Engineering Inc. - September/October 2005 - 20

Dr. Charles E. Craig M. Avery McQueary President Undersecretary for Science
& Fuller, Mossbarger, Scott & May Technology Engineers, Inc. U.S.
Department of How is your firm changing design technology and/or Homeland
Security DHS practices to accommodate security-related issues for
infrastructure development? Looking to the future, do you see a I
nfrastructure, such as water and waste water treatment plants, has been
protected some- niche in the infrastructure what by adding fences, cameras
and security guards. Employers are performing back- security market for
innovative ground checks on staff to help ensure threats are external and
not internal. Some designs engineering firms? are removing traffic from
the top of major dams, changing processes to eliminate dangerous
chemicals, etc. T here always will be opportunities However, I believe
that the industry is not forward-thinking in evaluating potential threats
for firms that offer innovative and how designs should be modified to
minimize vulnerability and improve response in the engineering solutions
for protect- event of an attack. Two of the most dispersed and susceptible
systems are water distribution ing the nation's interdependent critical and
sewers. If a terrorist, many of whom are well-educated, were to attack
these, how would infrastructures. Enhancing the security, he do it? What
methods could he use to cause maximum damage, chaos and hysteria? In
reliability and resiliency of the process determining how to improve
infrastructure protection, we should ask ourselves how we, as control
systems that underpin the engineers, would attack a water distribution
system or a sewer system to cause maximum nation's critical
infrastructures are just chaos. Personally, I do not think we have
evaluated this question to the necessary levels. some of many homeland
security chal- lenges that require the expertise of the engineering
industry. Congressman Dan The Department of Homeland Secu- rity's Science
& Technology directorate Lungren R-Calif. has embarked on an initiative
with the industry to transform the current, dis- Chairman, Economic
Security, Infrastructure parate state of process control systems
Protection and Cybersecurity into one based on a common underlying
architecture. And the engineering com- Subcommittee of the Homeland munity
must be integral in this effort. We also engage the private sector through
the Security Committee Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency
HSARPA to pursue Eighty-five percent of the nation's infrastructure is
owned by the private research and development solutions for sector. How do
you envision the engineering firm's role in the National protecting people
and critical infrastruc- Infrastructure Protection Plan NIPP and the
National Response Plan tures against major threats. HSARPA NRP ? issues
competitive and SBIR Small Busi- ness Innovation Research solicitations in
T he prevailing task of the Department of Homeland Security DHS is one of
risk assess- an effort to meet DHS operational ment. It is only by
assessing the vulnerability and criticality of the target, as well as the
requirements, conduct rapid prototyping, likelihood of the proposed
threat, that we accurately can prioritize and protect critical adapt
technology to commercial uses, infrastructure. NRP establishes a
comprehensive all-hazards approach to enhance the ability of and research
and develop revolutionary the United States to manage domestic incidents.
NIPP focuses on the prioritization and pro- technologies. tection of our
nation's most critical assets, a majority of which lies in the private
sector. For these plans to be successful, every privately held industry,
including engineering, must play a part in their implementation. It is the
goal of DHS to develop trusted partnerships and information-sharing
relationships between the federal government and the private sector. This
partnership will prove vital as we continue to determine cross-sector
interdependence and the vulnerabilities these interdepen- dencies create.
As Congress evaluates emerging threats to critical infrastructure, it will
continue to strive to be sensitive to the demands placed upon local and
state agencies. It is vital to main- tain a dialogue with representatives
from all affected sectors to accurately assess what issues are pertinent
to the individuals attempting to privately maintain businesses during this
process. 2 0 ENGINEERING INC. S e p t e m b e r l October 2005
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2005

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - September/October 2005
