For Immediate Release
February
6, 2008
|
Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
|
West Virginia University Named National Leader for FBI Biometrics Research
WVU-FBI Partner on Biometric Center of Excellence
Morgantown, West Virginia—West Virginia
University (WVU) is the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s
lead academic partner in biometrics research, under the
terms of an agreement signed today on the WVU campus.
“West Virginia University has comprehensive, integrative
research and education programs in biometrics and is known
worldwide for its identification technology research,” said
Thomas E. Bush, III, Assistant Director of the FBI’s
Criminal Justice Information Services Division. “The
University is uniquely positioned to serve as the liaison
to the academic research community for the FBI’s
Biometric Center of Excellence.”
The agreement, signed by WVU President Mike Garrison and
FBI Assistant Director Bush, leverages the University’s
academic research and knowledge in the biometric identification
arena and identifies WVU as the academic arm of the FBI’s
Biometric Center of Excellence. WVU’s role is to
provide biometrics research support to the FBI and its
law enforcement and national security partners and serve
as the FBI liaison to the academic community of biometric
researchers nationwide.
“WVU’s expertise in biometrics positions us
to distinctively perform with capabilities central to the
FBI’s mission, as well as to bring together academic
networks in those areas,” said Garrison. “We
are very excited to be involved in a project that will
not only impact national security efforts but will also
have worldwide significance. The Center will provide WVU
students with an academic opportunity that they will not
find at any other institution in the United States.”
Added Senator Robert C. Byrd, “A partnership between
WVU and the FBI is a winning combination. The men and women
in Clarksburg and Morgantown will be on the forefront of
securing our nation while also working to advance biometric
technology. I am proud to have supported this initiative
from the very beginning, and will continue to do all I
can to help further its advancement.”
The FBI Science and Technology Branch is creating a Biometric
Center of Excellence to coordinate biometric and identity
management activities within the FBI and partner with other
U.S. Government agencies. The FBI Biometric Center of Excellence
will facilitate research, development, training and other
activities related to biometric technologies and systems.
Through the FBI Biometric Center of Excellence, the FBI
will provide quality biometric services and technologies
to fight terrorism and aid in investigative and intelligence
efforts.
WVU’s National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for
Identification Technology Research (CITeR) is the internationally
recognized biometric research asset that enabled the new
partnership. CITeR faculty and students have a well established
history of forming academic teams to address specific areas
of research and of reaching out to other academic institutions
to form multi-university collaborations based on the needs
of sponsored research.
“ We are proud of the enabling role that CITeR is
playing in WVU's partnership with the FBI's new Biometric
Center of Excellence,” said Alex Schwarzkopf, a long-time
centers expert and director of NSF's Industry/University
Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) program. “NSF
fosters the creation and maintenance of I/UCRCs throughout
the U.S. by providing a small amount of seed funding and
management guidance. Led by West Virginia University, with
the University of Arizona as a partner, CITeR is a model
of I/UCRC goals. By leveraging industry, academe, and government
resources, the center strengthens U.S. competitiveness
by bringing the brightest minds from multiple universities
to solve the tough security problems that we face.”
Byrd Professor Lawrence Hornak, Co-director of CITeR stated, “The
teaming process will be used as the mechanism to reach
out to other universities to perform biometric research
or to engage in technology transfer to mission critical
systems for the FBI. This partnership will develop an understanding
of the FBI’s systems needs and cultivate and evolve
an academic research portfolio to help address those needs.”
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