Overview
The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) has partnered with North Carolina State University (NC State) to help ensure the advancement of current forensic science research, practice, and technologies is explored and disseminated to professionals in the scientific and justice communities.
As a research-extensive land-grant university, NC State is dedicated to excellent teaching, the creation and application of knowledge, and engagement with public and private partners. By uniting their strength in science and technology with a commitment to excellence in a comprehensive range of disciplines, NC State promotes an integrated approach to problem solving that transforms lives and provides leadership for social, economic, and technological development across North Carolina and around the world.
Scroll down to explore some of our most recent collaborations with NC State. This partner page is updated regularly. You can also find the most recent deliverables from this partnership by searching “North Carolina State University” in our website search bar.
Workshops
Virtual Workshop Series: Qualifications of an Expert Witness for Legal Professionals
Virtual Workshop Series: Qualifications of an Expert Witness for Legal Professionals
Each workshop featured a series of presentations, followed by a question and answer session with each presenter. The presentations discussed the historical basis for both the Frye standard and Daubert standard, addressed issues surrounding qualifying expert witnesses, analyzed how the admission of expert testimony in the courts has been affected by these standards, and much more! During the workshops, attendees heard from a diverse panel of presenters spanning the breadth of legal practitioners, including trial attorneys, professors, attorney generals, and post-conviction litigators. Thanks to the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys sponsorship, the workshop has been approved for general Continuing Legal Education (CLE) with the North Carolina State Bar.
Bloodstain Pattern Analysis on Textiles: A Technology Transition Workshop
Bloodstain Pattern Analysis on Textiles: A Technology Transition Workshop
In this three-day workshop, participants will learn and explore key properties of textiles that dictate how they interact with blood, how their manufacture alters these properties, how small bloodstains develop on textile substrates and how blood transfers from one surface to another. The participants will gain an appreciation for the importance of documenting the original state of textiles and examining them for bloodstains.
Moving Implementation Mountains: Experiencing the Forensic Laboratory MPS Workflow through Simulation
Moving Implementation Mountains: Experiencing the Forensic Laboratory MPS Workflow through Simulation
The International Symposium on Human Identification (ISHI) hosted a workshop that provided attendees with a unique opportunity to learn best practices to implement massively parallel sequencing (MPS) into a typical forensic laboratory workflow. Supported by the FTCOE, University of North Texas Health Science Center, and North Carolina State University, an immersive and interactive virtual simulation tool was showcased that guides DNA practitioners through three commercially available forensic laboratory processes amenable to two MPS instruments.
Discovery and Recovery: Death Investigation in Natural Environments
Discovery and Recovery: Death Investigation in Natural Environments
This workshop focused on disseminating practical knowledge of how to discover and recover clandestine burials, including the documentation and collection of anthropological and entomological evidence. Attendees gained a fundamental understanding of how to search for and flag evidence using triangulation, mapping, and compass work. Additionally, participants were instructed on how to apply the scientific method for human vs. non-human identification, insect identification, and estimation of Post-Mortem Interval (PMI) using entomological evidence.
Webinars
Physical Characteristics of Spatter Stains on Textiles
This webinar discusses interpreting bloodstains on textiles for deriving the volume and impact speed of blood drops and the impact textile type has on these analyses.
Small Bloodstains on Textiles – What Can They Tell Us?
This webinar explores the interaction of blood with the multiple structures that occur within a simple textile and how these structures affect small bloodstains.
3D-ID-Geometric Morphometric Classification of Crania for Forensic Scientists Software Best Practices
This webinar introduces new features of the software 3D-ID, a geometric morphometric tool to aid in the assessment of the sex and/or population affinity of unknown cranial remains. An update to the reference population helps address the global humanitarian crisis of mass migration and the ability to digitize directly in the program facilitates ease of use for practitioners.
Reports
IN- BRIEF: Bloodstain Pattern Analysis on Textiles: A Technology Transition Workshop
This report provides an overview of the FTCOE hosted Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA) on Textiles Technology Workshop instructed by Dr. Stephen Michielsen.
Success Story: Uncovering Key Details of Skeletal Remains through 3D-ID Software
This report discusses the development and implementation of 3D-ID software, benefits it provides practitioners, and future developments to improve its application.
MPS Workflow Through Simulation Tool
Virtual Laboratory Simulation Tool
This tool allows practitioners to virtually practice their skills preparing samples for massively parallel sequencing (MPS) workflows. Supported by the FTCOE, University of North Texas Health Science Center, and North Carolina State University, an immersive and interactive virtual simulation tool guides DNA practitioners through three commercially available forensic laboratory processes amenable to two MPS instruments.
Event
Utilizing Soil and Dust eDNA to Assist in Criminal Investigations
Teresa Tiedge, NIJ Graduate Research Fellow of North Carolina State University, presented their research at the 2022 NIJ Forensic Science Graduate Research Symposium. The goal of this research is to determine whether bacteria, arthropods, plants, or fungi are the most stable in diverse geologic materials for sample-to-sample comparisons.
Funding for these Forensic Technology Center of Excellence resources has been provided by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this webinar series are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Contact us at ForensicCOE@rti.org with any questions and subscribe to our newsletter for notifications.
