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Systems Engineering Support
APL is providing specific engineering and
technical support for on-going projects within HLS such as CONOPS development,
user interface, independent testing and independent verification and
validation to help establish a systems engineering foundation.
Point of Entry Analysis
At each type of entry point (sea, air, border crossing
and open border, mail) HLS needs to identify the actors, processes, technology
needs and gaps, and the impact of technology insertion. APL is helping
to provide a systems approach to identify and define the technical infrastructure
requirements needed at all points where there are potential attacker/
protector interfaces. APL is supporting the US Customs and Border Patrol
(CBP) in a number of programs including the container security program.
APL is the trusted agent to CBP for the independent test and evaluation
of technologies and systems for container security. APL also provided
technical support for CBP Security Exercises that assessed the operational
effectiveness and vulnerabilities of the CBP layered enforcement process.
Emergency Preparedness and Response System
 APL
and its partners in the Johns Hopkins Health System created the Critical
Event Preparedness and Response Program (CEPAR)to develop
and test a coordinated response to an incident involving mass casualties
or other contingencies that would affect a health care system such as
Hopkins Medicine. This prototype effort includes policy development and
planning as well as coordinating drills and serving as a command center
to coordinate response and serve as the point of contact for communications
with all levels of Government. APL serves as the system engineer to define
CEPAR’s concept of operations, architecture and supporting systems
requirements. The same system analysis process used to help our military
sponsors define requirements, assess vulnerabilities, and develop CONOPS
was exercised in exercises in APL’s Warfare Analysis Laboratory.
Immune Building Systems
 Countermeasures
against chem-bio attacks in buildings. An immune building
is a facility equipped with sensors that can both detect a threat and
activate mechanical system control to combat the threat. Combat use of
biological warfare agents to attack the built environment is a relatively
new concern of immense proportion. APL has technologies for HVAC (heating,
ventilation and air conditioning) systems as well as adding value through
a system engineering approach that uses attack scenarios, performance
criteria, sensor technologies and CONOPS to achieve an overarching countermeasures
architecture. Sensors are required that can measure both threat and background
while providing continuous surveillance capability. APL is exploring
a variety of building strategies and technologies to address inhabitant
protection, functional restoration, and forensic capability, as well
as reasonable life-cycle cost. We are involved in technology investigations
and demonstrations to educate builders, designers, and policy experts.
Screening Systems for Mail Security and Containment
APL has been applying its system engineering and sensor expertise to
counter terrorist threats within the U.S. mail system since Fall of 2001.
Prototype APL equipment is providing early and rapid detection of potential
threat agents before they become airborne to help ensure the safety of
recipients, postal employees, and the mail system infrastructure. We
have developed sensor systems for mail and package screening for the
U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.
We operate a dedicated facility for these programs for implementation
and evaluation of mail sorter and screening system subcomponents.
ESSENCE
Biological Surveillance Information System
 To assist the public health community in the early recognition of disease
outbreaks, APL is playing a leading role in the development, transitioning,
and evaluation of medical surveillance systems. Disease surveillance
involves acquiring data that contain indicators of disease trends. Our
focus has been the early detection of a clandestine bio-terrorist event
to enable the public health community to have time to implement effective
treatment and control measures.
Our ESSENCE system (Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification
of Community-Based Epidemics) is meeting the challenges of identifying
good indicator sources of data, acquiring those data, integrating across
data to obtain early detection, and reducing false alarms that require
time to investigate. Since the month after 9/11/01 , an APL/ Walter Reed
Army Hospital system has operated continuously, following the Army Surgeon
General’s Office request that our pilot National Capital Region
(NCR) system be expanded to include the military. ESSENCE II is the system
developed as a prototype for the NCR. APL analysts monitor the health
of the region for local health departments.
APL was also asked to provide a disease surveillance
capability to the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) before the Iraq war.
One version of the system has been operating on the Secret Internet Protocol
Router Network (SIPRNET) at the health force deployment office for the
past year. The experience gained with this system has been used by OSD
HA to designate ESSENCE as the DoD-wide surveillance system.
Advanced Health and Disaster Aid Network (AID-N)
Early detection and effective response to terrorist attacks requires
situational awareness and emergency health information exchange. Also
essential is and coordination among medical and public health professionals,
emergency management, the military, and law enforcement professionals.
APL is leading the Advanced Health and Disaster Aid Network (AID-N) program
to develop, implement, and evaluate an advanced high-performance intelligent
communications network test bed to facilitate collaborative disease surveillance
for early detection and time-critical rapid local response to public
health emergencies including chemical and biological terrorist attacks
and naturally caused events.
These technologies will facilitate collaborative disease surveillance
for early detection and time-critical, rapid, local response to public
health emergencies including chemical and biological terrorist attacks
and naturally caused events. To provide health institutions with a fully
secure and integrated environment for collaboration, AID-N will incorporate
object-based middleware to ensure an end-to-end solution for secure remote
access to distributed biosurveillance data, and a dynamic command and
control center for situational awareness and emergency response management.
We are leveraging new and emerging wireless technologies that would
offer first responders, local fire, law enforcement and emergency medical
services, the mobility, flexibility, and rapid data capture and transfer
capabilities critical to their mission to respond effectively to a biological
crisis. A team of representatives from many local agencies, hospitals,
education institutions and corporations supports APL.
Employment Opportunities
To view employment opportunities in the Homeland
Protection Program Area visit Employment.
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