INTA graduate students, Mr. Christopher Vucich and Ms. Shawn Finnell, presented at 2010 Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Basic Research Technical Review Conference in Springfield, VA on 18 August 2010.

Doing research under a DTRA-funded project, “Multidisciplinary modeling of socio-economic influence on adversarial intent to acquire, proliferate and use chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons,” both graduate students presented case studies and findings on biological and chemical agent incidents by radical Islamist groups affiliated with al Qa’eda. Vucich explored the alleged acquisition and weaponization of Y. pestis, the causative agent of the plague, by al Qa’eda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the UK ricin plot, which was cited by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell in his February 2003 UN briefing. Finnell studied the use of chlorine-coupled IEDs in Iraq by al Qa’eda in Iraq and the improvised chemical device known as Mobtakkar. INTA's Prof. Margaret E. Kosal, in collaboration with Prof. Chaitanya Deo of Georgia Tech’s Mechanical Engineering department and Prof. Shatakshee Dhongde of the Rochester Institute of Technology, leads the work.

The purpose of the DTRA Basic Research Technical Review is to evaluate the technical progress made by basic research awardees and ensure advancement of on-going research efforts. The review also provides an excellent opportunity to foster collaborations, for mutual edification across the community of Combating-WMD researchers, and to build relationships with students and post doctoral fellows.