Andy Oak Named Homeland Protection Mission Area Executive at Johns Hopkins APL

Andy Oak has been named mission area executive for Homeland Protection at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), where he will direct efforts to create disruptive capabilities that safeguard and secure the nation against asymmetric threats.

Oak, who joined APL in 1996, previously served as the mission area executive for Special Operations. In that role, he defined the strategy for and oversaw research and development efforts to meet the needs of sponsors across the intelligence and special operations communities. Prior to that assignment, he served for five years as supervisor of an APL group responsible for developing cyber-enabled capabilities.

Oak was also the chief engineer of APL’s Communication and Network Systems Group, providing technical oversight of work to develop and evaluate communication systems for the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, and serving as a primary expert on tactical satellite communications and the development of special communications capabilities.

Oak has published conference papers and taught classes in radio frequency (RF) communications and networking systems and has participated on the RF Panel of the National Intelligence University’s Emerging Technologies Conference on Foundational Cyber Technology. He also served on a Defense Science Board panel addressing cyber supply chain issues.

Oak has a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia.

APL’s Homeland Protection Mission Area addresses a wide range of critical tactical and systems-level challenges related to border security, transportation security, cybersecurity and physical security of critical infrastructure, resiliency and assured operations, integrated information for enhanced decision support and emergency response systems. Learn more about Homeland Protection at APL.