Top U.S. fire administrator to give keynote at VACCINE homeland security meeting
Glenn Gaines
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Acting U.S. Fire Administrator Glenn Gaines will deliver the keynote address next month as part of the annual meeting of a Purdue University center providing visualization, analytical and technological tools that support homeland security efforts.
Gaines, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator for the U.S. Fire Administration since March 2009, is responsible for managing the USFA and the programs and training activities at the National Emergency Training Center.
He will speak at 1 p.m. Sept. 13 in Discovery Park's Hall for Discovery and Learning Research, Room 131, during the annual event hosted by the Purdue-led Center for Visual Analytics for Command, Control and Interoperability, known as VACCINE.
The daylong meeting, which will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Hall for Discovery and Learning Research, also will feature speakers and panelists addressing the use of visual analytics and technology for public safety, corporate settings and specialized areas/government agencies.
The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, contact Deb Denno of VACCINE by Sept. 8, at ddenno@purdue.edu, 765-496-3747. A complete agenda is available online at https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/events/view.php?id=667
"Chief Gaines will focus on the challenges firefighters and first responders face in today's data-driven society and how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is enabling and driving science and technology to respond to these challenges," said David Ebert, a Purdue professor of electrical and computer engineering who leads VACCINE.
"And his message is especially timely with the research community as well as local, state and regional first-responders as we mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 that changed the way we view homeland security and how we address natural and manmade disasters."
Gaines served with the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for the Department of Homeland Security from its launch in 2001 until 2009 and as a senior staff member for three primary grants managed by FEMA's Grants Program Office. He also led FEMA efforts in developing the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant Program in 2005.
He began his fire service career as a volunteer member of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in Virginia. During his 37-year career, he served in numerous capacities, including fire marshal, chief training officer and chief of operations, culminating in his appointment as fire chief from August 1991 to December 1998.
In May 2010 Gaines received the prestigious International Association of Fire Chiefs Metropolitan Fire Chiefs President's Award of Distinction.
VACCINE is one of two parts of a $30 million 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.
The parent center - the Command, Control and Interoperability Center of Excellence - is co-led by Purdue and Rutgers University. Purdue and its team of 19 universities focus on the visualization sciences, while Rutgers leads efforts in the data sciences component.
VACCINE researchers are developing interactive software algorithms that create visualizations, graphics and maps with essential information to help emergency personnel who use a variety of devices, from office desktop computers to mobile phones in the field. The visualizations show concise representations of the key information within massive data streams of information.
The center involves about 20 Purdue faculty members and a dozen graduate and undergraduate students from a diverse range of specialties, from computer science and electrical engineering to veterinary medicine and statistics.
VACCINE has formed partnerships with local, state and national groups to provide university researchers real-world examples to help test and refine developing technology. The center also is working with several Indiana companies, the Indiana Department of Health, local law enforcement agencies, community colleges and the Law Enforcement Academy of Northeast Indiana, which trains emergency responders.
Writer: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Sources: David Ebert, 765-494-9064, ebertd@ecn.purdue.edu
Sally Luzader, VACCINE assistant director of engagement and education, 765-494-2216, luzaders@purdue.edu
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