SUNY Orange to host lecture on aviation security on Oct. 11

MIDDLETOWN — How safe do you feel when you step on a commercial jet? What’s behind the regulations and the checking of everything—bags, shoes, body scans?
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, David A. Atkinson, an expert in the field of explosives detection technologies, will discuss the scientific basis of the detection equipment used at airports. His talk will include information about the research in the laboratory and group, which he leads, that is changing the face of aviation security.
Come at 7 p.m. to the Sandra and Alan Gerry Forum, Room 010 in the Rowley Center for Science and Engineering for The Science of Safety: Aviation Security/Explosives Detection.
Atkinson holds a BS in Material Science from Penn State and an MS and a PhD in analytical chemistry from Washington State University. He has worked for decades with the Federal Aviation Administration and then the Department of Homeland Security on applying detection instrumentation to aviation security.
Presently, he is a senior research scientist and manages the explosives detection R&D portfolio at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He is also the technical group manager of the Applied Physics group within the National Security Directorate.
Atkinson worked in trace chemical detector development in the DOE National Laboratory complex over the last 25 years, with a specific emphasis on threat detection, such as explosives and chemical weapons. In addition, he has five U.S. patents related to detection technologies.
Come to learn and armed with plenty of questions on this timely topic. This lecture is free and open to the public. Engineers in attendance will receive a PDH-CEU.
The Rowley Center for Science and Engineering is located at 10 East Conkling Ave. on the Middletown campus of SUNY Orange.
Free parking can be found on street and in several college parking lots.
Questions may be directed to Cultural Affairs at 845 341-4891; cultural@sunyorange.edu; or www.sunyorange.edu/culturalaffairs.