Purdue experts can discuss the 9/11 anniversary
Steve Cain, Purdue Extension Disaster Education Network’s Homeland Security Project director
Cain is director of the Extension Disaster Education Network Homeland Security Project, president of the Indiana Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and a member of the board of National VOAD. His emphasis is on helping communities to be better prepared for disasters. He was involved in the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks by helping to get word out to parents on how to talk to their children about terrorism. He had been working on background information about agroterrorism before the terrorist attacks and completed it within days afterward for worldwide dissemination. In 2005 he was selected as an agroterrorism consultant to the National Academies of Science.
Personal homepage: http://www.ag.purdue.edu/agcomm/pages/cain.aspx
CONTACT: 765-494-8410, cain@purdue.edu
R. Graham Cooks, Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
Zheng Ouyang, assistant professor of biomedical engineering
Cooks and Ouyang have developed a portable, ultrafast chemical analysis tool that can be used to test for explosives residues and biological warfare agents in a matter of seconds. The instrument is a miniature mass spectrometer combined with a technique called ambient ionization. The technology also can be used to detect trace amounts of explosives, drugs or other materials left behind in fingerprints and to distinguish between overlapping fingerprints left by different individuals. The Purdue team pioneered the use of the technology for detecting explosives residues on airport luggage and also its applications in food safety and health. It has been shown to detect chemical contaminants in adulterated food and bacteria and pesticide residues on produce. The work is carried out in Purdue's Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, there has been an increased interest in the security applications of the researchers' technologies.
Research laboratory homepage: http://aston.chem.purdue.edu/
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CONTACT: 765-494-5263, cooks@purdue.edu
J. Eric Dietz, director of the Purdue Homeland Security Institute
Dietz is director of the Purdue Homeland Security Institute and associate professor in the university's Department of Computer and Information Technology. From 2005-2008 he served as the founding executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. He is leading development of a planning guide for regional centers in Chicago and surrounding counties in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin that are being created to provide critical services during catastrophes such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks.
Purdue Homeland Security Institute: http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/phsi/
CONTACT: 765-494-8130, jedietz@purdue.edu
David Ebert, Silicon Valley Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, director of the Visual Analytics for Command Control and Interoperability Center (VACCINE)
Ebert leads VACCINE, one of two parts of a $30 million federal parent center concentrating on developing new methods to aid homeland security personnel in preparing for, preventing, detecting, responding to and recovering from terrorist attacks as well as natural and human-caused crises. Ebert's research expertise is in novel visualization techniques, visual analytics, volume rendering, information visualization, perceptually based visualization, illustrative visualization, mobile graphics and visualization, and procedural abstraction of complex, massive data.
Personal homepage: http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~ebertd/
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Contact: 765-494-9064, ebertd@ecn.purdue.edu
Caroline E. Janney, associate professor of history
Janney, who studies American history, memory and memorials, can talk about how the nation will remember the 10th anniversary of 9/11. She can discuss how memory is shaped and how memories change with time, as well as the significance of the 10th anniversary for this event.
Personal homepage: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/history/directory/Faculty/Janney,_Caroline.html
Related news release:
History prof: A decade of memories, remembering the 10th anniversary of 9/11
CONTACT: cjanney@purdue.edu
Eugene Spafford, executive director of Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS)
One post-9/11 threat is the growing potential for cyberattacks. Attacks to any number of areas, such as banking and finance, electrical grids or chemical plants, could have widespread and devastating consequences on the economy and national security. Spafford is a leading figure in the cybersecurity field for his work in foundational research in security technology, his role in the development of influential educational programs, and his advocacy and public service in information security. He has worked with the government, law enforcement, corporate and academic officials, two U.S. presidents, the FBI, the departments of Justice and Energy, the U.S. Air Force, and the National Science Foundation. He has testified before Congress many times on cybersecurity and has received numerous professional recognitions and distinctions.
Personal homepage: http://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/
CONTACT: 765-494-7825
Amit Varma, associate professor of civil engineering
Ten years after 9/11, Purdue researchers are continuing work that could lead to safer steel structures, such as buildings and bridges, and also an emerging type of nuclear power plant design. "I want people to understand that in the last 10 years we've not been quiet," Varma said. "We've been working to make structures better and safer." The researchers are using a custom heating system and a specialized laboratory for testing large beams and other components and have created models that could be used in designs to improve fire safety. New findings are detailed in two research papers appearing in September as part of a special 9/11 issue of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Journal of Structural Engineering.
Personal homepage: http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~ahvarma
CONTACT: 765-496-3419, ahvarma@purdue.edu
Shelley McDermid Wadsworth, Military Family Research Institute
President Obama says that whenever he asks troops what they need from him, the universal response is: "'Sir, take care of our families.' This is not just a moral obligation, this is a matter of national security." The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue has been on the front lines in this mission for more than 10 years. Besides the military stakes, there are personal and economic ones. When veterans struggle to regain a foothold in civilian life, unemployment goes up. Marriages dissolve. Health-care costs soar. So does homelessness and suicide. From Congress to the White House, MFRI director Shelley McDermid Wadsworth and her team are asked to help form national policy and legislation for service members, veterans and their families.
Personal homepage: http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/cdfs/About/directory/macdermid_shelley.html
Military Family Research Institute: http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/mfri/public/default.aspx
CONTACT: 765-496-3403, shelley@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: The Purdue University experts below can talk about topics related to the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Journalists who have questions or want to make interview arrangements can contact Purdue News Service at 765-494-2096.