2020 Year in Review

A Message from the FTCoE 2020 was a big year for the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence. With five podcast seasons, a full research and development symposium, our first virtual conference, eight reports, and over thirty webinars, we continued to…

National Institute of Justice and Purdue University: Advancing 3D Imaging for Footwear and Tire Impressions

Report Date May 2020 Introduction Impressions of shoe and tire tracks are common types of evidence found at a crime scene that be used to evidentially link a suspect to a crime or generate important investigative leads in a case. However,…

National Institute of Justice and West Virginia University: Revolutionizing Laboratory Efficiency Assessments Through Project FORESIGHT

Report Date March 2020 Introduction Crime laboratories are expected to provide consistent and high-quality services across multiple domains to criminal justice stakeholders, even though these laboratories may have limited resources and constrained budgets. Operational practices can influence the laboratory’s ability…

Success Story: Improving DNA Mixture Interpretation with the Help of Machine Learning

NIJ and Syracuse University Report Date March 2019 Impact “This is something that every DNA crime lab worldwide should investigate. We now have a tool that with the press of one button does the entire suite of services and provides…

Success Story: Advancing 3D Virtual Microscopy for Firearm Forensics

NIJ and Cadre Forensics Report Date March 2019 Impact “High-resolution 3D surface topographies coupled with advanced software analysis are providing firearm examiners unprecedented new tools for microsurface examination.” -Dr. Ryan Lilien, Chief Scientific Officer, Cadre Forensics Click here to read…

Success Story: Uncovering Key Details of Skeletal Remains through 3D-ID Software

NIJ and North Carolina State University Report Date January 2019 Impact “3D-ID has been an invaluable tool for us. Many of our unknown persons come from populations south of the Border. We use this program for every case with great…

Success Story: Maximizing the Use of Mitochondrial DNA in Identifying Remains and Aiding Missing Persons Casework

NIJ and the American Registry of Pathology Report Date April 2018 Impact “The complete mtGenome reference data developed in this project serve as important milestones for the understanding of coding region heteroplasmy and the acceptance of full mtGenome sequencing in…

Success Story: Establishing a “Microbial Clock” to Improve Time of Death Prediction

NIJ and Multi-Institute Academic Team Report Date April 2018 Impact “This research clearly demonstrated that there is potential to develop microbiome tools for estimating time of death. Developing connections with the right interdisciplinary collaborators was instrumental to the success of…