(Posted March 7, 2005)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Richard T. Roca, director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, will lecture on "Applying Science and Technology to National Challenges" at 2 p.m., Friday, April 8 in Room P223 in the Brumbaugh Academic Center on the Juniata campus.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Roca's talk will focus on how the federal government tasks private, nonprofit laboratories with applying state-of-the-art technology to national operational problems facing federal organizations. He will use examples of this initiative from his own lab, and also will talk about the job opportunities available in the nonprofit sector.

As director of the Johns Hopkins lab, Roca oversees research and development work on projects for the Department of Defense, primarily the U.S. Navy and NASA.

Before joining the Johns Hopkins faculty, Roca spent his entire professional career at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He joined Bell Labs as a communications network designer, eventually attaining the position of vice president for Internet protocol services planning and development.

He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1966 from Lehigh University. He went on to earn a master's degree in 1967 and a doctorate in 1972, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Roca is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He also is a member of the board of trustees of the Maryland Science Center.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.