Homeland Security
Research at Rutgers
University
Fred Roberts
Chair, RUHSRI
Director, DIMACS Center
froberts@dimacs.rutgers.edu
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
1
Rutgers homeland security research
arises from concerns about:
•Physical safety
•Transportation
•Food and water supply
•The fundamental technologies underlying our
economic system (communications, computing)
•The very working of our modern society
The RU Homeland Security Research Initiative
(RUHSRI) is aimed at coordinating homeland
security research at Rutgers.
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
2
Existing efforts at Rutgers in
homeland security research are
widespread and impressive.
Many could lead quickly to practical
R&D programs and new business
development and some already
have.
We present a selection of relevant
current research.
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
3
Outline of Projects at Rutgers
• Protecting the Critical Infrastructure
• Surveillance/Detection
• Responding to an Attack
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
4
PROTECTING THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
•Transportation and Border
Security
–Pattern recognition for
machine-assisted baggage
searches (Center for Advanced
Information Processing: CAIP)
–Border security: decision
support software (Center for
Information Management,
Integration, and Connectivity:
CIMIC)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
5
PROTECTING THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
•Transportation and Border
Security
–Statistical analysis of
flight/aircraft inspections
(Statistics Dept.)
–Port-of-entry inspection
algorithms (Center for
Discrete Math. & Theoretical
Computer Science:
DIMACS; and CIMIC)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
6
PROTECTING THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
•Transportation and Border
Security
–Vessel tracking for
homeland defense (Institute
for Marine and Coastal
Studies: IMCS)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
7
PROTECTING THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
•Communication Security
–Resource-efficient security
protocols for providing data
confidentiality and authentication in
cellular, ad hoc, and WLAN
networks (Wireless Information
Network Laboratory: WINLAB)
–Exploiting analogies between
computer viruses and biological
viruses (DIMACS)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
8
PROTECTING THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
•Communication Security
–Tunable, programmable,
adaptive filters that can
adapt to changing
environmental conditions
and offer a secure
communications channel
protected from interception
by a hostile agent (School
of Engineering)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
9
PROTECTING THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
•Communication Security
–Information privacy:
•Privacy of healthcare data in
syndromic surveillance
(DIMACS)
•Privacy-preserving data mining
(Computer Science)
•Legal issues surrounding privacy
(Rutgers Center for the Study of
Public Security: RCSPS)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
10
PROTECTING THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
•Food and Water Supply Security
–Food and water biosecurity
initiative (Cook College)
–Agroterrorism: Using economic
weapons to prevent agroterror
attacks (Food Policy Institute, Dept.
of Agricultural, Food, and Resource
Economics)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
11
PROTECTING THE CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
•Food and Water Supply Security
–Regional drinking water security
consortium (CIMIC)
–Remediating contaminated water
(Environmental and Occupational
Health and Sciences Institute: EOHSI)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
12
SURVEILLANCE/DETECTION
•Biosurveillance/
chemosurveillance
–Adverse event/bioterrorist
attack detection (DIMACS)
–Pathogen detection
(Terahertz (THz) wave
imaging; detecting airborne
anthrax particles) (School of
Engineering)
Anthrax bacillus
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
13
SURVEILLANCE/DETECTION
•Biosurveillance/
chemosurveillance
–Weapons detection and
identification (dirty bombs,
plastic explosives) (WISE Lab
at CAIP)
–Analysis of massive, high
speed data for anomaly/outlier
detection (Massive Data
Analysis Lab, Computer
Science)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
14
SURVEILLANCE/DETECTION
•Biosurveillance/chemosurveillance
–Intelligent question answering (interface between
the intelligence analyst and data) (School of
Information and Library Studies: SCILS)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
15
SURVEILLANCE/DETECTION
•Biometrics
–Face, gait, voice, iris recognition
(CAIP, Center for Computational
Biomedicine Imaging and
Modeling - CBIM, Statistics
Dept., SCILS)
–Non-verbal behavior detection
(lying or telling the truth?)
(applications to interrogation)
(SCILS/CBIM)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
16
SURVEILLANCE/DETECTION
•Text Surveillance
–Monitoring message
streams for “new events”
(DIMACS, SCILS,
Statistics, Rutgers Center
for Operations Research RUTCOR)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
17
SURVEILLANCE/DETECTION
•Sensors
–Bioterrorism sensor location
(DIMACS, EOHSI, Industrial
Engineering, RUTCOR)
–Sensor networks to monitor
bio/chem hazards (Electrical and
Computer Engineering)
–Design of sensors (high
sensitivity ZnO sensors; UV
detection devices for biodetection; nanoscale
semiconductor sensors) (School
of Engineering, WINLAB)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
BASIS bioterrorism sensor
18
SURVEILLANCE/DETECTION
•Using the Existing Infrastructure
–Using a comprehensive network
of environmental monitoring
stations providing real-time
observation from over 100 stations
distributed throughout NJ to
provide homeland security
monitoring (Office of NJ State
Climatologist in Geography and
Cook College)
–Using an existing high frequency
radar network on the water for port
security (IMCS)
BASIS bioterrorism sensor
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
19
RESPONDING TO AN
ATTACK
•Exposure/Toxicology
–Modeling dose received
–Rapid risk and exposure
characterization
–Toxicology of WMD’s
(All at EOHSI)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
20
RESPONDING TO AN ATTACK
•Evacuation
–Simulating evacuation
of complex
transportation facilities
(Center for Advanced
Infrastructure and
Transportation)
–Plume modeling to
determine areas of risk
(EOHSI)
–Handling patients
before ER admission
(EOHSI)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
21
RESPONDING TO AN ATTACK
•Cleanup
–Monitoring and control for
chem/bio attack emergency
response (EOHSI)
–Air and water purification
systems (School of Engineering)
–Decontamination of areas
affected by chem/bio weapons
(School of Engineering, EOHSI)
–Emergency scene management
(EOHSI)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
22
RESPONDING TO AN ATTACK
•Emergency Communications
–Infostations for rapid wireless
communication for first
responders (WINLAB)
–Rapid networking at emergency
locations (DIMACS)
–Rapid “telecollaboration”
(CAIP)
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
23
RESPONDING TO AN ATTACK
•Emergency Communications
–Risk communication methods
(DIMACS, Sociology, Human
Ecology and the Center for
Environmental Communication at
Cook, DIMACS, the Rutgers
Center for the Study of Public
Security (RCSPS), and the
Nursing Center for Bioterrorism
and Infectious Disease
Preparedness.
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
24
STRENGTHS AT RUTGERS
•Many of the projects described are already
receiving external funding.
•Many are highly interdisciplinary.
•There is already substantial partnership with
other NJ universities, NJ industry (small and
large) and NJ government agencies of all kinds.
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
25
Toward the Future
• A large number of
Rutgers faculty is
involved.
• The faculty looks
forward to playing
an important role in
protecting the
security of our
State, Nation, and
World.
October 29, 2003
RUHSRI
26