Airport Perimeter Security Advisor, Phase I

The aviation system of the United States of America is one of our national treasures. Very few elements of our culture capture the America spirit like aviation. Air transportation plays an absolutely vital role in our economy, and is also a core part of our high standard of living. But this importance of aviation in our society also makes aviation a highly desirable target for terrorists. Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that "no threat is more serious to aviation" than man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). Although on-board defenses against MANPADS are being developed for commercial aircraft, these systems will not be deployed for many years and will be very expensive. The innovation proposed herein provides an information and decision support system to enhance security monitoring and patrolling around the perimeter of airports ? where the threat of MANPADS attacks is at its highest. This effort will merge the use of advanced airport surface surveillance data with decision support algorithms and security threat and vulnerability assessment methodologies to identify and alert security personnel regarding the airport perimeter areas of highest vulnerability and greatest access to targets of opportunity for MANPADS attacks or other terrorist activities.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.