Welcome to Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
This is the accessibility version designed specifically for users needing extra accessibility features.
Feel free to check out the original experience here.
Welcome to APL
Cyber and Data Science
Tour stop audio transcript
Data is the key to the critical work we do here at APL. Here at the Live data, Integration, Validation, and Experimentation (or LIVE) Lab, our data scientists and cyber experts can visualize and explore data in innovative ways. With modular and touch displays, voice integration technology, and testbed hosting, the LIVE Lab provides an immersive platform for analysis, testing, and training. From facilities such as this, we develop defenses against the latest cyber threats, train future cyber warriors, search for potential adversary activity in social media feeds, and tackle a host of other digital issues to safeguard the nation.
Cutting-Edge Research and Development
A Culture of Innovation
Tour stop audio transcript
Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at APL, but new ideas aren't born in a vacuum. To foster a culture of innovation, we have developed spaces throughout the Lab to collaborate, communicate, and experiment. Our premiere innovation facility is Central Spark, a 9,000 square-foot, 24/7 workshop where staff from all over the Lab can try out their latest ideas for direct, indirect, or personal endeavors. Whether it's fabricating models in Maker Central, creating VR environments in Immersion Central, building robots in Electronics Central, or developing games and apps in Design Central, all of the tools are here to help our staff pioneer ground-breaking solutions.
Space Science and Exploration
Biomechanics and Health
Tour stop audio transcript
Johns Hopkins is a name long associated with medical excellence, and that is part of our mission here at APL, too. From blast injury studies to brain-computer interfaces, APL biomechanical engineers are finding new ways to save lives and improve outcomes. One unique facility at the center of that effort is the BioValt lab – home to a number of specialized devices for imaging, biological surrogate testing, and creating impacts, including the Vertical Accelerator Load Transfer System, or VALTS. By simulating roadside IED blasts, this system provides a safe and efficient environment to conduct tests specific to underbody blasts, ultimately leading to better equipment and protection for our warfighters.
Systems Integration
Tour stop audio transcript
Welcome to Building 14. The latest addition to APL, this over-222,000 square foot facility has specialized offices, collaborative work spaces and unique labs for more than 232 staff members supporting a range of systems development teams. With space for prototyping, assembly, integration, testing, and simulation, ideas can move from design to working model all in one place. Building 14 is another evolution in research capabilities for APL, one that encourages our engineers and scientists to see the world in new ways and to create solutions that no one has ever imagined before.
Testing and Evaluation
Tour stop audio transcript
A vital part of APL's technical mission is testing and evaluation. From a small line of code to a whole new platform, any change in the complex systems we work with must be thoroughly vetted before release. We do that in labs like this — the Antenna Range and Boresight Test Facility, or ARBTF, a multipurpose facility that consists of a large indoor tapered anechoic chamber. Lining the floor, ceiling, and walls of ARBTF is a radio frequency-absorbing foam material that minimizes electromagnetic reflections, enabling indoor simulations of free-space RF transmissions. The chamber not only limits reflections inside, but also isolates RF energy from the outside, allowing users to test without errant signals corrupting test results. This facility and many others across our campus allow APL researchers to deliver highly accurate results and insights to our sponsors.