2021 NIJ Forensic Science R&D Symposium

Overview The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE) assisted the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in hosting the annual NIJ Forensic Science Research and Development (R&D) Symposium on February 16, 2021 from 10:00 AM ET to 5:40 PM ET. NIJ…

Post-Blast Explosives Attribution

May 13th, 2021 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET Duration: 1 hour Forensic science practitioners in both domestic and Department of Defense organizations are often called upon to build cases and attribute crimes using trace evidence remaining at a crime…

Burning building/scientist collecting evidence

Advancing Fire Scene Investigations with Field Portable Technologies

This webinar originally occurred on April 6th, 2021 Duration: 1.5 hours This multi-year effort evaluated the application and limitations of field portable Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) systems. The testing included three bench-top burns, nine flashover burns and 139 fire scenes with hundreds of samples…

Stability and Persistence of Touch DNA for Forensic Analysis

This webinar originally occurred on March 11th, 2021 Duration: 1 hour Touch DNA evidence (i.e. the low quantities of DNA that can be left behind when someone touches an object) is of increasing importance in criminal investigations. However, many important…

Utility of Microbes in Forensic Science

This webinar originally occurred on Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 Duration: 1 hour The presenter discussed the definition of forensic microbiology, a timeline of when it first became popular, and how it differs from molecular epidemiology. The webinar then covered differences…

Southwestern Association of Forensic Scientists official banner

2020 SWAFS Virtual Conference

This virtual conference originally occurred on October 5th, 6th, and 8th, 2020 In October 2020, the FTCoE helped the Southwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (SWAFS) host their first virtual conference. This event, which saw over 1,400 unique attendees across three…

Intact Low Explosives Analysis with an Emphasis on Microscopical Methods

– Thursday, July 16th, 2020 1:00:00 PM ET – 2:30:00 PM ET Duration: 1.5 hour(s) The presenters in this webinar will discuss intact low explosives analysis with an emphasis on microscopical methods. They will cover basic terminology for explosives, the…

Just Quick Screening Methods for Firearm Discharge Residues

In this episode of the 2020 R&D Season, Just Science interviews Dr. Tatiana Trejos, Assistant Professor of the Department of Forensic and Investigative Sciences at West Virginia University, about the rapid detection of organic and inorganic gunshot residue. Speed and…

Silhouette of two people beside building on fire

Modifications to Capillary Microextraction in Volatiles (CMV) for the Extraction of Ignitable Liquid Residues (ILRs)

– Technical Note: Modifications to Capillary Microextraction in Volatiles (CMV) for the Extraction of Ignitable Liquid Residues (ILRs) – Report Date April 2020 Description This report summarizes the development and implementation of a novel sampling device (capillary microextraction of volatiles…

dented red car door with paint scraped off

Identifying an Unknown Paint System Using the RCMP PDQ Program

Wednesday, April 8th, 2020 1:00:00 PM ET – 2:00:00 PM ET Duration: 1.5 hour(s) Using a typical OEM paint system, the PDQ Maintenance Team will walk through the best practices to efficiently use the database and spectral libraries to identify…