

Dear SENTRY Community,
I am incredibly thankful to our partners and collaborators as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday. This fall, SENTRY hosted and participated in a record number of collaborative events, exploring new ideas with industry experts, sharing resources with world-class researchers, and considering practical applications with seasoned security practitioners. Read on to learn about the many ways our community came together in pursuit of the SENTRY mission to better protect soft targets and crowded places.
We want to thank Anthony Amore, a SENTRY Practitioner Advisory Board Member, for facilitating a tour of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA, on August 23. The experience offered valuable insights on best practices to solve the many challenges of securing the museum and protecting its priceless art. We found Anthony’s sharing of information to be both pragmatic and forward-thinking in terms of safeguarding the museum and its assets.
On October 30th, I traveled to the University at Buffalo to deliver a talk titled “So What – Who Cares? A Three-Level Approach to Creating Effective High-Stakes Initiatives”. Jun Zhuang, the Threat Risk Assessment and Deterrence Research Lead, invited me to visit and share my thoughts about crafting a complex Center operation such as SENTRY. I found that the students, as well as the faculty and research administrative personnel, were very eager to learn about this. I especially enjoyed getting to know more about the students and their aspirations.
We launched the Soft Target Security Series on November 6, which explored the Layered Security Architectural Design and Simulation Research Area led by SENTRY’s Michelle Laboy. This new webinar series was developed to highlight our research to DHS stakeholders through presentations by several SENTRY researchers.
SENTRY joined the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference held at the Boston Convention Center from October 19-22. We are grateful to DHS S&T for including us in this event. We look forward to exploring new potential Industry partnerships, site visits, and research collaborations that developed from connections made during the event.
On November 12, SENTRY’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) Member, Cambridge Consultants, hosted the entire IAB for a productive meeting at their office at the Boston Seaport. Held yearly, the IAB meetings intend to provide a networking opportunity for faculty researchers, industry, and government partners to develop relationships to facilitate technology transfer and other collaborative efforts. This event resulted in a heightened awareness by the audience of the capabilities inherent in each industrial partner. Ideas for joint proposals and projects are the next step.
The latest installment of SENTRY’s Advanced Development for Security Applications (ADSA) Workshop: Building Effective Security for Soft Targets was held in-person at Northeastern University on November 13-14. The collaborative event addressed soft target security subjects such as interoperability and risk mitigation. It promoted connections among participants, hopefully resulting in technological advancements and new partnerships.
On November 16, SENTRY researcher Scott Howard from the University of Notre Dame organized a tour of Notre Dame Stadium. Deputy Chief Bill Thompson facilitated the visit while the Fighting Irish football team played against another university. This experience allowed the SENTRY team to observe security procedures in action on game day, highlighting opportunities to ensure the relevance of our research.
Looking ahead, we are excited to host the third annual DASSH (Designing Actionable Solutions for a Secure Homeland) Student Design Challenge in February 2025. Event registration will open to graduate and undergraduate students in January. In the meantime, click here to read about last year’s event.
The collaborative and innovative spirit of our community continues to inspire me. I look forward to what we can achieve together. The whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.
Onwards,
Michael B. Silevitch
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