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All MITRE Projects (with summaries and presentations where available)
Listing of project titles in alphabetical order
Pages: 1234567891011121314151617
Bioscope
Primary Investigator:Tan, Regina L.
Problems:
Avian influenza is hypothesized to be the next source of pandemic influenza. However, failure to understand disease transmission will hamper international control measures, a vulnerability in U.S. biosecurity measures. Modern techniques do not visualize disease transmission among human and animal populations. We hypothesize that Bioscope will provide an intuitive display, enabling more robust geographic and temporal analyses.
The objective of this project is to provide a platform for integrated analytic communities and scientific decision support.
Objectives:
Science-based intelligence analysis toward the NORTHCOM Commander’s Critical Information Requirements.
Development of a three-dimensional command center view.
Activities:
1. Science-based intelligence analysis to incorporate data from open source reports, peer-reviewed scientific journals, and systematically-collected scientific data.
2. Software infrastructure development to support science-based intelligence analysis.
3. Integration with other Biosecurity Challenge projects.
4. Discuss collaboration with Oxford University influenza model.
Impact:
In large-scale biological events, analytic communities accept certain data limitations: lack of coverage, standardization, and integration across disjoint datasets. These limitations hamper the analyst’s ability to draw conclusions that span multiple data collection sites. However, by integrating data sets in an environment comfortable for disjoint analytic communities, we can help overcome these limitations.
Public Release No:09-0852
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 6, May 7
Bridging the Decision-Space/Situation Space Divide
Primary Investigator:Klein, Gary L.
Problems:
Simulation models can vastly improve decision making, but can also lead to mistaken decisions because even precise simulations are still inherently incomplete models of reality. To mitigate such "deep uncertainty," it has been suggested that one can seek robust decisions that are less sensitive to inaccuracies in situation descriptions. Robust decision making will require novel visualizations of simulated consequences of possible decisions across many plausible future conditions. If we can avoid needless model fidelity that does not change this decision space, then we can save development cost and computational time, which in turn will support more tactical decision making. This work explores the trade space of necessary precision/fidelity of simulation models that feed data to such visualizations. The goal is to determine general principles and/or a methodology for identifying the boundary conditions. In addition, it will explore the cognitive utility of various visualizations for presenting the decision space and enhancing "option awareness." Human-in-the-loop experimentation will be done in emergency response simulations to test new visualizations.
Objectives:
Develop general principles and/or a methodology for identifying the the level of modeling needed to support robust decision making situations
Develop decision space visualizations that lead to more robust, faster, and more confident decision making with better outcomes
Publish our findings in the technical literature and transition our findings to sponsors.
Activities:
Exploratory modeling to determine the needed accuracy, precision, and completeness of the underlying simulations that will feed decision-support visualizations. Phase 1 explores models used in the NeoCities emergency response simulation, and Phase 2 (running concurrently) explores a Pandemic Flu model developed at MITRE by Dr. Jennifer Mathieu.
Develop visualizations that will convey the robust decision-making information.These will be evaluated in human-in-the-loop experiments at MITRE and Penn State University using NeoCities to determine their effectiveness against objective criteria. Based on test results, we will revise the visualization design or use a new design approach, re-implement, and re-test.
Impact:
This project as a whole will provide a basis for new operational concepts for a variety of applications including emergency response, military tactical decision making, intelligence analysis, and crisis management. It will also demonstrate the value added of university research partnerships, such as, leveraging expertise, laboratories, research prototypes, and the availability of student participants in experiments.
Modeling principles and methods will avoid needless fidelity (thus saving development cost and computational time). This will support more tactical decision making. They will also aid development of similar decision aids for other domains.
The psychological analyses employed can be used to evaluate other cognitive aids and tools under development at MITRE. Moreover, the consequent robust-decision-making visualizations should lead to more robust, faster, and more confident decision making with better outcomes.
Public Release No:09-1083
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 6
Business Continuity Decision Framework
Primary Investigator:Taub, Audrey E.
Problems:
The objective of this research is to develop an initial decision framework and guidance that can be applied by our Government sponsors to improve national disaster response capabilities through more effective public-private partnerships, supply chain resiliency and response planning. We have: investigated best practices and lessons learned in building and incentivizing public-private partnerships, and supply chain resiliency; will collaborate and strategize with key stakeholders in Emergency Preparedness & Response (EP&R), including Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), DHS/Science and Technology; have developed an initial decision framework to support enterprise resiliency and response planning; and are formulating recommendations to the government for improving national disaster response capabilities.
Objectives:
Develop an initial prototype decision framework (including templates, logical/repeatable thought processes; supporting guidelines; and supporting decision aids)
Select a proof-of-concept scenario for deliberative discussion among Federal, state, and local Government and private industry
Identify and establish a willing group of participants from Government agencies and private industry to apply the framework in a future facilitated exploration.
Activities:
1. Determining the specific private sector response and recovery gaps that must be addressed by the decision framework
2. Exploring approaches that would support strategic planning for effective restoration of critical supply chains that are susceptible to disruption
3. Collaboration with academic organizations engaged in developing business continuity certification standards and public-private partnership training and guidance
4. Exploring public-private partnerships and approaches for incentivizing them
5. Formulating recommendations for effectively motivating private sector participation in response and recovery.
Impact:
We will help the Government understand and leverage commercial industry motivations for effectively responding to, and recovering from disasters that significantly threaten national interests/security. We will also create an opportunity to influence policy and standards for effective business-Government recovery/response partnership.
Public Release No:09-1149
[Presentation]
C2 Cyber Planning and Assessment
Primary Investigator:Loren, Lewis A.
Camelid (Llama glama) Immunomolecules for Advanced Biosensing
Primary Investigator:Cooper, Lynn A.
Problems:
Many diagnotic platforms use immunomolecules called antibodies to detect microbial pathogens and toxins. Standard, reagent-grade antibodies are heat labile and degrade quickly under harsh environmental conditions. Replacing these temperature-sensitive reagents with a new type of immunomolecule that is environmentally stable could greatly increase the country's bio-sensing and medical counter measures capabilities.
Objectives:
The objective of this work is to develop and test prototype immunoassays that are based on environmentally stable molecules. Our research hypothesis is that small, toxin-specific immunomolecules derived from camelid species, specifically llamas, can be efficiently produced and applied to the next generation of field-deployable biosensors and detection/diagnostic platforms.
Activities:
Our research investigates the in vivo and in vitro properties of single domain antibodies produced by llamas. In short, toxin-specific antibodies will be isolated from llamas, characterized, and incorporated into an existing assay formats for side-by-side comparisons with current antibody-based tests.
Impact:
This work fills the need for robust field-deployable reagents for antibody-based detection technologies. Its direct application is to biosensors designed to detect microbial threat agents or their toxins. It has broader importance for the fields of immuno-detection, immuno-diagnostics, and medical counter measures because it demonstrates the feasibility of improving the basic component common to all platforms and assay types: the immunomolecule.
Public Release No:09-0898
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 5
Causality and Resiliency for Mission Assurance (CARMA)
Primary Investigator:Guttman, Joshua D.
CCOD Overview Strategy
Primary Investigator:DelVecchio-Savage, Julie
Exhibit Date(s):May 6, May 7
Characterization of Denied Littoral Areas
Primary Investigator:Blow, Aaron R.
Clipper
Primary Investigator:Holland,Rod
Exhibit Date(s):May 5
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