In 2019, CINA launched its Distinguished Speaker Series of expert overviews of CINA mission topics followed by audience Q&A. Inaugural talks covered such crucial challenges as illicit trade, tracking cash flows, threat financing, narcotics, interviewing techniques, and the role of cryptocurrencies in protecting the anonymity of criminals. Featured experts included Channing Mavrellis, a transnational crime…
2019 DHS COE Summit: Student Awards
During the 2019 DHS COE Summit, student researchers participated in two DHS competitions: a Summit Grand Challenge on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and a Student Poster Competition. Ha Le of the University of Houston’s BTI COE took home top honors in the poster competition for presenting the “EDGE: Eye in the Woods Image-based Face Detection…
2019 DHS COE Summit: Student Grand Challenge presentations
The 2019 DHS Centers of Excellence Summit hosted students from across the COE academic network for a Student Grand Challenge, where students competed for top honors in providing DHS component leaders, industry partners, and academia with innovative solutions to homeland security challenges. 30 interdisciplinary students were convened into six teams with the purpose of identifying…
2018 Annual Report
View the CINA 2018 Annual Report, a comprehensive document that details the Center of Excellence’s accomplishments in its first year. CINA Annual Report 2018
Center Director, Anthony Stefanidis quoted in ABC News
Center Director, Anthony Stefanidis, weighs in on discrepancies in digital maps, how and why it happens, and the impact it makes.
Research Feature: Rita Singh, Profiling hoax callers: Forensic analysis of voice recordings
How often do we make guesses about a person’s physical traits just based on their voice? If their voice is deep, they must be tall. If their breath is shallow, they must have bad posture. How often are we correct? Rita Singh, research faculty at the Carnegie Mellon University LTI School of Computer Science, has…
Science Committee member, Allison Redlich lends interrogation expertise in Brazil
Allison Redlich, CINA Science Committee and George Mason Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, was trained as an experimental psychologist. In graduate school, her research began with studying interview techniques focused on the most effective ways to interview children who were the victim of, or witness to, a crime. Her research then evolved into how…
Science Committee member David Weisburd comments on facial recognition
David Weisburd contributes to the conversation surrounding the use of facial recognition in law enforcement.
CINA co-hosts panel on Migration, Homeland Security and Gangs
A forum at George Mason University gathered a dozen academic, media and policy experts to discuss the complex nexus of migration, gangs, and the resulting challenges to homeland security. The four-hour forum, called “Migration, Homeland Security, and Gangs” drew an audience of more than 100 to the MIX on Mason’s Fairfax Campus on Oct. 24.…
First CINA Scholars recap prestigious DHS internship
In the past year, the Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis (CINA) Center of Excellence provided undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to intern with the Department of Homeland Security. This was accomplished through the CINA Scholars program, which matched graduate students with DHS units interested in the specific expertise of these students. This program allowed…