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Taking tech to real world task of Scholar / Fellow alum now at DHS

 (Aug. 18, 2006)

    In a mission-focused organization like the Department of Homeland Security, research and scientific discovery are only half of the equation. If the research outputs do not make it into the hands of the analysts, emergency responders, policy makers, and other end users, then the true value of that research is lost.

    Tristan Weir (at left), former DHS Scholar (’03) and Fellow (’04), is a Visiting Scholar within the DHS Science and Technology Directorate. He is working to transition technologies from DHS Centers of Excellence into real-world applications.

    “Technology transition is a critical, but often overlooked, component of university research,” says Tristan. “I am helping to build the partnerships between academia, industry, and government that will allow these discoveries to move forward and be used.”

    Tristan was a 2003 Scholar at Arizona State University, where he received a B.S. in Computer Science. After graduating in 2004, he interned with the Center for Cyber Defenders at Sandia National Lab in California. He was then awarded a DHS Fellowship to pursue a M.S. in Technology and Policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he received in 2006. His work with the Science and Technology Directorate is his first job since graduating from MIT.