Dr. John Rivard

Director, Advanced Concepts

Ultra Intelligence & Communications

Dr. John Rivard is driven to combine his hands-on knowledge of laboratory research and innovation, legislative and federal government processes, and R&D program management. An expert in science and policy with a strong background in defense technology, John is motivated to find pathways for scientific research and development to transition from the lab into real world applications to solve problems for the DoD.
John is the Director of Advanced Concepts at Ultra, Intelligence & Communications. He is responsible for identifying and capturing strategic S&T opportunities and leading Ultra Labs, Ultra I&C’s advanced R&D group, future applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to command and control systems. Aligning with Ultra I&C’s future capabilities, John develops and implements R&D strategies while growing external partnerships to increase pace and success.
Prior to joining Ultra, he was a Legislative Fellow in the office of United States Senator Lamar Alexander. He was assigned to Senator Alexander’s office from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). John was Director of DARPA Programs at ORNL and was a Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) Contractor for DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office and Strategic Technologies Office. He started his career in science as a Graduate Research Fellow at ORNL, conducting research on high-density infrared processing of titanium alloys and bulk metallic glasses.
John has been recognized as an author on four United States Patents (US9725829B2, US8480864B2, US8778724B2, US8524053B2). He has won four R&D 100 Awards and was a member of a team that won the 2013 Federal Laboratory Consortium’s Excellence in Technology Transfer Award.
John received a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

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