UCLA School of Engineering Holds Symposium on Homeland Security: Safeguarding Civil Infrastructures, November 7

Structures like San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge are an important part of California's infrastructure.

The University of California at Los Angeles held a symposium on November 7 to address the technological, environmental, ethical and economic issues involved in protecting the nation's civil infrastructure.

The symposium, called Homeland Security: Safeguarding Civil Infrastructures, brought together engineers, scientists and policy experts for a coordinated study of the most efficient means to protect against natural, accidental and deliberate threats to the country's transportation systems, energy generation, buildings, bridges and roadways, as well as the water and food supply.

John Cummings, director of critical infrastructure protection research and development for the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, delivered the keynote address.

"Engineers have always played an important role in bringing innovation to society, through the industrial age to the information age, and today this role has never been more significant," said Vijay Dhir, dean of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, which hosted the symposium. "As engineers, we hold a responsibility to offer solutions that will ensure the continued stability of the civil infrastructure we depend upon. Public awareness through an event like this is an important step toward fulfilling that responsibility."

UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who holds appointments in both the School of Public Policy and Social Research and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, spoke of his personal interest in the area of homeland security research.

"This subject is of substantial interest to me," said Chancellor Carnesale. "This is one of those subjects with substantial technical dimensions, but with substantial political and policy dimensions as well."

Professor William Kaiser, who directs the new research-based Homeland Security Center within the School of Engineering and was the lead organizer of the symposium, says that the sheer size and complexity of the civil infrastructure requires a systematic approach to protect it. "I don't think the engineering science community has ever faced such a multi-disciplinary research challenge," said Kaiser.

Michael Wermuth, the director of domestic counter-terrorism programs at the Santa-Monica-based think tank, RAND, assessed the nation's progress on homeland security, and key representatives from Boeing, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman offered timely perspectives on technology development and the alliance between industry and the university.

"Part of the post-9/11 challenge is that all issues need addressing at once," said David Zolet, vice president of homeland security for Northrop Grumman. "When the issue is homeland security, it will take all of us acting in concert to craft an effective response."

LAX is another high profile part of California's civil infrastructure.

Leading researchers from UCLA's School of Engineering offered presentations on the wide variety of work under way that can be applied to safeguarding civil infrastructure, from distributed sensor networks to biological sensors, as well as designing protective structures and innovative data management technologies.

Through the establishment of the Homeland Security Center within the Engineering School, there will be many collaborative research opportunities with other research centers, including the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, the Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration, the Center for Public Health and Disasters and the Center for Civil Society.

"UCLA has an uncommon record of pioneering achievements in technology, policy and public health areas," said Kaiser. "We are well-positioned to draw on the university's diverse strengths to focus on the protection of our civil infrastructure."

At the symposium, keynote speaker John Cummings outlined the challenges that the nation will face in protecting its infrastructure in years to come.

"The country is extremely target-rich," said Cummings. "There are many places where terrorists could attack and as a consequence we've got to make some smart decisions about where the Federal government should make investments, what policies to put in place."

According to Kaiser, natural and accidental threats to the infrastructure can be as costly as deliberate attacks. He cites the cost of earthquakes, estimated to average in the billions per year, and a 1998 incident when several satellites malfunctioned, disrupting everything from 911 calls to credit card transactions. More recently, the massive power outage in the Northeast created chaos for millions of people.

"We want to protect against natural, accidental and deliberate threats to our infrastructure," said Kaiser. "We have to employ many tools from sensing, to networking, to visualization and also monitor infrastructure ranging from streams to subway systems."

The Homeland Security symposium follows last year's conference on emerging technologies, and the School plans to hold a similar event next year.

-Chris Sutton
11/10/03