JDI CST Introduction
Presenter: Dr. Karl Woodbridge
Title of Presentation: Mission and Capabilities of the JDI Centre for Security Technology
Abstract: The objective of the Centre for Security Technology (CST) is to foster coordinated research
into the technologies and knowledge needed to ensure the security of citizens from threats such as
terrorism and crime. The CST combines the wide range of world leading security technology and
crime science expertise within UCL to deliver holistic, innovative and socially acceptable technology
solutions to security problems. The Centre therefore provides not simply technology solutions but
models of perpetrator behaviour that will inform the development and deployment of the
technology within a coherent preventative and investigative framework. This presentation will give
a brief introduction to the CST highlighting the research and teaching activities within the Centre.
Biography: Dr. Karl Woodbridge is currently a Reader in Electronic Engineering in the Sensor Systems
and Circuits group. Current RF research activities at UCL include multistatic and netted radar
systems, sea clutter, target tracking and classification, land and air based passive sensing and radar
resource management. His research activities have been carried out in research investigator and
technical consultancy roles for a wide range of customers in the civil and defence areas. He has
published or presented over 200 journal and conference papers and has served on organizing and
technical committees for many national and international conferences. He is a Fellow of the IET, a
Fellow of the Institute of Physics, A Senior Member of the IEEE and a visiting Professor in the Radar
and Remote Sensing Group at the University of Cape Town. He is also currently Chairman of the IET
Sonar, Radar and Navigation Professional Network and Director of the UCL JDI Centre for Security
Technology.
Plenary 1
Presenter: Chris Rampton, Head of the NTSU, Home Office
Title of Presentation: A Government Perspective on Future Security and Policing
Abstract:
Biography:
Plenary 2
Presenter: Nick Ross, Broadcaster and Former Presenter of Crimewatch
Title of Presentation: How to Bring Crime Down
Session: Threat Detection
Presenter: Professor Ivan Parkin
Title of Presentation:
Abstract:
Biography:
Presenter: Professor Joshua Edel
Title of Presentation: Airborne Trace Analyte Detection using Surface Enhanced Raman
Spectroscopy
Abstract: In this talk I will present a simple, fast, and inexpensive method for the detection of trace
analytes in air as well as in aqueous and oil phases. The operating principle is based around the
adsorption and desorption of trace analytes bound to metallic gold nanoparticles at either a liquidliquid or liquid-air interface. These interfaces provide an ideal platform for the formation of twodimensional monolayers of nanoparticles, as they form spontaneously, cannot be broken, and are
defect-correcting, acting as 2D ‘nanoparticle traps’. Such two-dimensional self-assembled
nanoparticle arrays have a vast range of potential applications including optoelectronics, sensors
and detectors. As an example, I will show that this system can be used for trace airborne analyte
detection using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
Biography: Joshua B. Edel is a senior lecturer within the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College
London. In 2011 he was awarded a prestigious ERC starting investigator grant on “Nanoporous
Membranes for High Throughput Rare Event Bioanalysis”. He received his PhD on the development
of single molecule detection within microfluidic systems at Imperial College London in 2004. He then
performed postdoctoral research in nanobiotechnology at Cornell University with Professor Harold
Craighead. In 2005 he was awarded a research fellowship at the Rowland Institute at Harvard
University to study the structure and interactions of individual biomolecules in their native cellular
environment. In July 2006 he joined Imperial College as a member of academic staff. JBE has
published over 70 research articles in high profile journals including Nature Materials and Nature
Chemistry, edited 3 books, and has number patents and patent applications to his name.
Furthermore, he has given over 75 international lectures. Amongst other activities he has recently
been elected as a member of the Imperial College Court and is also currently a member of the
London Centre for Nanotechnology executive committee. JBE is also very popular as a consultant in
nanoscale bio-sensors.
Presenter: Professor Robert Speller
Title of Presentation: New approaches to X-ray security scanning
Abstract: X-ray scanning has been used in security for several decades with the most noticeable
presence at airports. Most of these systems are conventional X-ray absorption based systems
providing a 2-D images of 3-D objects with some degree of material classification by the use of dualenergy techniques. Recently there have been a number of developments in X-ray security that treat
the way X-rays interact with materials differently – they consider X-rays as waves rather than
particles. These approaches will be discussed along with novel ideas for 3-D scanning.
Biography: Robert Speller is the Joel Professor of Physics Applied to Medicine at UCL. He has more
than 40 years experience in radiation physics and has published more than 250 papers on subjects
ranging from cosmic ray astronomy, photon scattering, medical and security applications of radiation
physics. He is currently Head of the Radiation Physics Group at UCL working on novel sensors for
ionising radiation, applications of X-ray diffraction, and X- and gamma-ray imaging systems.
Session: Securing our Infrastructure
Presenter: Åsmund Izaki
Title of Presentation: Spatial Interactive Modelling
Abstract: New methods developed in the RIBS project will be presented that addresses how security
related modifications of a building impact on its organisational logic and movement structures. As
part of the project new algorithms have been developed that allow for interactive investigative
modelling of movement paths and visibility relations. A number of changes can be simulated ranging
from preventive and disruptive measures, such as changing the number of entrances or inserting
internal partitions or access control mechanisms, to impact mitigation and even showing some
consequences of certain hostile attacks. Finally examples will be given to show how some of the
methods have been applied in practice to a more general set of problems related to redundancy and
vulnerability in building circulation systems.
Biography: Åsmund Izaki is a senior designer and researcher at Aedas R&D where he joined the
Computational Design and Research group in 2007. During his time with Aedas he has been
researching and implementing new forms of furniture design, architecture and urban planning
through code. This takes the form of interactive tools and methods that have been applied in
projects both internally and as an external service or in collaboration with industry or academic
partners. Åsmund holds an MArch from NTNU, Norway and is regularly invited to lead courses and
workshops on interdisciplinary topics related to design and technology.
Presenter: Dr.Tanya Le Sage
Title of Presentation: Securing the infrastructure from the threat of terrorism
Abstract: To help secure the critical national infrastructure from the threat of terrorism the country
seeks to identify and develop security measures to protect its assets. One of the challenges is that
the requirements for these measures diverge and evolve as future threats arise. The RIBS project
aims to provide a detailed insight into the requirements for future security measures, serving as a
useful tool for policy makers and security product developers alike. The approach focuses on
safeguarding against chemical, biological and explosive threats over a set of scenarios which have
been established. A computer modelling tool has been developed to estimate the effectiveness of
the virtual implementation of the proposed technologies which have arisen as a result of the lowlevel requirement specifications created.
Biography: Dr Tanya Le Sage is a Research Associate at University College London. She joined the
Security and Crime Science Department in October 2011 to work on the European Union funded
Resilient Infrastructure and Building Security project, which supports the design of effective and
viable integrated security measures aimed at protecting infrastructures without impact on their
business dynamics.
Her research has been concerned with the development of a risk based model which aims to
mitigate the probability of a terrorist attack occurring, guiding the requirements specification for
future technologies which can be used to aid in the prevention of future terrorist attacks, or which
reduce the impact of such an attack through enhancement of recovery and response. She is
combining a systems engineering approach with agent-based modelling techniques to simulate
potential attack scenarios. Her work requires comprehensive threat characterisation and crime
script modelling to be fed into a simulation model which is used to invoke a thorough risk analysis
for the individual scenarios.
In 2011 she completed her PhD which was concerned with the development of a system which was
used to monitor patterns of human motion within a harsh environment. She developed a wireless
sensor network which aimed to provide real-time information with regards to human movement.
She developed hardware, software and communication architectures for the system and a wide
range of signal processing algorithms, some of which were embedded within the sensors, thus
allowing real-time implementation.
Presenter: Mr. David Rubens
Title of Presentation: Risk Management of Critical National Infrastructure
Abstract: The risk environment associated with protecting critical national infrastructure has
changed radically since the first fomalised PCNI programmes were introduced in the late 1980’s.
Whereas the initial PCNI programmes were associated with protecting facilities from possible
terrorist attack, current PCNI thinking is more concerned with the consequences of rapidly escalating
and cascading failures within tightly-bound, highly inter-dependent High Reliability Organisation
(HRO) networks that are themselves under increasing pressure from aging facilities and technology,
the breaking up of what were previously integrated operational systems and the commercialisation
of operations, leading to predictable budgetary pressures, all of which is taking place within a
general weakening of regulatory oversight. This presentation will look at some of those issues, and
current thinking concerning the management of the consequences of such failures.
Biography: David Rubens, MD of David Rubens Associates, has been involved in various aspects of
the security industry since he was Team Leader on the Israeli Embassy security team in Munich,
Germany in 1981. He holds an MSc in Security and Risk Management from Leicester University,
where he is currently a Visiting Lecturer and Dissertation Supervisor on their Security, Terrorism and
Policing programme. He was a Visiting Lecturer (2009-‘10), on the Strategic Leadership Programme
at the Security and Resilience Department, Cranfield University, UK Defence Academy, focusing on
terrorism and public policy, and the management of large-scale, complex multi-agency programmes.
He has written specialist reports for government agencies in Japan, Russia, Dubai, Nigeria, Liberia
and the Caribbean, and is currently on the Professional Doctorate programme at Portsmouth
University Department of Criminology & Justice, where his Doctorate research involves developing
models of strategic management at the extremes of organisational complexity, looking at issues of
decision-making, command & control structures and multi-agency interoperability in highly-unstable
situations such as natural disasters, corporate failures and government-level crisis management
scenarios. David is a member of the London Resilience Academic Advisory Group, and was recently
Chairman of the Protecting Critical National Infrastructure conference at the 2013 Counter Terror
Expo.
Session: Domestic Terrorism
Presenter: Prof Adam Ogilvie-Smith
Title of Presentation:
Abstract:
Prof Ogilvie-Smith will examine some cases of terrorism in which data was poorly exploited.
Drawing on these, he will try to identify some of the reasons why these deficiencies occurred. He
will then consider some of the challenges to data exploitation in such cases, and then highlight some
strategies to overcome these challenges. Finally he will endeavour to analyse the differences
between intelligence and evidence from an epistemological standpoint.
Biography:
Presenter: Dr. Lindsay Clutterbuck
Title of Presentation: Violent Jihadist Attacks in the UK: Local Enterprise or Foreign Franchise
Abstract: The phrase "homegrown terrorism" has been applied to numerous violent jihadist attacks
and conspiracies in the UK. Research into the six most serious of them between 2004 and 2006
shows that while many of terrorists involved have links to the UK (to a greater or lesser extent) and
the attacks took place in the, their genesis and initial impetus lay with terrorist groups (including Al
Qaeda) located in Pakistan. In these circumstances, a wider, international response to their
prevention and disruption is required.
Biography: Dr. Lindsay Clutterbuck is a Research Leader at RAND Europe in Cambridge, UK and is
currently engaged in a range of projects on aspects of terrorism and counter terrorism, insurgency
and counter insurgency. He recently co-authored a report entitled ‘Exploring Patterns of Behaviour
in Violent Jihadist Terrorists: An analysis of six significant terrorist conspiracies in the UK’ (RAND TR923-ANT, 2010).
Prior to joining RAND Europe he served for over 27 years with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)
in London, retiring as a Detective Chief Inspector in 2006. He served for over twenty-two years in the
Specialist Operations Department at New Scotland Yard where he undertook a variety of roles in the
field of counter terrorism. They included nearly three years heading the MPS unit responsible for
national and London-wide counter terrorism policy and strategy.
As well as his publications for RAND, he is the author of several articles in academic journals and
chapters in books. Their content encompasses the origins and evolution of terrorism and counter
terrorism in the UK, contemporary issues in terrorism (particularly how individuals make the
transition from radicalism and extremism into terrorism), the nexus between terrorism, insurgency
and crime and the role of police intelligence operations in counterinsurgency and counter terrorism.
He received his PhD from the University of Portsmouth; an MA in Policing Studies from the
University of Exeter and a BSc Honours in Zoology from the University of Sheffield. From 2004 to
2006, he was a Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Research, Kings College
London. Since October 2008, he has been a member of the European Experts Network on Terrorism
(EENeT).
Presenter: Dr. Paul Gill
Title of Presentation: Seven Empirical Truths About Lone-Actor Terrorists
Abstract: Over the past few years, a number of concerns have been raised about both the nature of
the threat posed by lone-actor terrorists. This paper empirically examines the activities of 119 loneactor terrorists between 1990 and 2012. Who are the lone-actor terrorists? Do they share a common
profile? Does their behavioral trajectory into terrorism differ? How do they differ? How 'lone' are
they? What can be done to help prevent and disrupt future plots?
Biography: Dr. Paul Gill is a lecturer in the Department of Security and Crime Science at University
College London. Previous to joining UCL, Dr. Gill was a postdoctoral research fellow at the
International Center for the Study of Terrorism at Pennsylvania State University. He has previously
managed projects funded by the Office for Naval Research, The Defence Science and Technology
Laboratory and the Department of Homeland Security. These projects focused upon various aspects
of terrorist behavior including the nature of malevolent creativity, terrorist network structures,
terrorist leaders and lone-actor terrorism. His doctoral research focused on the underlying individual
and organizational motivations behind suicide bombing. This piece of research won the Jean Blondel
Prize for the best Ph.D. thesis in Political Science in Europe for 2010. He has published in
international journals across a range of disciplines including criminology, psychology and political
science.
Session: Urban Area Surveillance
Presenter: Mr. Christian Derix
Title of Presentation: Visualising Spatial Measures of Urban Safety
Abstract: As the Association of Chief Police Officer’s initiative Secured-by-Design shows, many of the
aspects of urban security and safety relate to implicit properties of the environment. For its urban
design simulations and Infrastructure Resilience research (see EU FP7 project Resilient Infrastructure
and Building Security - RIBS), the Aedas Computational Design Research group [CDR] has developed
models to visualize and measure those properties. These are generally based on configurational and
morphological properties of the urban structure in 2 but also in 3 dimensions with addition of timebased data. The presentation will show masterplanning and spatial analysis projects, discuss
measures of urban resilience and how design objectives of ‘best practice’ in urban design correlate
to security principles that allow ‘designing out crime’ without technological installations.
Biography: Christian Derix is director of the Computational Design Research group [CDR] of Aedas
architects, which he founded in 2004 in London, UK. CDR develops computational simulations for
generative and analytical design processes with an emphasis on spatial configurations and human
occupation.
Derix studied architecture and computation in Milan and the London and has researched and taught
the subject at various European universities since 2001, including University College London (UCL),
Milan Polytechnic, Technical University Vienna and Technical University Munich, where he just
finished a visiting professorship. Currently, he is associate professor at the IE University Madrid.
The work of CDR has recently won award commendations for their Spatial Simulation framework at
awards such as the 2010 Presidents Medal for Research in Practice of the Royal Institute of British
Architects (RIBA), the 2011 Italian Compasso d’Oro for algorithmic design and user participation in
industrial design for the VITA Shelving System or the Centre for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s
(CTBUH) 2012 Innovation award for the computer-activated responsive façade of the Al Bahar
towers.
Presenter: Dr. Kevin Chetty
Title of Presentation: Urban Area Surveillance using Wireless Network
Abstract:
In today’s congested and pervasive wireless environments, any device which transmits signals in the
radio-frequency spectrum is subject to heavy regulations and enormously high costs. Wireless
passive radar circumvents these issues by exploiting the signals that already exist in our everyday
environments. Dr Chetty’s presentation will focus on his research to demonstrate that this
technology can be used to detect moving people in everyday scenarios, including through walls. He
will also discuss its potential security applications in providing ubiquitous monitoring and
surveillance.
Biography:
Dr. Kevin Chetty is a lecturer in the Department of Security and Crime Science at University College
London. His research focuses on new passive RF sensor systems that exploit wireless communication
networks for uncooperative detection of personnel, vehicle and marine targets. Other research
interests include target detection and classification using acoustic micro-Doppler signatures, ultrawideband and through-the-wall radar, and software defined sensor systems. Kevin is a member of
the IEEE and IET, a reviewer for both the IET Radar, Sonar and Navigation and IEEE Geoscience and
Remote Sensing journals.
Session: Big Data and Identity
Presenter: Dr. James Cheshire
Title of Presentation: Identity, Mapping & Big Data
Abstract: This talk will outline some of the ways in which population insights can be gained through
the mining, mapping and analysis of big population datasets. These range from extracting cultural or
ethnicity information from surnames, through to the languages people are speaking on Twitter and
reveal both online and offline communities. The identification of such groups can offer important
context to the many other datasets collected by the crime sciences.
Biography: James Cheshire is a Lecturer at the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. His interest
concerns spatial and statistical programming techniques, analysis and visualisation of population
datasets (such as electoral rolls and censuses), and new methods of population classification. He has
pursued three themes: the development of aggregation and clustering methods for the analysis of
large spatially referenced population datasets, utilising individual-level surname data in sampling the
genetic characteristics of populations, and establishing collaborations related to the applications of
spatial analysis and geodemographics in a variety of urban research contexts.
Presenter: Dr Hannah Fry
Title of Presentation: Investigating strategies for the policing of disorder, based on the London
riots
Abstract: In August 2011, several areas of London and other cities in the UK experienced episodes of
large-scale disorder, comprising looting, rioting and violence. Much of the subsequent discourse has
concentrated on the adequacy of the police response, specifically in terms of the resources available
and tactics used. In this paper, we present a mathematical model of the disorder which can be used
to examine the effect of varying policing arrangements. The model is capable of simulating and
replicating the general emergent patterns of the events and focusses on three fundamental aspects:
the apparently-contagious nature of riot participation; the relative positioning of suspect addresses
and riot locations; and the deterrent effect of the police. We use the model to demonstrate that the
spatial configuration of London meant that some areas were naturally at higher risk than others,
implying the importance of spatial considerations when planning for such events. We also
investigate the consequences of varying police numbers and reaction time for the outcome of such
an event, which has the potential to guide policy in this area.
Biography Dr Hannah Fry is a lecturer in the mathematics of cities at the Centre for Advanced Spatial
Analysis (CASA). She was trained as a mathematician with a first degree in mathematics and
theoretical physics, followed by a PhD in fluid dynamics. After a brief period working in
aerodynamics, she returned to UCL to take up a post-doctoral position researching a relatively new
area of science - social and economic complex systems. This led to her appointment as a lecturer in
the field in October 2012.
Presenter: Ms. Tessa Lambri
Title of Presentation: The Impact of the PND on Information Sharing
Abstract: The Police National Database (PND) was launched in June 2011, and enables for the first
time the sharing of information from all UK police forces, as well as the Ministry of Defence and the
Child Exploitation Online Protection agency. Approximately 250 police systems have been loaded
onto the database; it contains in excess of 2 billion records, including 6 million photo images. Since
the launch of the PND, over 1.8 million searches have been carried out.
The presentation will contextually explore the impact of the PND on information sharing, by
examining the intended and unintended consequences on staff roles and business practices.
Biography: Tessa Lambri is currently a doctoral candidate at Loughborough University, at the
Department of Information Science, and is in her final year. She has a background in criminology and
began her career in policing working as an intelligence analyst. Tessa’s current research on the
acceptance of the PND is being sponsored by the Home Office – Police ICT Directorate.
Forensic Technology
Presenter: Dr. Mark Huckvale
Title of Presentation: Enhancement of poor quality speech recordings: the CLEAR project
Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences
University College London
Abstract: The Centre for Law Enforcement Audio Research is a joint research centre involving
Imperial College London and University College London. It was funded by the UK Home Office to
investigate methods for the enhancement of poor quality recordings of speech found in forensic
situations. This talk will report on the major outcomes of the research centre over the past five
years. These include improvements in (i) measurement: to get a better understanding of how well
existing systems work on a variety of signal types; (ii) modelling: to build models which predict how
well systems would work on specific signals, and (iii) enhancement: to optimise the performance of
existing methods and to develop new methods based on an improved understanding of speech
intelligibility and signal quality.
Biography: Mark Huckvale is Senior Lecturer in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at
UCL. He holds a degree in Physics and a PhD in Human Communication. His research involves speech
production, speech signal analysis and speech technology. Current research activities include CLEAR:
the centre for law-enforcement audio research, KLAIR: a virtual infant for speech aquisition research,
and AVTherapy an Avatar-based technique for psychotherapy that utilises real-time voice conversion
technology.
Plenary 3
Presenter: Paul Brittan
Title of Presentation: A Career in Security and Technology: A Curious Engineer
Abstract: Over the past 25 years I have been lucky enough to work on a host of fascinating
technologies, from biometric verification techniques, to speech recognition, image processing, and
most recently, advanced mathematical modelling for cyber analysis. In this presentation, I reflect on
my career, both from the perspective of the technologies, as well as, the fascinating people and
lessons learnt en route.
Biography: Dr Paul St John Brittan is a Principal Consultant and subject matter expert at L3 TRL
specialising in the exploitation of structure, however obscure, to detect, classify, and utilise features
of interest. Prior to joining L3 TRL, Paul worked at Infinitive Speech Systems, developing a
framework for spoken dialogue systems; held the position of visiting academic at MIT, working on
multi-modal data fusion; and spent seven years at HP Research Laboratories as a senior research
engineer. In 1992 Paul received a PhD from the University of Kent for research into the distribution
of statistical classification techniques over parallel processors.
Plenary 4
Presenter: Derek Gallaher
Title of Presentation: Horizon 2020 – Funding for Security Research 2014 – 2020
Abstract: Derek Gallaher, UK National Contact point for Security at the Technology Strategy Board
will discuss the shift from the current EU EP7 Programme to the new Horizon 2020 Programme
which launches in 2014 and runs for the next seven years. In comparison to the FP7 programme, the
new programme is expected to put greater emphasis on innovation and will support research which
brings end users closer to its process and outputs. The rules under Horizon 2020 programme are
expected to bring greater simplification of the application process, unified funding rates and quicker
decision making on grants funding. The new programme will be organised around three main
"pillars": Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership, and Societal Challenges. The third pillar includes
"Secure Societies - Protecting the freedom and security of Europe and its citizens" where security
research topics are located.
Biography: Derek has over 25 years experience of project and programme management across a
variety of sectors, both public and private. During that time Derek has worked extensively with a
variety of EU funded programmes, starting with ESF, through ERDF and the Innovative Actions
Programme to FP6 & now FP7.
Derek has occupied the role of National Contact Point for the FP7 Security theme since June 2010,
where his main responsibilities are to advise, assist and support UK organisations considering
participation in the FP7 programme and its calls for proposals. He is one of a team of UK FP7
National Contact Points (NCP) funded by the Technology Strategy Board on a free of charge basis.
Prior to taking on the NCP role, Derek’s experience was principally in the collaborative R&D,
innovation and knowledge transfer sectors, developing and delivering a range of EU funded
technology transfer projects aimed at helping industry, particularly SMEs increase innovation within
their businesses.
A graduate of Glasgow University and fluent German speaker, Derek is married and lives and works
from home in the Renfrewshire village of Kilmacolm.