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Division Head: Jim Tuttle
The S&T Directorate Explosives Division promotes the development of effective techniques to protect our citizens and our country’s infrastructure against the devastating effects of explosives by seeking innovative approaches in detection, and in countermeasures. It provides the concepts, science, technologies and systems that increase protection from explosives and promotes the development of field equipment, technologies, and procedures to interdict suicide bombers, car and truck bombs, and shoulder-fired missiles before they can reach their targets. The projects on this page are managed by the S&T Explosives Division.
Project Manager: Eric Neiderman
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Air Cargo program focuses on identifying and developing the next generation of air cargo screening systems to mitigate the threat of explosives placed in air cargo containers. Activities include developing technologies to enable screening of 100-percent of cargo, including break bulk screening, with very few false alarms and reduced operational costs.
Project Manager: Eric Neiderman
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Air Cargo program focuses on identifying and developing the next generation of air cargo screening systems to mitigate the threat of explosives placed in air cargo containers. Activities include developing technologies to enable screening of 100-percent of cargo, including break bulk screening, with very few false alarms and reduced operational costs.
Project Manager: Eric Neiderman
Project Overview:The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Air Cargo program focuses on identifying and developing the next generation of air cargo screening systems to mitigate the threat of explosives placed in air cargo containers. Activities include developing technologies to enable screening of 100-percent of cargo, including break bulk screening, with very few false alarms and reduced operational costs.
Project Manager: Eric Neiderman
Project Overview:The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Air Cargo program focuses on identifying and developing the next generation of air cargo screening systems to mitigate the threat of explosives placed in air cargo containers. Activities include developing technologies to enable screening of 100-percent of cargo, including break bulk screening, with very few false alarms and reduced operational costs.
Project Manager: Eric Neiderman
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Automated Carry-On Detection project develops advanced capabilities to detect explosives and concealed weapons (including HMEs. This project will introduce new standalone technologies or adjunct technologies to Computed Tomography technology to continue improving detection performance and the detection of novel explosives.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Body Armor Project develops improved and advanced body armor for new threats and improves wearability in adverse environmental conditions.
Project Manager: Mike Shepard
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Bomb Components Project develops and enhances technologies, tools, and procedures available to law enforcement and first responder teams to improve the tracking and detection capabilities of commercial explosive components. This project will investigate critical IED component detection, advanced/improved IED component analysis, as well as conduct demonstrations and pilots.
Project Manager: Polly Gongwer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Canine Detection Research & Development Project conducts extensive modeling of canine sampling to support further basic research in canine pattern recognition for trace detection, which will facilitate development of an electronic nose to mimic canine detection of trace particles and vapor for threat materials. This project significantly broadens the Canine Detection investment.
Project Manager: Polly Gongwer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Canine Explosives Detection project optimizes canine explosive detection to enable DHS canine user agencies such as TSA, CBP, USSS, and NPPD to select and breed the best canines for detecting explosives. This project will improve canine deployment strategies and create a predictive canine success database based on traits and genetics.
Project Manager: Herman Rediess
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Counter-MANPADS Program conducting an operational assessment of equipping commercial transport aircraft with defense systems for countering MANPADS attacks.
Project Manager: Doug Bauer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Detection Technology and Material Science project employs the latest advances in high performance materials development to enhance aircraft survivability in the event of an on-board blast. The project will study blast resistant materials, and develop and implement advanced materials to be used within aircraft to reduce the effects of an explosive detonation, including the attenuation of the explosive shock wave and containment of blast fragmentation (shrapnel).
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Electronic Countermeasures Project develops new radio frequency (RF) or infrared jamming technologies to inhibit RF hazardous devices while allowing the bomb squad to maintain the RF capabilities of their robot and communications system during an emergency.
Project Manager: Eric Houser
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Explosive Trace Detection project develops advanced capabilities to detect explosives through trace residue technologies to include HMEs. This project is developing a fully functional laboratory breadboard Portal for Aerodynamic Wake Sampling to improve throughput by real time sampling of the passenger’s wake while walking through the portal.
Project Manager: Doug Bauer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Fundamental Particle Physics project improves the comprehension of the energy barriers involved in the adhesion, desorption, and transport of particles. Advances made in the fundamental understanding of particle behavior will lay the groundwork for the next generation of sampling technologies and improvements to currently used devices.
Project Manager: Doug Bauer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Home Made Explosives project examines potential detection technologies capable of detecting and distinguishing explosives and flammable liquids from benign liquids (e.g. drinks, lotions, hygiene products, contact lens solution). This project includes: improving products and systems capable of detecting HMEs; supporting the research and development of next generation, novel technologies, algorithms or prototypes for the detection of HMEs; and addressing potential operational venues, including airport and mass transit checkpoints for passengers and carry-on baggage.
Project Manager: Doug Bauer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Home Made Explosives Characterization project determines the impact, friction, and electrostatic discharge sensitivities of HME threats. The project provides a better understanding of the potential damage of HMEs and their impact on aircraft. This works enables the Division to determine the necessary technologies to counter this threat. This data will also facilitate the safe handling and storage of volatile materials for DHS S&T researchers involved with developing explosive detection systems, as well as their customers.
Project Manager: Doug Bauer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Home Made Explosives Standalone Detection project provides a standalone detection capability for HME or novel explosive by improving COTS systems. Due to the urgency of the threat, detection capability will be provided by spiral upgrades to COTS equipment that are able to detect an increasing number of HME threats.
Project Manager: Eric Neiderman
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Improvements to Deployed Check Baggage Technology project qualifies operational systems in accordance with customer-established verification of usability, reliability, maintainability, and operability metrics. This project examines the root cause of false-alarm rates and shield alarms in Explosive Detection Systems (EDS) to reduce the number that occur. The program certifies EDS for reduced threat mass to detect smaller amounts of explosives based on aircraft vulnerability.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Inerting Project develops advanced applications, improved strategies, and implementation planning to render a compound non-explosive. This project plans to investigate advanced inerting applications and technologies and perform cost-benefit analyses as well as technology and pilot demonstrations.
Project Manager: Doug Bauer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Liquid and Home Made Explosives Chemical Characterization Project qualifies and quantifies the physical and chemical properties of HME threats. The project will identify density, CT number, dielectric constant, chemical composition of products, molecular structure, thermal decomposition rates, etc.
Project Manager: Doug Bauer
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Manhattan II project stimulates commercial development of next generation systems that provide the best value combination of performance and affordability for screening checked baggage. S&T will work to identify and mature the key enabling screening technologies and algorithm concepts with the potential to meet future TSA checked baggage screening requirements and to help inform the direction of future technical advances to reduce false alarms without sacrifice to detection probabilities. Testing and evaluation of these systems will focus on probability of detection, level of false alarms, and throughput. The project will identify and investigate the key cost-performance trades for next generation checked baggage screening technologies to meet future TSA checked baggage throughput requirements and reduced operational costs, by assessing initial purchasing cost, operating costs, maintainability, and other elements of the full life-cycle costs.
Project Manager: Eric Neiderman
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Next Generation Transportation Detection project develops automated passenger and carry-on bag detection system demonstration, system requirements, and performance goals to allow for test and evaluation. This program enhances security by automating the detection of weapons and explosives on passengers and in personal articles at airports and other mass transit facilities. This project identifies new emerging threats and integrates them into a complete system including the wide variety of liquid- and gel-based explosives.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Outreach Project coordinates Counter-IED requirements for standoff detection technologies from user communities/first responders/public safety officials and various Federal organizations. The project will include requirements understanding and development, vetting and coordination, as well as coordinating Test and Evaluation Master Plans.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Person-borne Improvised Explosive Devices (PBIED) Detection Project investigates potential technologies capable of detecting all types of explosive threats such as home made, commercial, and military explosives in order to enhance detection of PBIEDs. Basic research efforts will expand chemical characterization and small-scale testing for detonability of PBIED threats; will advance scientific understanding behind deposition, sampling, removal; and trace detection of explosive particles on people and packages and explore fundamental science behind explosive particle behavior to improve sampling technology.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Post Blast Forensics Project develops and enhances technologies, tools, and procedures used by post-blast forensic teams to improve investigation and data collection.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Render Safe / Diagnostics Project increases standoff capabilities, reduces collateral damage, and provides precision disruption and disablement capabilities and techniques.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Robotics Project improves robotics design and ability to defeat and disarm IEDs using fast, lightweight robotic platforms with a suite of tools for emerging explosive threats.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Standards Project develops a comprehensive set of performance standards and evaluation criteria for IED detection and defeat technologies. This project will develop technology and standards to ensure that the products meet customers’ technology requirements and performance standards.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Technology Demo/System Integration Project consolidates work with first responders, State and local public safety officials as well as Federal homeland security officials in developing a comprehensive plan and venue for technology demonstrations, to determine and validate system-integrated technologies to detect IEDs to improve system performance definition and integration.
Project Manager: Joe Foster
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Explosives Division Technology Demo/System Integration Project consolidates work with first responders, State and local public safety officials as well as Federal homeland security officials in developing a comprehensive plan and venue for technology demonstrations, to determine and validate system-integrated technologies to detect IEDs to improve system performance definition and integration.
Email: S&T-Explosives@dhs.gov
This page was last reviewed/modified on September 12, 2008.
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