Laura A. Kennedy

Laura A. Kennedy is the deputy lead of the Civil Space Systems and Technology Office at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. She helps coordinate a Laboratory-wide portfolio of efforts that develop and deliver dual-use technologies and complex prototypes to enable civilian space missions.

Prior to this role, Kennedy was the leader of the Applied Space Systems Group where her oversight broadly spanned the development of prototype sensor systems for satellites to detect and quantify naturally occurring and human-made phenomena on Earth’s surface, within the atmosphere, and in outer space. Her technical expertise is in software development for automated systems and analysis of large spatio-temporal datasets. She has experience working closely with the users of satellite imagery to identify how automation and novel sensing can enable the closing of critical knowledge gaps.

She received the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Early Career Technical Achievement Award in 2012 and Director’s Office Recognition from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency for “Contributions and Dedication to the Mission.” She was a member of the National Academies Forum on the Revolution in Intelligence Affairs in 2022 and 2023 and was a participant in the 2016 U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium.

Kennedy joined Lincoln Laboratory in 2002 with a BS degree in computer engineering and computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.