Hughes Research Laboratory, California

A research lab and think tank that was operated by the Hughes Aircraft Company for many years, Hughes Research Laboratory (HRL), on a hill above Malibu, is now operated as a joint project between Boeing and Raytheon, as well as General Motors (which bought this division of Hughes in 1985). Activities pursued here include research into surveillance systems, virtual reality systems, pattern recognition, and smart materials, in four principal labs:  Applied Electromagnetics, Information & Systems Sciences, Sensors & Materials, and Microelectronics.