Terrorism expert to speak at Marshall seminar
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The featured speaker for the event is internationally known terrorism expert Terry Hawkins. |
September 15, 2009 ·
Marshall University’s new Institute for Interdisciplinary Research will introduce itself to the community Thursday night in Huntington.
It’s been around for less than a year, and many don’t understand what the Institute is all about. Thursday’s seminar at the St. Mary’s Center for Education will explain what it is and what officials there are trying to do.
The Marshall Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (MIIR) was developed as part of the state’s “Bucks for Brains” program, similar to one at WVU.
Eric Kmiec says that MIIR is about finding answers to problems and partnering with outside companies.
“We have a series of technology platforms and interesting new ways to do things in the medical field and in the computer field and even beyond in to a variety of other areas,” Kmiec said.
The featured speaker, Hawkins, is the director of the Department of Defense Programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Hawkins says research today reaches across many platforms.
“What you need to do to solve these very difficult problems is to put all minds to work on solving the problem, because you really don’t know beforehand where the solution is coming from,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins says he encounters these situations every day while working for the Department of Defense.
“It might be important to the war fighter who is out there trying to achieve his mission without getting killed or injured,” Hawkins said.
The program is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Organizers are requesting that reservations be made by calling 304-696-3830.