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Original Release Date: March 19, 2018
In episode seven of our 2018 IPTES Season, Just Science interviews Robert Thompson, a Senior Forensic Science Research Manager at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). Mr. Thompson discusses his research on consecutively manufactured barrels and his recent research on "Objective Comparison of Striated Toolmarks Produced from Ten Consecutively Manufactured Cold Chisels Measured by Contact and Optical Surface Profilometry and Comparison Microscopy". The profile’s similarity and differences were compared using two mathematical methods, cross-correlation function, and the recently developed congruent matching profile segments method.
NIJ and FTCOE are committed to improving the practice of forensic science and strengthening its impact through support of research and development, rigorous technology evaluation and adoption, effective knowledge transfer and education, and comprehensive dissemination of best practices and guidelines to agencies dedicated to combating crime. The future of forensic sciences and its contribution to the public and criminal justice community is a motivating topic to gather expertise in a forum to discuss, learn, and share ideas. The IPTES was specifically designed to bring together practitioners and researchers to enhance information-sharing and promote collaboration among the impression, pattern, and trace evidence analysts, law enforcement, and legal communities.
This episode of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence [Award 2016-MU-BX-K110].
Guest Biography
Robert M. Thompson has been a Senior Forensic Science Research Manager with the Special Programs Office-Forensic Sciences at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) for 9 years. He has over 38 years of experience as a Forensic Scientist and Criminalist. He is certified in Criminalistics by the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC) and is a past Chairman and current member of the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners (AFTE) Certification Program Committee. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a Distinguished Member of AFTE. Mr. Thompson was awarded a MFS from The George Washington University in Washington, DC and a BS in Forensic Science with a Chemistry minor from the California State University in Sacramento, California. Prior to joining NIST, Mr. Thompson was a Senior Firearms and Toolmark Examiner for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Forensic Science Laboratories and as a Forensic Scientist and Criminalist in crime laboratories with the Washoe County Sheriff ’s Department (Reno, Nevada), Oregon State Police, and the GeneLex Corporation (Seattle, Washington). His court-accepted expert testimony includes Firearms/Toolmark Identification, Proximity Testing, Serology and DNA analysis, Drug Analysis, Hair and Fiber Examination, Blood Spatter Reconstruction, Shoe Print Comparison, and Crime Scene/ Shooting Reconstruction. Mr. Thompson has testified as an expert in numerous Federal and State courts and has active professional affiliations with several regional, national, and international forensic science societies. He is published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, Forensic Science International, Journal for the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners, Proceedings of SPIE – The International Society for Optical Engineering, NIST Journal of Research, Inside ATF, Measurement Science and Technology, FBI Crime Laboratory Digest, and the Proceedings of Saratov University (Russia).
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this podcast episode are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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