Conference this week at Purdue related to homeland security

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - VACCINE, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence at Purdue University, will hold a free conference this week featuring national experts in in areas including digital forensics, visualization and data-driven policy analysis, new product transition to commercialization, criminal investigations and emerging sources of information.

VACCINE concentrates 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.  

The Visual Analytics and Data Driven Decision Making conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 2) in Room 131 of the Discovery Learning Research Center in Purdue's Discovery Park.

Speakers will include David Ebert, VACCINE Center director and Purdue's Silicon Valley Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; keynote speaker John Dargan, director of DHS Science &Technology Operations and Requirements Analysis; and keynote speaker Sue Lane, former assistant director for the DHS Joint Task Force East.

At 9:15 a.m., a digital forensics panel will be led by Edward Delp, Purdue's Charles William Harrison Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Charles Russo, a professor of criminal justice at American Public University; Michael Young, a former executive with the Transportation Security Administration and Secret Service; and Lt. Rudy Zupanc, watch commander at the Ohio State Highway Patrol Hub

At 12:30 p.m., a panel on visualization and data-driven policy analysis will be hosted by Dargan; Arch Turner, operations analysis chief, DHS S&T Operations and Requirements Analysis; Rob Parker, a retired vice admiral for the U.S. Coast Guard and former Coast Guard LANTAREA Commander; and Lane. 

At 2 p.m., a panel on criminal investigations and emerging sources of information will be hosted by Abish Malik, VACCINE research scientist; Yung-Hsiang Lu, a Purdue associate professor of electrical and computer engineering; Brandon Behlendorf, an associate professor at the State University of New York and a former assistant director for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism; and Gary Durham, former Secret Service special agent-in-charge in Indiana and co-founder of Durham and Associates.

At 3:30 p.m., a panel on new product transition will be led by Michael Shepard, entrepreneur-in-residence, Purdue Foundry; Melissa Berquist, associate director, Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases, Texas A&M University; William Wright, senior partner, Uncharted Software Inc.; and Greg Deason, senior vice president and director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Purdue Foundry.

The conference is free. Additional information is available here, or by contacting vaccine@purdue.edu.

Media Contact: Emil Venere, 765-494-4709, venere@purdue.edu

Sources:  David Ebert, 765-494-9064, ebertd@purdue.edu