Backyard bombs: DHS technology chief to focus on explosives threat.The Pentagon will have some help in its ongoing effort to defeat improvised explosive devices if Jay Cohen, director of science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States , gets his way. "We're going to get back in the IED Noun 1. IED - an explosive device that is improvised I.E.D., improvised explosive device explosive device - device that bursts with sudden violence from internal energy business. I don't have enough money yet, but I will," Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. vowed at a speech before National Defense Industrial Association member. And while infamous examples of such incidents have derived from homegrown terrorists--namely Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, Timothy McVeigh at Oklahoma City and Eric Rudolf at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics--Cohen believes attacks will come from overseas. "I believe that our enemy is fixated fix·ate v. fix·at·ed, fix·at·ing, fix·ates v.tr. 1. To make fixed, stable, or stationary. 2. To focus one's eyes or attention on: fixate a faint object. on air transportation, [but] that doesn't mean they won't attack other transportation," he said. It is only "a matter of time" before tactics used in train and subway bombings in Madrid and London are employed in the United States, he said. Cohen, a retired Navy, rear admiral who previously Served as head of the Office of Naval Research The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), headquartered in Arlington, Virginia (Ballston), is the office within the U.S. Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S. , took over the directorate in August. The department has received its share of criticism for sonic of 'its technology programs, such as the transportation worker identity card, airport screening machines and nuclear material detectors at ports of, entry. Development of radiation screeners now falls under the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. All other homeland security related technologies falls under Cohen's purview The part of a statute or a law that delineates its purpose and scope. Purview refers to the enacting part of a statute. It generally begins with the words be it enacted and continues as far as the repealing clause. . Technology to defeat and deter chemical and biological weapons will take up about half of the directorate's $800 million budget. "This is a subject that can keep you awake at night, but the good news is we've got the world's leading technology here ... We're making enormous, tangible progress in this area," he added. Cohen intends to emphasize the "human factors" side. "I'm more interested in the bomb maker than the bomb," he said. The human factor division in Ills office is charged with applying social and behavioral sciences behavioral sciences, n.pl those sciences devoted to the study of human and animal behavior. to the problems the department must solve. At airports, for example, screening technology can be used to look for "hostile intent," which may manifest itself in rapidly blinking eyes or a raised heart rate, he said. Email your comments to SMagnuson@ndia.org |
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