12 Universities Join $15M Border Security and Technology Initiative

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced the recipient universities to conduct security research through five new Centers of Excellence. These centers will develop new technologies to prevent natural and man-made disasters, improve government response to such crises and monitor the nation’s shores and borders. The Department’s Office of University Programs, under its Science and Technology Directorate, will manage the five new centers, which will each receive multi-years grants of up to $2 million per year for 4-6 years.

The five centers include:

* Center of Excellence for Border Security and Immigration, co-lead by the University of Arizona and the University of Texas at El Paso;

* Center of Excellence for Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response, co-led by Northeastern University and the University of Rhode Island;

* Center of Excellence for Maritime, Island and Port Security, co-led by the University of Hawaii and Stevens Institute of Technology;

* Center of Excellence for Natural Disasters, Coast Infrastructure and emergency Management, co-led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Jackson State University; and,

* Center of Excellence for Transportation Security, co-led by Texas Southern University, Tougaloo College and the University of Connecticut.

One of the new centers, the Center for Excellence for Border Security and Immigration, represents a collaborative effort among 12 universities, co-led by the University of Arizona and the University of Texas at El Paso. This six-year, $15 million center will develop border security technologies for communication, surveillance and analyzing immigration patterns. The center also will have responsibility for training customs agents and border security personnel to use the technologies they develop and to improve their overall effectiveness. The University of Arizona will be charged with setting long-term technology goals for the center and initiating specific research programs.

Border security technology has been receiving more attention in recent years due to an increasing focus on national security and illegal immigration. President Bush’s Border Security Initiative, the multi-year plan under DHS to improve the monitoring of American borders, has brought an increase in federal funding for border technology and research. The department’s new Office of Innovation, first funded in the 2008 budget, received more than $21 million to develop relevant technologies. Last year’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill would have provided additional investment in technology and research, including a Port of Entry Technology Demonstration program. Though the bill died in the Senate, all three of this year’s remaining contenders for the U.S. presidency favor increased funding for border research.

More information is available at http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1204061890079.shtm. The original DHS university centers are described at http://www.dhs.gov/xres/programs/editorial_0498.shtm.

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