A Modeling Framework for Detecting HEU in Seaborne Containers

ISE 650 SEMINARTitle: "A Modeling Framework for Detecting HEU in Seaborne Containers"Speaker: Yu Ding, Associate Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Texas A&M UniversityABSTRACT: Our research is part of a 5-year, multi-disciplinary research grant that encompasses Nuclear Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Social Sciences, and Systems Engineering. The overall goal of this effort is to develop new sensor systems and decision tools to detect illicit nuclear materials before they can be smuggled into the United States. The systems engineering focus is on (1) the design of a robust, re-configurable network of nuclear materials detectors across the US and allied countries, (2) dynamic screening of shipping containers based on chain-of-custody and geopolitical information, and (3) developing strategies for sequential screening of containers at the same or different interdiction points. This talk focuses on the inspection systems/policies at a single sea port. I will first examine the current practice of inspecting container traffic. Then, I will present a layered inspection system that utilizes the radiography information of containers and a new inspection measure called "hardness". Our research determines the inspection policies and decides the level of scrutiny to cargo containers by considering the tradeoff between detection probability and system throughput.THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009, GERONTOLOGY BUILDING (GER) ROOM 309, 3:30 – 4:50 PMBiosketch: Dr. Yu Ding received a B.S. degree from the University of Science & Technology of China in 1993, an M.S. degree from Tsinghua University in 1996 and an M.S. degree from the Penn State University in 1998, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan in 2001. Dr. Ding is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University. His research interests are in the general area of system informatics and quality/ reliability engineering. Dr. Ding currently serves as a department editor for IIE Transactions on Quality and Reliability Engineering and as an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Automation Science & Engineering. Dr. Ding is a member of IIE, INFORMS, IEEE, and ASME.

Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 309

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Georgia Lum