Universities plan homeland security study

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 7 (UPI) -- Purdue and Rutgers universities will co-lead a U.S.-Canadian research group in a six-year, $30 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security study.

The researchers said they will create methods and tools to analyze and manage data in preparing for, preventing, detecting, responding to and recovering from terrorist attacks as well as natural and man-made disasters.

The 14 universities involved in the project will be led by Purdue in focusing on the "Visualization Sciences," while Rutgers will lead the efforts of the Data Sciences component.

"It is imperative that these homeland security personnel have the necessary tools for a coordinated, coherent response to events," said Purdue Professor David Ebert. "This team has the combination of strengths to fill these urgent needs."

Ebert said the goal is to help the nation's 2.3 million extended homeland security personnel, including first-responders, perform their jobs more effectively.

The other 13 schools are Georgia Tech, Indiana, Jackson State, Pennsylvania State, Simon Fraser, Stanford, Florida International and Virginia Polytechnic universities, along with the universities of Houston-Downtown, North Carolina-Charlotte, Washington, British Columbia and Texas-Austin.