Materials for homeland security

The Materials Applications for Homeland Security session at the Materials Science and Technology 2005 (MS&T'05) Conference discussed new countermeasures related to anticipate, prevent, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism. Examples were given of how science and technology have contributed to counter-terrorism, as with the development of sensor systems and in effects mitigation, where the latter protect people and physical assets in the event of attack. However, it is also important that the S&T community consider the technical capabilities of end-users. Jon MacLaren of the DHS Risk Assessment program discussed the threats to critical infrastructures while Jiann-Yang (Jim) Hwang and Bowen Li of Michigan Technological University described active antibacterial/antifungal coatings made of low-cost vermiculite in which magnesium ions are replaced with copper ions. Dr. John Vitko of the Department of Homeland Security oversees a broad-ranging program from surveillance to forensics and consequence management, from personnel training to development of anti-viral drugs. Vinayak Dravid described bio-chem assay microsensor which offer versatility for sensing biological and chemical threats, and provide significant advantages over alternatives.