SMALL TECH COULD BE KEY COMPONENT OF A BETTER ANTI-TERRORISM STRATEGY

Small tech could help prevent future terrorist attacks like those in New York and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday that destroyed the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon, said a leading authority on MEMS and microsystems. David Williams, former director of the microsystems program at Sandia National Laboratories, outlined three key areas where small tech can be part of a solution before, during or after a terrorist attack: Microsystems and nanotechnology can help gather intelligence, make potential targets more secure and increase the value of forensic evidence after an attack. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy lab, created a scanning technology for the Federal Aviation Administration to screen airline passengers for plastic weapons and explosives that today’s X-ray and metal detectors don’t register. The scanner sends out millimeter waves that penetrate materials such as clothing but not flesh or other solid objects. Instead, the waves bounce back to a transceiver that converts the signal to digital form that a computer interprets as a three-dimensional holographic image. The transceiver utilizes microfabrication technologies. PNNL said the scanner has been tested in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and could be used to improve security in government buildings, mass transit operations, prisons and numerous other institutions. Small tech can also help fortify a building, subway or other public gathering place by detecting explosives and chemical or biological weapons.