The particle swarm paradigm draws on social-psychological simulation research in which Kennedy had participated at the University of North Carolina, integrated with evolutionary computation methods that Eberhart had been working with in the 1990s.
While there has been a trend in the research literature toward a "Gbest" or centralized particle network, Blackwell and Kennedy (2018) demonstrated the importance of a distributed population topology in solving more complex problems.
Kennedy has been an active combatant in the controversy over sex education in Montgomery County, Maryland, supporting the public schools' efforts to develop a comprehensive and inclusive program.
In 2018 Kennedy released a DIY album, The Life of Mischief, and currently also performs with the Swangers, playing honky-tonk and country music around the DC area.
Kennedy worked in survey methods for the US government until his retirement in 2017, and has conducted basic and applied research into social effects on cognition and attitude.