COLLEGE PARK, Md., Feb. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Regardless of who manages U.S. ports, new technology can significantly improve security at these facilities, according to experts at the University of Maryland.
At present, more than 95 percent of shipping containers enter the United States without examination, says Kenneth Gabriel, a senior research scholar and engineering program manager at Maryland's Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise. Supported by recent federal grants, Gabriel and other university researchers are developing systems that can increase port security, as well as the safety of freight as it moves from its point of origin to final destination. These experts can explain technologies now on the horizon that can help plug what is widely regarded as a major vulnerability in homeland security.
For example, Gabriel and his team are working to integrate current technology into a system that can precisely track the movement of specific shipments, locate their position within very large shipping containers, detect tampering, sense dangerous contraband, transmit this information in real time to authorities and then feed it into an easily searchable database. The plan is to have the system operational within three years.
Using new federal and university funds, Maryland researchers have set up three separate centers to conduct this kind of work:
Center for Integrated Security and Logistics (CISL) Center for Automatic Identification Research (CAIR): These two centers are based in the Maryland School of Public Policy. The engineers and policy experts are developing workable systems that combine a variety of technologies, including sensors, location and identification devices, communication systems such as wireless personal digital assistants, mobile and satellite telephone, as well as database management tools needed to coordinate this material. Specifically, the centers are working with miniaturized and nano sensors, novel communication pathways and Automatic Identification Technologies (such as Radio Frequency Identification tags and readers, Wi-Fi signal processing, Biometrics technologies, Smart Buttons, and next generation barcode technologies).
Center for Intermodal Freight Security and Mobility: Based in the university's A. James Clark School of Engineering, the center's researchers are developing new methods to reduce vulnerabilities of intermodal (ship to truck to train, etc.) freight systems, while improving the productivity, performance and efficiency of these critical freight systems.
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EXPERTS:
Kenneth Gabriel
Senior research scholar and director, University of Maryland Center for Integrated Security and Logistics and Center for Automatic Identification Research
Gabriel says: "It's not just who's watching the ports. The most dangerous aspect of port security is that only a tiny fraction of current shipments get any kind of examination. Existing scanning technology lacks precision. By blending a variety of sensing and communication technologies into a workable chain, we can provide real-time monitoring of shipments, detect tampering, intrusion or certain threats and then automatically send specific actionable information. We hope to have a working demonstration in a year."
Expertise: port security technology; integrated security logistics for defense and homeland security (including port and border security, rapid response and recovery operations in natural and man-made disasters); integrated weapon system supply chain optimization to improve military readiness and reduce costs
Credentials: Ph.D. Chemistry, chemical engineer; MA in National Security; directed Army Research Office, Alexandria, Virginia (1995-1999); deputy director, Army Research and Laboratory Management (1989-1993)
Contact: 301-405-9702 (office); 703-597-4002 (cell); egabriel@umd.edu
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William Lucyshyn
Director of research and senior research scholar, Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise, University of Maryland
Lucyshyn says: "One of the main problems with port security is the tyranny of numbers. Inspecting all the containers is neither practical nor affordable, as evidenced by the small number currently inspected. But the risk of smuggling in a weapon of mass destruction is real, and the price of failure is unacceptable. The only solution is to physically inspect the high risk containers and leverage near-term technology to monitor the others."
"There are several classes of technologies that are ideally suited and can be quickly pressed into service to address this critical homeland security concern. The maturing automatic identification technology (e.g., RFID, smart buttons) can be used to track container contents and guard against tampering; micro-sensors (e.g., radiation, chemical) can be used to continuously monitor the container environments; and wireless and information technology can be used to remotely monitor the sensors from loading through unloading."
Expertise: logistics for homeland security and military applications; information security; government outsourcing, privatization, and competitive sourcing
Credentials: served as principal technical advisor to the director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the under secretary of defense on the identification, selection, research, development and prototype production of advanced technology projects; 25-year U.S. Air Force career; has written extensively on federal government initiatives, such as outsourcing privatization, competitive sourcing and logistics transformation to make government more market-based
Contact: 301-405-8257 (office); lucyshyn@umd.edu
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Jacques Gansler
University of Maryland vice president for research; Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise; director, Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise
Gansler says: "Port security will be significantly enhanced by a combination of technology and international cooperative agreements. Inspecting every container as it enters U.S. ports will remain prohibitively expensive and highly disruptive to international trade. However, tagging each container with small, secure Radio Frequency Identification tags (RFID) and antitamper devices would be sufficient, provided the contents were validated prior to sealing on the international shipping end."
"Development and demonstration of the secure RFID system and the associated communications and computing systems, as well as the high-confidence international cooperation agreements represent the challenges for the next few years."
Expertise: advanced homeland security and defense technology; defense supply-chain; defense industries; government acquisition
Credentials: undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, 1997-2001, responsible for all Department of Defense acquisitions, logistics and research and development, including defense technology, biological, chemical and nuclear programs
Contact: Note -- Gansler will not be available until Feb. 27 for interviews; contact Neil Tickner, 301-405-4622; 301-257-0073 (after-hours); ntickner@umd.edu.
Web sites: http://www.umresearch.umd.edu/VP/bio.html;
http://www.puaf.umd.edu/facstaff/faculty/gansler.html
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Hani S. Mahmassani
Charles Irish Sr. Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering, A. James Clark School of Engineering; director, Maryland Transportation Initiative; leads Center for Intermodal Freight Transportation Mobility and Security
Mahmassani says: "The real-time component is what makes these various technologies so promising in providing greater freight security and efficiency. By offering economic as well as security advantages, they will be far more likely to be widely adopted. We're learning how to apply smart transportation technology to manage traffic and this is a logical extension of that work."
Expertise: Real-time routing and tracking of freight from origin through destination to improve productivity, efficiency and security of the commercial transportation sector; transport system modeling and optimization; intelligent transportation systems; evacuation planning (hurricanes, terrorism); traffic estimation and prediction; transportation infrastructure (port, road, rail, etc.) management; and transportation-telecommunication behavior (technology adoption and usage)
Credentials: a leading researcher of systems for real-time tracking and sensing of freight; founding director of the Maryland Transportation Initiative - a cross-disciplinary institute for transportation systems research and education; chaired numerous committees for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies; editor-in-chief of "Transportation Science"
Contact: Note -- Mahmassani will not be available until
Feb. 27 for interviews; 301-405-0752 (office);
masmah@umd.edu; or Lee Tune, 301-405-4679; 301-257-0073 (after-hours); ltune@umd.edu
Web site: http://www.mti.umd.edu/mahmassani/
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NOTE TO EDITORS: For media assistance with the above sources, please contact University Communications: Neil Tickner, 301-405-4622, 301-257-0073 (after-hours), ntickner@umd.edu or Lee Tune, 301-405-4679, 301-257-0073 (after-hours), ltune@umd.edu.
Media Contact: See above.
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