Former DARPA executive named cyber chief at Battelle

Erik Mettala has joined Battelle Memorial Institute as cyber chief scientist in its National Security Global Business Unit.

In this new role, Mettala will be responsible for Battelle’s cyber technology research and development efforts, according to an April 28 company announcement.

Those efforts include strategic planning, managing current government and internal R&D projects, and increasing the research and market effects of Battelle’s cyber-related business in the defense, intelligence and homeland security sectors.

Mettala, who retired as a lieutenant colonel after 22 years in the Army, has more than 35 years of R&D experience with government agencies, including the Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command.

He also has worked for companies, including Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp., Elagent Corp., and Network Associates Labs, known now as McAfee Research.

At DARPA, Mettala served as program manager in the Office of the Deputy Director and as office director of the Software and Intelligent Systems Technology Office.

He also managed eight R&D programs at DARPA, including Internetworking Protocols and Robotics, and he represented the agency in key federal planning efforts, including the Next Generation Internet Program, the Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Robotics Program and the Federal High Performance Computing and Communications Program.

Mettala holds a doctorate in industrial and management systems engineering from Pennsylvania State University and master of science degrees in management science and computer science from Texas A&M University and Central Texas University.

Battelle, of Columbus, Ohio, ranks No. 22 on Washington Technology’s 2010 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.