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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology University Programs Directorate has selected three student teams from the Center for Secure and Resilient Maritime Commerce (CSR) Summer Research Institute (SRI) to present their research findings at the 5th Annual DHS University Network Summit. Held March 29 - April 1, 2011 in Washington, DC, the Summit will feature lead authors from the SRI Acoustics and Electro-Optics, HF Radar and Systems Thinking teams as they present research posters and oral presentations on the work they conducted during the eight-week intensive summer research program.

“The DHS Student Poster contest is very competitive. The fact that all three of the SRI student team submissions were awarded and selected for presentation is a tremendous testament to the quality of our students’ research and to the summer research program itself,” stated Beth Austin DeFares, Director of Education for the CSR.  

The winning SRI student team submissions include:

    •    A Study of Small Vessel Threats Using Acoustic and Electro-optic Technologies (Student authors: Andreas Graber, Qing Li, Saiyam Shah, Walter Seme, Ariel Marrero, and Wojciech Czerwonka)
    •    Aiding in the Prevention of Terrorist Attacks in the Hudson River Through Detection of Small Vessels with UHF Radar (Student authors: Angelica Sogor, Lenny Llauger, Omar Lopez, Shankar Nilakantan, Danielle Holden, and Dakota Hahn)
    •    Systems Thinking Approach to Small Vessel Security (Student authors: Leonid Lantsman, Hardik Gajjar, Nazanin Andalibi, Blake Cignarella, Tanaira Cullens, Jose Mesa, and Tiffany Walter)

In addition to the student teams, Talmor Meir, SRI 2010 participant and graduate student at Stevens, was also selected to present her research at the University Network Summit.  This is Meir's second consecutive year as a DHS student poster winner.

White paper submissions by CSR faculty members Dr. Brian Sauser and Drs. Roshanak Nilchiani and Ali Mostashari were also recognized and selected for presentation.  Dr. Sauser's white paper entitled Modeling the Influence of ZEROTH Responders was co-authored in part by Qing Li, SRI participant and PhD student at Stevens. Nazanine Andalibi, SRI participant and Stevens master's degree student served as a co-author on Drs. Nilchiani and Mostashari’s paper entitled Architecting Cognitive Port Processes and Port Resilience.

“CSR researchers and students from a dozen different disciplines and eight different universities worked together to produce quality research and long-lasting professional networks,” said Dr. Michael Bruno, Director of the CSR and Dean of the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science at Stevens. “I am very pleased to see the significant presence and participation of the CSR faculty and students in the upcoming DHS University Summit.”

Dr. Bruno will host a panel session on The Role of Transportation in Community and Individual-level Resilience and Dr. Thomas Wakeman will host a panel session on System Optimization for Mitigation, Response, and Recovery, at the Summit as well.

To learn more about the DHS 5th Annual University Summit please visit: http://www.orau.gov/dhssummit/