Improved threat-detection
In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. government founded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prevent terrorist attacks on American soil. Among other things, the DHS increased screening of cargo coming into the country. At the same time at MIT, the terrorist attacks gave rise to a company dedicated to helping DHS — and, ultimately, other governments and organizations worldwide — better detect nuclear and other threats at borders and seaports. Launched in 2002, Passport Systems developed a scanner, backed by decades of MIT research, that can automatically “fingerprint” radioactive or other suspicious material through a truck, cargo container, or other concealed package, and alert authorities immediately. Today, Passport — co-founded by MIT physics professor emeritus William Bertozzi — has two commercial scanners: the cargo scanner, a facility used at borders and seaports; and a wireless radiation-monitoring system used at, for example, public events. Passport’s cargo scanner, called...