Innovation Fellow
Directors Office
Alexandra (Alex) Padilla, Ph.D., joined DARPA in January 2025. Her research focused on understanding the physical properties of gas bubbles in the ocean, with a particular focus on methane gas bubbles and underwater acoustics.
After receiving her doctorate, Padilla was a postdoctoral scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the U.S. Geological Survey where she researched how the presence of methane hydrate coating on bubbles affects rise velocity and dissolution of gas bubbles rising through the ocean. She also worked with new sensor development for in-situ measurements of dissolved methane in the ocean.
Before joining DARPA, Padilla was a research associate and project manager at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences Center for Education, Engagement and Evaluation.
Education
- Ph.D., Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Minor in Applied Mathematics