Daniel LeMaster, Ph.D.

Daniel LeMaster, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, HASS COE
daniel.lemaster@dot.gov

Dr. Daniel A. LeMaster is the Senior Scientist for Sensors and Perception at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Highly Automated Systems Safety Center of Excellence (HASS COE). Since joining the USDOT in 2023, he has provided cross-departmental expertise on sensors, AI, and quantum technology. He operates effectively at every level, from contributing to national policy to field-testing automotive LiDAR. His initiatives include leading the Department’s first large-scale generative AI deployment, conducting sea trials of resilient PNT technologies, and developing drone-based hyperspectral debris field mapping for aviation crash investigations.

Previously, Dr. LeMaster held technical and leadership roles at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), where he developed national security solutions ranging from airborne reconnaissance imaging to treaty inspection systems. He is the co-inventor of a commercially successful polarimetric imaging technology and a Fellow of both the international society for optics and photonics, SPIE, and the Military Sensing Symposia. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and completed the Air War College distance learning program.  Before becoming an engineer, he was a Cavalry Scout in the U.S. Army.