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S&T 2020 Infrastructure Resilience

Be it in times of peace and prosperity or discord and struggle, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) will always support its vital missions—and that includes supporting infrastructure resilience. Here are just a few highlights from the past year:

  • Invented new vaccine process for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) in livestock that does not require live virus, which reduces risk of accidental illness and secures agricultural infrastructure. “Following these DHS blueprints, designer vaccines for effective protection against novel, emerging FMD strains can be developed in months as opposed to years.” – Dr. Neilan, science director at S&T’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

  • Civic Innovation Challenge. Powering Smart & Connected Communities. Enhancing Community Preparedness & Resilience. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Science Foundation and Department of Energy seal. Partnered with the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy to launch the Civic Innovation Challenge.  The joint effort provided $9 million for improved community mobility options and resilience to natural disasters.

  • Helped Missouri State Emergency Management Agency assess the safety of buildings after an EF-3 tornado in Jefferson City. “This was the best data collection method I’ve used in all my deployments.” – Michael Ash, Missouri Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation Coalition member

  • Chlorine release test site. Jack Rabbit project chlorine release test data was highlighted in a special issue of the Journal of Atmospheric Environment. Field experiments involved safe release of 5-20 tons of liquefied chlorine to improve hazard prediction modeling, emergency planning and response strategies against chemical release incidents.

  • Completed successful test of field-deployable DNA tool to rapidly detect African Swine Fever in pigs to help industry prevent, respond to and recover from a possible large-scale outbreak.

  • DNA, pig and a seal of Protecting the Nation's Livestock (PIADC). More than 115 million hogs valued at $24 billion go to U.S. market each year Harnessed the power of the innovation community to develop a suite of cutting-edge sensor (wildland fire, low-cost flood, and in-building) and scanning technologies via S&T’s Smart Cities Internet of Things Innovation (SCITI) Labs. Vehicle Inspection for early warning system can scan moving vehicles at security checkpoints at up to 20 mph to detect hidden contraband.

Last Updated: 01/07/2022
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