work on novel optical switching and the improvement of quantum energy conversion for power and energy prototypes. Early in her career, she worked as a Mechanical Engineer at Orbital Sciences Corporation in the Advanced Programs Group, focusing on thermal protection systems and hypersonic sensing.


She is a member of the National Science Board’s class of 2024-2030.