Communications Service at Scott AFB, where he led a team introducing computers to replace hardware switching for local digital military exchange systems.

There he managed the Artificial Intelligence Image Understanding Program[3] and two testbeds to demonstrate packet radio technology in operational environments.

The proposed initiative also included the creation of a Software Engineering Institute to evaluate and mature emerging technology for transition to defense systems.

He helped refine the strategy and successfully introduce the product to the software engineering community, including international customers.

He spent the next ten years recruiting leaders in the field, and focusing the effort on bringing an engineering discipline to software development.

Among the steps to aggressively influence systems security, Druffel worked with DARPA to create the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) at the SEI.

[18][19] In 2006, he retired from SCRA and in 2007, returned to the SEI as a visiting scientist, working with the President and CEO Paul Nielsen[20] on strategic issues.

While serving in that capacity he has compiled and edited the Technical History of the SEI that chronicles the evolution of software engineering over thirty years.