Texas A&M Teams Close-Up
In this issue, you will get a closer look at the three H4HS student teams from Texas A&M University and see how they're progressing in their innovation journey during the current Fall 2022 semester. To view last week's newsletter highlighting the four student teams from Rochester Institute of Technology, click here.
H4HS in the TSA Innovation Doctrine
TSA recently released the Innovation Doctrine, the first-of-its-kind document in the federal government that introduces a shared innovation language for employees and a framework to empower innovation organization-wide.
The doctrine points to Hacking for Homeland Security on page 10 as a program that "connects problems to external partners committed to expanding the transportation security marketplace with viable solutions." H4HS is proud to partner with TSA to bring new ideas from bright young minds into the innovation space.
Fall 2022 Statistics
Texas A&M University - Meet the Teams
The student teams at Texas A&M conducted their mid-course presentations, and the hard work they have put into curating their unique problems shined through in their mid-course presentations. In the last newsletter, we explored challenges from FEMA, CISA, HSI, and TSA at the Rochester Institute of Technology. At Texas A&M, all three teams are working on problems sponsored by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
TSA Consolidation of Configurations Team
This student team is assessing a pervasive hurdle in the TSA's Computed Tomography (CT) systems: keeping scanning systems up to date to detect new and emerging threats. At a given airport, CT scanners from at least 4 unique vendors are in use. So how do you standardize a process to update software across different pieces of equipment, some of which may not even be using the same programming language? The Consolidation of Configurations team is working diligently on a solution.
The team is taking a deep dive into open architecture - a software design system meant to make collaboration easier between multiple stakeholders. The team has conducted 21 interviews with both TSA employees and CT vendors, and is even looking to the international scene for ideas on how to make open architecture work for TSA. This problem is a top priority for TSA, and was mentioned on page 11 of the Innovation Doctrine.
TSA Beating Bias in Artificial Intelligence Team
The Beating Bias in Artificial Intelligence team is focused on supporting the TSA traveler engagement branch to improve the AIT scanner algorithm to prevent unintentional discrimination against travelers. Currently, those with non-caucasian hairstyles tend to get flagged and patted down more often, leading to the unintended consequence of minorities feeling discriminated against. Many passengers with dense or voluminous hair are being stopped for pat-downs because their hair is identified as an anomaly rather than a part of their body.
The student team has conducted 25 interviews so far, and they believe the key to preventing this discrimination is to update the flagging algorithm. "Machine learning cannot be biased, but the data you feed it can make it so," said one student during their presentation. The team is working on gathering enough data to test a new algorithm that will account for all types of hair and reduce unnecessary flagging and pat-downs.
TSA More Mobility Team
The More Mobility team is examining how passengers who use wheelchairs move through airport security checkpoints. The process, as you may guess, is oftentimes slow, uncomfortable, and frustrating for all parties. In many cases, the students found, Transportation Security Officers (TSO) have no other option than to perform pat-downs for passengers who cannot stand up to move through the scanners. The students have conducted 26 interviews and visited one airport to learn more about the problem, with two more trips planned before the end of the semester.
Their proposed solution, in its current form, is a new polypropylene wheelchair with built-in millimeter-wave scanning technology combined with a new scanner that could be used for both able-bodied and wheelchair-supported passengers. The goal of this high-tech device is to reduce the screening time for wheelchair users from 10 minutes down to 2-4 minutes, reducing slow-downs, discomfort, and embarrassment for the passenger.
Final Presentations
In just a few weeks, students will be presenting their final project reports. If you are interested in these teams' journeys and want to hear more about their fantastic solutions, please send a request to h4hs@bmnt.com to receive an invite to final presentations. Texas A&M will hold their final presentations on December 1st at 3:30pm EST, and RIT's presentations are scheduled for December 13th at 7:00pm EST.
For more information about the program, future events, and how to participate in an upcoming semester, visit h4homelandsecurity.us.