Science and Technology Directorate Accomplishments in FY2010

SAFETY Act - Evaluates and qualifies technologies for liability protection in accordance with the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act of2002 and the supporting regulations of the Final Rule (6 CFR Part 25) implemented on July 10, 2006. Seventy-one technologies were approved by the program, which is a 22 percent increase in total annual awards since inception. Small business applicants accounted for more than 50 percent of applications and awards (150 percent of goal). The average processing time for applications was maintained below the 120 calendar day timeframe mandated by Congress.

Borders/Maritime Standards Program - Program seeks to identify and/or develop standards which promote the development of modal-specific technologies and systems to ensure security of cargo while in transit; this includes standards for Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) technologies that are used to tag and track containers. Deployed a pilot RFID counterfeit detection system and began participation in international standards efforts to promote global supply chain security (International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee 104, freight containers).

Explosives Standards - Completed the development of trace explosives standard test materials for certain explosives (RDX and C4) and finalized/adopted standard test methods for X-ray inspection systems and body scanners, including efforts to support standards for Advanced Imaging Technologies.

System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) Program - Conducted more than 10 comparative assessments on emergency responder equipment covering 50 specific responder products. Published 76 SAVER documents/knowledge products. SAVER has more than 725 knowledge products available to the responder community ( During FY 2010, more than 40,000 documents and other knowledge products were downloaded or requested through SAVER.

International Programs - International Cooperative Programs Office (ICPO) concluded a project to develop a new form of blast-resistant glass, incorporating advanced materials developed in Australia, which has resulted in a follow-on contract by S&T’s Infrastructure Protection and Disaster Management’s Building Protection Program.

Container Security Device (CSD) - Develops an advanced sensor system for monitoring containers’ integrity from the point-of-consolidation to the point-of-deconsolidation in the maritime supply chain. The ACSD is a small unit that attaches to the inside of a container to monitor all six sides and report any intrusion, door opening, or human cargo. Technology developer delivered an improved CSD prototype that remedied shortfalls discovered during prototype testing (including false alarms, defeat mechanisms, and performance reliability) and further integrated systems improvements.

Hybrid Composite Container - Develops an International Standards Organization (ISO) composite shipping container with embedded security sensors. Composite containers are stronger than current steel shipping containers and are 10-15 percent lighter. The weight savings benefit shippers by allowing them to load more goods per container. Composite containers are also easier to repair, which decreases life-cycle costs, and can be modified to contain imbedded sensors to increase security. In FY 2010, delivered a manufactured prototype for testing and evaluation and conducted structural International Standards Organization (ISO) testing.

Scholars and Fellows - Awarded 6 institutional grants, 20 fellowships, and 50 internships focusing on building a high quality and diverse talent pool of public-service-oriented scientists and engineers who will be committed to the Department's mission and working on homeland security problems and challenges at all levels. The program includes the DHS S&T Career Development grants program, which provides funding to support scholarships and fellowships at institutions, including the COEs that have made a commitment to develop HS-STEM curricula and fields of study.

Laboratory Construction - Constructed explosive storage bunkers enabling the Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL) to continue to support increasing system development testing requirements. These upgrades support TSL and further its efforts to expand expertise in mass transportation.

National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) – S&T commissioned NBACC and the facility became operational. The NBACC facility will provide the nation with the scientific basis for awareness of biological threats and bioforensic analysis and to support attribution of potential biological threat use against the American public.

Internet Measurements Techniques Project (formerly Internet Route Monitoring) - Completed Geographic router-level maps and released deep edge Internet mapping tools that were tested on two Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The maps will enhance Internet monitoring and modeling capabilities to identify threats and predict the cascading impacts of various damage scenarios.

Process Control Systems (PCS) Security Project - Delivered secure wireless devices that will help secure wireless transmission for process control systems. The devices improve security PCS, a statistics and engineering discipline that controls the output of a specific process.

Real-Time Data Processing and Visualization Project - Developed a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigation’s infrastructure capable of supporting enterprise-wide data fusion and Web-based visualization of queries across data cubes and Geographical Information Systems. The project rolled out handheld access to the field as well as anomaly detection and emergency-management processing and visualization for State and local emergency managers.

Compliance Assessment Project (CAP) - Completed compliance testing for the first Land Mobile Radio (handheld) for the Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program (P25 CAP). Eight manufacturers, representing more than 80 percent of the land mobile radio market, submitted equipment that completed the CAP process.

Converged Interoperable Communications - Activated the Virtual USA (vUSA) information-sharing prototype ahead of schedule in response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill at the request of vUSA pilot participants from the Gulf States. The prototype allowed participating States to view the most recent data in their own map viewers, enabling ―one-to-many - sharing of situation reports, boom locations, and oil spill projections saving time and resources, and leading to more informed decision-making.

Air Cargo Project - Delivered a prototype mass-spectrometer, bench-top, trace detector for laboratory assessment and tested the performance of a metal detector for palletized air cargo screening.

Automated Threat Recognition (ATR) - Delivered an initial version of ATR software for testing advanced image processing. ATR algorithms will provide improved detection rates and more efficient screening, leading to reduced screening time and cost and strengthening privacy protections.

Risk Prediction Project - Delivered software to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to derive and evaluate complex patterns of risk to augment the existing CBP Automated Targeting System – Passenger (ATS-P) capability, which identifies improvised explosive devices and related trafficking patterns. CBP-sponsored evaluations indicated that the anomaly detection-based software increased screening accuracy approximately 300 percent over the existing baseline.

Validation of SPOT (Screening Passenger by Observation) - Delivered software to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to support a portable device to record, report, and communicate projected SPOT-based risk assessments to aviation security.

Decision Support Tools Project - Concluded the initiation of the integration of chemical and biological transport and health effects modules into U.S. Secret Service’s Site Security Planning Tool to support operational training.

Facility Restoration Demonstration Project - Investigates man portable technology to detect and identify persistent low vapor pressure chemical threats on surfaces. This system will enable a rapid, standoff survey of areas potentially contaminated with persistent chemical agents, thus accelerating facility restoration. Concluded restoration guidance in coordination with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the execution of an operational demonstration in the Los Angeles, California airport system.

Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC) Project – CSAC delivered the Chemical Agent Reactions Database (CARD) to DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis. CARD will improve understanding of current and evolving vulnerabilities to chemical attacks and inform prioritization to address the vulnerabilities.

Contractor-to Federal Employee Conversions - DHS launched the Balanced Workforce Strategy (BWS) by conducting a multi-sector workforce assessment to eliminate or convert contractor positions. In FY 2010, S&T converted 35 contractors to Federal employees in support of DHS’s goal of establishing the appropriate mix of in-house and contract skills, experience and other resources necessary to balance the DHS workforce.

Source: DHS, 2011, “FY2012 Budget in Brief,”