Steven G. Wax
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology
Steven G. Wax received an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, an M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in Ceramic Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and has 45 years of defense research and development experience. As an Air Force officer, Dr. Wax was assigned to the National Reconnaissance Office, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory.
He served as Chief Scientist of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a senior executive and technical adviser to the Director of DTRA, and Director of DTRA R&D. He served 12 years at DARPA, including as Director of the Defense Sciences Office. Also within DARPA, he was Deputy Director, DSO, and Senior Scientist, Materials.
Dr. Wax presently serves as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
In the News…
Each of the 14 critical technologies set out in the National Defense Science and Technology Strategy is dependent on the ability of the Defense Department to leverage cutting-edge manufacturing processes from industry. Those technologies include biotechnology, microelectronics, hypersonics, and renewable energy generation and storage.
“Not one of these critical technologies will succeed without advances in manufacturing,” said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology Steven G. Wax. “Very simply, if you cannot make it, you cannot have it.”
He highlighted the role of 3D printing in enabling the industrial base to produce those capabilities in an affordable way. “Additive manufacturing [3D printing], particularly, touches many of these critical technology areas including advanced materials, hypersonics, space technology, renewable energy generation and storage, directed energy, and microelectronics,” he said.
He said the America Makes program launched by the Defense Department in 2012 “is a vital partner to the DOD strategic development and implementation of additive manufacturing across the department.” He added, “I’m proud of how far we’ve come in the past 14 years, and I’m looking forward to successful collaborations to come.”
