Director’s Message, Fall 2023
Dear SENTRY Community,
In the season of giving thanks, it’s a fitting time to reflect on our mission and the tremendous strides we’ve made at SENTRY. Over the past few months, we’ve hosted and participated in events to engage our network of researchers, industry partners, students, and staff in the heart of our work.
I am pleased to share that we received 23 applications in response to our call for proposals and have selected 5 new research projects to fund. We plan to formally announce these new partnerships in January of 2024. Additionally, SENTRY welcomed a new member to our Industry Advisory Board, Lauretta AI, a company with an AI system that leverages deep learning and computer vision technology to address the next generation needs of smart buildings and spaces.
As part of our main Cooperative Agreement with DHS, we have secured a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) for a five-year period at an operating budget of $40 million. This agreement allows us to execute projects with classified or sensitive content and handle directive work from DHS to address critical challenges through 2028.
In August, members of our School Security Case Study team attended the Rhode Island School Safety Committee’s 2023 School Safety Conference, featuring speakers Robert F. Mahoney and Katherine Schweit, who shared invaluable insights from their experiences in prevention and law enforcement.
In September, our research community came together for an inaugural SENTRY Research Retreat, a day of collaboration, planning, and reflection. Each project was reviewed and discussed in depth, leading to a productive day outlining our research objectives for the year ahead, and discovering new ways to share resources and knowledge between research areas.
Our Surface Transportation Case Study made exciting progress with a two-day site visit in early October, exploring key New York and New Jersey transit locations, including visits to Penn Station, Moynihan Train Hall, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Discussions included sensor and camera systems, visibility challenges, inter-agency connections, interoperability, and the Virtual Sentry Framework’s potential role in the redevelopment of these critical transportation venues. The event concluded with a simulation exercise in Jersey City, involving a mock disruption with actors participating as protestors obstructing the light rail system.
In November, our School Security Case Study team again gained valuable insights to translate into their work by attending two school security-related events. First, the Campus Safety Conference at EDspaces held in early November focused on current issues facing schools and institutions of higher education; helping them prepare for, prevent, and mitigate security and safety incidents. They later attended CISA’s 2023 National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security, featuring remarks from government officials, private sector leaders, and school safety experts, aimed to facilitate a nationwide dialogue on enhancing school safety measures.
Most recently, we gathered at Northeastern University’s East Village on November 14 and 15 for ADSA27: Implementation and Deployment of Situational Awareness Strategies for Protecting Soft Targets. This event fostered discussions on the latest technologies, software, and communications strategies to enhance security and minimize the impact of attacks on soft targets.
Together, we are making a profound impact on the soft target security landscape. I’m excited to see what we can achieve in the months ahead.
Onwards,
Michael Silevitch
Director, SENTRY Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence