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All MITRE Projects (with summaries and presentations where available)
Listing of project titles in alphabetical order
Pages: 1234567891011121314151617
Flight Option Generation for NextGen Automation
Primary Investigator:Wanke, Craig R.
Problems:
Many Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) concepts require automatic generation and/or negotiation of alternate flight routings to respond to weather hazards, metering and volume constraints, and air-to-air conflicts. These options must be rapidly generated, negotiated, and revised in the presence of uncertain predictions and changing conditions. This research is developing a flexible, multi-constraint algorithm for generating flight options, to include not only changes to lateral routes but also ground delays, altitude maneuvers, and 4D time constraints.
Objectives:
We will seek to understand and quantify the factors that make flight options acceptable to air traffic service providers and to flight operators. We will then develop a flight option generation method that can find "good" alternatives in the context of these factors. We will build a prototype option generator and couple it to a MITRE traffic management prototype for evaluation. Finally, we will report on the effectiveness of the option generation method, and discuss its impact on the NextGen concept of operations.
Activities:
We will begin by conducting interviews of operational personnel (traffic managers, controllers, pilots, dispatchers) to determine quantitative measures of flight option desirability, and will then formulate a parameterized model of flight option desirability. We will construct an algorithm to generate options, (e.g., from a network of waypoints) and apply accepted algorithms (simulated annealing and genetic algorithms are candidates) to transform and search a large space of flight options. We will apply the result to current MITRE research into traffic management decision support to improve the operational acceptability of the proposed tools.
Impact:
If successful, this research will provide a powerful enabling technology for a variety of proposed NextGen applications. This will accelerate NextGen concept development, prototyping, and demonstrations (both by MITRE and by others), and ideally accelerate the eventual deployment process as well.
Public Release No:09-0998
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 6, May 7
FMS 4D Trajectory Downlink for Trajectory-Based Operations
Primary Investigator:Cramer, Michael R
Problems:
At present, air traffic management automation systems have limited information on the intent of aircraft in the system -- the currently expected four-dimensional (4D) trajectory of flight. Researchers have studied the value of having such real-time intent data, but little has been done to experiment with or demonstrate the value proposition.
Objectives:
We will establish a capability to downlink real-time 4D trajectory intent information from commercial Boeing 737 aircraft to the ground. We will use this information to analyze what improvements to traffic flow management tools and procedures might be possible and/or necessary to fully exploit the ability of Flight Management System (FMS)-equipped aircraft to provide 4D path intent to the ground, as well as the potential impact of these changes.
Activities:
We will build a team of air traffic controllers, airline dispatchers, aircraft experts, and MITRE researchers to investigate the utility of having 4D intent information. The team will create methods and tools for incorporating 4D intent information into their operations, and assess the potential value of these changes.
Impact:
The Joint Planning and Development Office has published a concept for the Next Generation Air Transportation System identifying improvements that will incorporate real-time 4D aircraft intent information to implement the concepts of trajectory-based operations. This research will allow hands-on assessment of these concepts. Insights gained from these flight trials and associated data analysis will help provide a basis for determining the validity and value of some of these ideas.
Public Release No:09-0990
[Presentation]
Geospatial Regional Analysis
Primary Investigator:Olson, Sherry L.
Problems:
NOTE: Keith W. Miller is the project co-leader.
The mitigation of emerging infectious diseases (EID) is an ongoing challenge. Outbreaks are difficult to quickly identify and more difficult to predict where they might occur. History has shown that public health outreach and prevention of the root causes of the world's most deadly diseases have been successful in minimizing the loss of human life.
We believe that models using geospatial and remote sensing capabilities allow for the understanding and indication of the occurrence of infectious disease vectors. This understanding allows for the development of a risk overlay that would improve intelligence, situational awareness, and allow for the focusing of mitigation efforts. Therefore, development of an outbreak early warning capability is the overall goal of this project.
This work would extend the remote sensing and geospatial technology into a new domain while leveraging past independent studies. If successful the projects intends to create a capability that would increase situational awareness of the biological environment, allow for better mission planning, and help mitigate the potentially catastrophic consequences of infectious disease outbreaks.
Objectives:
Project seeks to develop a model of risk using GIS and remote sensing capabilities in order to improve situational awareness of potential disease outbreaks.
Project will focus initially on past efforts in the geosciences domain, but will seek to advance the domain as well.
Project also seeks to advance the intelligence domain by adding value to the exploitation area of the value chain.
Activities:
- Talk with the experts of the MITRE bio community in order to integrate with other technical developments.
- Talk with the leaders of other research efforts in academia in order to leverage past and ongoing efforts.
- Determine a CONUS area worthy of serving as ground truth so that modelsand notions can be validated.
- Develop model(s) in order to create risk overlay.
- Develop the capability to distribute (serve) this result to other related efforts.
- Perform outreach with sponsors.
- Apply the model(s) to an OCONUS area and adjust acordingly.
Impact:
This understanding will allow for the development of a risk overlay that would improve intelligence, situational awareness, and allow for the focusing of mitigation efforts.
Such a capability will have measureable impact on several sponsors’ efforts in this area. The process or model developed here may benefit from integration with other information monitoring systems.
Public Release No:09-1091
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 5
Green Airspace Design
Primary Investigator:Lin, Gene C.
Problems:
How would we redesign airspace if maximizing capacity were less important than minimizing fuel consumption? How much fuel might we save? How much capacity might we lose? How would the future airspace differ from that of today? This research investigates these questions in order to mitigate the environmental impact of air travel.
Objectives:
Our goal is to better understand the trade-offs involved in "green" airspace design. To answer this we will compile a listing of techniques for minimizing fuel consumption, such as continuous descent approaches, and then develop estimates of the potential benefits for a few major metropolitan areas in the United States. We will also develop corresponding estimates of the “capacity costs” associated with the fuel-reduction potentials. We will then document the methods used to develop these estimates, and the results.
Activities:
The two key technical challenges are estimating the potential benefit of the research and identifying the impediments to implementation of any potential approaches. It may be that we can further quantify such impediments as reduction in peak capacity or in the ability to predict precisely when aircraft will be available for takeoff or landing. Estimating the benefit potential will help MITRE and the FAA to calibrate and direct their research responses.
Impact:
The FAA has been under pressure to reduce the impact of air traffic control methods on airlines’ fuel costs. This research will help inform FAA decision makers as they prioritize strategic NextGen investments.
Public Release No:09-1011
[Presentation]
Healthcare Overview
Primary Investigator:Piescik, John
Exhibit Date(s):May 7
Human Monoclonal Antibodies for Neutralization and Diagnosis of H5N1
Primary Investigator:Arroyo, Juan
Problems:
Treatments for infectious diseases depend on vaccines, antimicrobials, or passive transfer of antibodies. The source of antibodies may be polyclonal (serum) or monoclonal. Monoclonal antibodies have yielded dramatic therapeutic benefits in cancer treatment worldwide. This same power may be used to bind and neutralize toxins, viruses, and bacteria. Our approach will produce 100% human monoclonals to avoid common side effects.
Objectives:
We will use a new methodology for producing human monoclonal antibodies and assess its efficiency and capacity to generate antibodies against the pandemic strain of avian influenza, the H5N1 virus. We will establish the superior efficiency of this technology over competing technologies. Our ultimate goal is to develop therapies to prevent H5N1 infection in humans.
Activities:
We will differentiate B cells derived from human tonsils to yield clones capable of secreting high-specificity antibody, screen for antibody binding to proteins of H5N1 virus, test for a subset that can neutralize H5N1 virus, and map where on the proteins the antibodies bind. We expect to find sites unique to H5N1 and universal to influenza proteins.
Impact:
We will develop a rapid and unique approach to producing monoclonal antibodies that protect against pathogens and toxins. Rapid scale-up will produce large amounts of antibodies for national security stockpiles. Antibodies can be used for diagnosis or as injectable therapy for protection against lethal outcomes. With cost-effective manufacturing, the approach may become a deployable countermeasure of interest to biosecurity and the U.S. population.
Public Release No:09-1268
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 5
Hybrid Sensor for Multiple Threats Detection
Primary Investigator:Guharay, Samar K.
Problems:
Detection of threats has become increasingly difficult due to continuous changes of threat characteristics; for example, the use of new explosives and the construction of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). To achieve a highly effective solution, sensors must be widely deployable and capable of combating multiple threats simultaneously. Rugged, miniaturized sensors with good probability of detection and low false alarms are needed.
Objectives:
The overall objective pertains to rapid detection of chemical, biological, and explosive/IED "fingerprints," and forensic analysis. The new hybrid sensor uses the best features of two complementary technologies to achieve greater detection sensitivity and higher selectivity than other currently available sensors.
Activities:
The key activities include designing and developing two orthogonal subcomponents and integrating them to build a new hybrid sensor. Systematic modeling and simulation studies have been performed, and collaborative experiments with academic institutions are being pursued. This study examines the performance of an integrated sensor for a wide range of threats, especially those due to explosives, in the presence of environmental non-threat substances that can appear as interferences. Ruggedness, miniaturization, and lifetime of the system components are critical in this effort.
Impact:
Development of this new sensor will cut across MITRE mission areas and be especially relevant in obtaining significant performance improvement for explosive/IED detection, force protection, and above all, medical applications. Potential impacts include increased support to the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Special Operations Command, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Public Release No:09-0612
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 6
HyperScope Image Exploitation Tool
Primary Investigator:Karaska, Mark A.
Problems:
HyperScope is a viewer tool for retrieving, processing, displaying and analyzing multi-INT imagery and hyper cube data of tiny geographic areas. An analyst positions the scope over a site and imagery for this small geographic area is automatically located in a warehouse or national repository, streamed to the local client, processed and displayed for intense analysis. The goal of the project is to develop a working “HyperScope” prototype with input from domain experts (imagery, geospatial, and all source analysts). The prototype will meet their operational requirements, save them time and be easy to use. The transition goal is to have a government sponsor conduct an operational evaluation to determine future course of action.
Objectives:
Develop core functionality: display image chips from multiple images, chip stacking manipulations, perform local contrast stretch, SWIPE, Blend/Fade, chips window size
Implement hyperspectral image processing algorithms: anomaly detection, principal component transformation, match filter signature detection
Demonstrate to five end user groups, collect requirements/recommendations, evaluation of the research prototype
Transition to government sponsor(s) who will fund further development.
Activities:
1. Core infrastructure/functionality development -- access multiple images from disk,near real time processing &display, viewer manipulations
2. Select, implement, test processing algorithms (RX, PCA, MF). Identify best implementation. Compare processing times withand without HyperScope.
3. Find datasets to test and demonstrate
4.Investigate follow-on functionality - accessing image archives, image chip registration, high performance computing for processing/compression, Local Area Processing algorithms.
Impact:
1. Saves Exploitation Time
–-Quickly locate, orient, process, display, analyze large volumes of imagery, from multiple sources
–-Only the critical parts of images are used
2. More images can be exploited
3. Enhanced target discrimination with Local Area Processing
–-Global statistics not used
–-Algorithm settings / thresholds optimized for local area
4. Visual fusion tool
–-Allows data from multiple diverse sources to be displayed in an integrated fashion for synthesis.
Public Release No:09-1254
[Presentation]
ICP Sensor and Telemetry Research Framework
Primary Investigator:Yoo, David K.
Problems:
This project will explore an innovative biomedical system to continuously monitor intracranial pressure (ICP), or the pressure inside the brain resulting from the physiologic production of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This system will feature a novel wireless device (developed in partnership with Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA), which will be implanted in the boney part of the skull with a probe just below the dura mater (outer covering of the brain) in close proximity to the CSF reservoirs of the brain for the purpose of sensing and transmitting ICP. Elevated ICP is particularly associated with major head injuries such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), as well as several neurological disorders (e.g., hydrocephalus, tumors). Because the cranium acts as a rigid container, increased ICP, if not identified and promptly treated, can lead to significant brain damage, disability, or death. TBI is a growing concern in the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Administration (VA) medical communities primarily as a result of injuries sustained in combat (e.g., OIF/OEF) from IEDs.
Objectives:
1. Sustain engagement with academia, research centers, and/or industry
2. Implant package reduction and wireless transceiver integration
3. Spectrum analysis and antenna optimization
4. Characterization of sensor mechanical response
5. Rechargeable battery feasibility study
6. Investigate implant compatibility with medical imaging techniques
7. Study implant biocompatibility
8. Study long-term implant operation in vivo and characterize measurement/signal drift
9. Sponsor alignment.
Activities:
The objectives of this research project are the design, optimization, and testing of an intracranial pressure monitoring system based on a minimally invasive wireless pressure sensor, and the exploration of its applicability to three operationally relevant frameworks:
1. Clinical Application Framework - Direct implantation in a medical (field) setting
2. Research Application Framework - Use in animal studies to help gather supporting data in broader research
3. Device Telemetry Framework - Design and understanding of a wireless link which facilitates a common platform for future families of potentially networked medical sensors.
Impact:
The CDC estimates at least 1.4 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year in the public sector alone. Of these, 235,000 are hospitalized, about 80,000-90,000 are permanently disabled, and 50,000 die. The incidence of TBI is understandably much higher in the military. In current U.S. operations in Afghanistan, the wounded outnumber casualties 3 to 1 as of 2007; in Iraq, that ratio is over 7.5 to 1. It is well established that IEDs are a leading cause of these injuries. The national director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) roughly estimates that more than 22% of wounded passing through Landstuhl Regional Medical Center may be suffering from TBI, with the actual number likely to be even higher due to patients with undetected or closed brain injury whose symptoms may not manifest until much later.
Public Release No:09-1118
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 7
IM-PLUS: Information Management with Privacy, Lineage, Uncertainty, and Security
Primary Investigator:Blaustein, Barbara T.
Problems:
MITRE’s customers often gather vast quantities of information from many sources. Users must understand data lineage (i.e., where the information came from and the processes that acted upon that data) and data uncertainty to determine if the information is useful and trustworthy. Lineage and uncertainty information are subject to the security and privacy concerns of our military, intelligence, law enforcement, and biomedical research sponsors. In particular, lineage information plays an important role in mission assurance in the face of sophisticated cyber-attack. We extend prior research on data lineage and workflows to include Web information, and processing chains used in data fusion applications. We are analyzing interactions among privacy, lineage, uncertainty, and security requirements to exploit shared efficiencies, highlight trade-offs, and support the user’s decisions in interpreting and trusting the data.
Objectives:
Develop a composable lineage service which provides as much lineage and uncertainty information as possible while enforcing security and privacy release policies
Provide sponsors with new lineage capabilities for Mission Assurance to understand and manage the consequences of a data modification attack
Analyze interactions among privacy, lineage, uncertainty, and security requirements to highlight trade-offs, exploit shared efficiencies, and ensure scalability, and support the user’s decisions in interpreting and trusting the data
Activities:
Contribute to data resiliency by exploiting lineage information for:
Data taint analysis: We are investigating the use of lineage information to propagate warnings about corrupted data to “downstream” processes and derived data.
Data reconstitution: Lineage provides a record of how data was produced. We are exploring the circumstances under which corrupted data can be reconstituted, or when alternate, uncorrupted versions (i.e., data “surrogates”) can be provided in place of the corrupted data.
Identifying key data assets: We are exploring the use lineage to determine the data assets that require the greatest protection against attack, because of their role in supporting mission-critical downstream data and business processes.
--Model lineage data release policies, devise methods for enforcing them efficiently, and use surrogates to provide as much information as possible
--Demonstrate the ability to collect lineage information without affecting normal operation of legacy systems
Impact:
This work will improve user understanding of shared data while simultaneously improving security and privacy protection, increasing data survivability, and deepening MITRE's corporate understanding of fundamental trade-offs among sponsor requirements. Our research will influence academic and industrial research agendas, and our collaborations across MITRE will enable us to develop data strategies for engineering composable lineage systems. We have presented three papers on this work at international research workshops.
Public Release No:09-0824
[Presentation]
Exhibit Date(s):May 6, May 7
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