Dr. Arwen DeCostanza is the Program Manager of the Army Futures Command (AFC) Catalyst Pathfinder and Accelerating FORCE Programs. Through her leadership, the Army is creating close working relationships between Soldiers, universities, small businesses, and government researchers to collaborative develop better and faster solutions to real problems. She is focused on building scalable methodologies for understanding Soldier needs, incorporating Soldier feedback early in solution development, and accelerating emerging technologies from academia/small business that meet critical Army needs into the hands of warfighters.
Dr. DeCostanza has expertise in the areas of team and organizational performance, with over 60 peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. She led large-scale research programs focused on understanding and predicting human variability for the development of future adaptive technologies; and enhancing teamwork in human-autonomy teams through individualized, adaptive technologies.
Prior to taking on her current role. Dr. DeCostanza was a Branch Chief in the U.S. Army Combat Capability Development Command's Army Research Laboratory, Human Research and Engineering Directorate. Before joining ARL in 2014, Dr. DeCostanza spent over 8 years with the U.S. Army Research Institute conducting research focused on selection, assessment, and organizational performance. Dr. DeCostanza received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from The George Washington University in 2008.