The George Washington University to Develop New Method For Threat Detection

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new system for analyzing national security threats will be developed by a team of professors from The George Washington University's Institute for Integrating Statistics in Decision Sciences (I2SDS). Instead of using verbal expressions of threats, such as "code orange," the new system will use probability and statistics to provide a more accurate and precise prediction of a pending threat. This research is funded through a three-year $776,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

“It is a vast undertaking to assess and predict the presence of harmful biological, chemical or nuclear agents,” said Dr. Nozer Singpurwalla, professor of statistics and decision science and lead principal investigator at GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS). “Our aim is to investigate the mathematical underpinnings of the way threats are analyzed and develop a formal structure under which information from a multitude of sources can be integrated, assessed and articulated with greater precision. The outcome will be a more comprehensive depiction of the full range of potential impacts,” said Dr. Singpurwalla.

Dr. Refik Soyer, GW School of Business (GWSB) professor of decision sciences and statistics, and Dr. Tapan Nayak, CCAS professor of statistics, are co-principal investigators of the project, “Statistical Algorithms for Threat Detection via Sensor Networks.” I²SDS is housed in GWSB, and is an academic collaborative partnership with the Department of Statistics at CCAS and the Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS)

“We are grateful to the National Science Foundation for this three-year grant,” said GWSB Dean Susan Phillips. “Our involvement with the NSF highlights the assets of the school of business through our location in the nation’s capital, the breadth and level of faculty expertise and our ability to help address the challenges facing the U.S. Government and, ultimately, the world.”

In the heart of the nation's capital with additional programs in Virginia, The George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the District of Columbia. The University offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study, as well as degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of undergraduate, graduate and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 130 countries.

Provided by George Washington University