Introducing Ignite Labs ML SME, Chris Botica

July 29, 2025 – Introducing Ignite Labs Machine Learning Subject Matter Expert, Chris Botica.

Chris Botica is a machine learning engineer specializing in real-time signal intelligence and mission-critical AI systems. He was a founding engineer on the U.S. Air Force’s Crowd-Source Flight Data (CSFD) effort for the F-35 and led development of its first human-in-the-loop ML platform for fifth-generation EW reprogramming.

Chris was the first to fuse F-35 sensor data with intelligence reporting at scale—creating structured emitter traces and laying the groundwork for AI-native electronic warfare. He is now building RF signature databases to enable AI for EW and autonomous spectrum response. Previously, he introduced software-in-the-loop testing for F-35 EW and mission data analysis. As a military research fellow at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, he worked on computer vision for real-time image recovery using synthetic data and residual CNNs.

Welcome to the Ignite Labs team, Chris!