The fundamental goal of this course is to enable you to assess and explain the performance of sensors, detectors, diagnostics, or any other type of system that is attempting to give, with some level of confidence, a determination of the presence or absence of a "target." In this case the term "target" may be a wide variety of types (e.g. a biological pathogen or chemical agent; or a physical target of some sort; or even just some electronic signal). We will rigorously cover the theory and mathematics underlying the construction of the "Receiver Operating Characteristic" (ROC) curve, including dichotomous test histograms, false positives, false negatives, sensitivity, specificity, and total accuracy. In addition, we will discuss in depth the theory behind "Decision Tree Analysis" culminating with an in class exercise. Decision tree analysis allows one to "fuse together" multivariate signals (or results) in such a manner as to produce a more accurate outcome than would have been attained with any one signal alone. This course includes two major in class exercises: the first will involve constructing a ROC curve from real data with the associated analysis; the second will involve constructing a complete decision tree including the new (improved) ROC curve. The first exercise will be ~30min in length, and the second will be ~60min.

The fundamental goal of this course is to answer the question: "How do I take an idea off the white-board and turn it into a windfall product?" We will explore and apply the principles of good leadership to create a culture of excellence within your organization-the most basic ingredient for success. A special emphasis will be placed on learning how to develop and construct an effective new project pitch using the instructor's "Disciplined Creativity" concept and framework. We will then describe the "Spiral Development Process" for rapid, effective, and successful prototype development, followed by an in-depth examination of the life-cycle approach to product development. This course will also enable you to conduct a "red teaming" exercise to identify competitive threats, identify weaknesses in your company, and most importantly, develop solution strategies. We will also place an emphasis on how to properly vet an idea and how to ask tough-minded questions designed to ferret out shortcomings.

This course will introduce the basic techniques of optically-based sensing of biological agents. An overview of the nature of biological agents relevant to military and homeland security interests will be presented, as will an introduction to understanding the basics of particle analysis in the presence of complex backgrounds. The primary focus of the course will be on an understanding of the various techniques for the optical interrogation of potential biological pathogens for the purpose of early warning detection, as well as the limited identification of those agents. In this regard, a particular emphasis will be placed on ultraviolet laser induced fluorescence, and recent advances in the development of sensors capable of providing rapid, reliable early warning detection in a compact and cost effective system. The technique of UV-resonance enhanced Raman will also be highlighted. The course will cover both point detection and stand-off detection.