Mason researchers receive funding for study aimed at detecting criminal disruption of supply chains

Martha Bushong — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 13:38:56 +0000

Mason researchers receive funding for study aimed at detecting criminal disruption of supply chains Martha Bushong Thu, 11/04/2021 - 09:38

In This Story

Carlotta Domeniconi

Sean Luke

Carlotta Domeniconi, associate professor, computer science; Sean Luke, professor, computer science, and Hamdi Kavak, assistant professor, computational and data sciences, received $1 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for their grant "Detecting Criminal Disruption of Supply Chains Study."

The goal of this work is to use simulation to identify possible ways that criminal organizations might be able to disrupt or damage important supply chain networks: for examining how criminals might disrupt the manufacturing and distribution process of a large drug company or a gasoline distributor. To do this, the researchers are modeling both criminal operations and supply chains and their interactions, trying to identify attack points; to develop indicators that can alert authorities and supply chain operators about pending, active, or past attacks; and to offer ways to mitigate vulnerabilities and reduce attack impacts. The project will use both subject matter expertise and automated learning techniques to develop the models. The Mason team brings to this project strong experience and expertise in machine learning, simulation, geographical information science, stochastic optimization, and social science.

The team will work closely with its collaborators at the University of Buffalo, Rutgers University, and the Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis Center at Mason. The developed methodology will be applied to drug and vaccine supply chains, among others relevant to the current COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., personal protective equipment and medical and laboratory equipment).

Funding for this project began in September 2021 and will end in September 2023.

This brief was provided by the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development.