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Source: Marla E. Carroll, BS, Section Secretary, and Jeff M. Smith, MS, Section Program Chair
The Digital & Multimedia Sciences (DMS) Section officers would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. We are looking forward to the 2017 AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans next month. Thanks to the many fine abstract contributions, this year’s DMS Section program is not to be missed.
Be sure to pre-register for workshops! We have two that are being presented by DMS Section members. Workshop #12 – Forensic Digital Multimedia: Enhancement and Authentication is an all-day workshop offered on Monday, February 13. Lecture, demonstration, and hands-on classroom activity will engage attendees in the foundation principles and methods behind multimedia analysis for enhancement and authentication of material. Bring your laptop; freeware and demo material will be provided. Workshop #18 – The Opiate Crisis, Dirty Bombs, Big Data/Big Problems, and Driverless Cars: On the Leading Edge of Forensic Science — 2017 Theoretical Forensic Sciences “Think Tank” is a half-day workshop offered on Tuesday, February 14. The presenters will describe how new developments might impact forensic scientists in their work. Practical examples will be presented on lab automation, driverless cars, designer drugs, nuclear forensics, cybercrime, and big data. You MUST register before the pre-registration deadline of January 18 for these or the many other great workshops on this year’s program.
On Thursday, February 16, and Friday, February 17, the DMS Scientific Program will include many dynamic speakers discussing various topics. Presentations include: forensic digital and image artifacts in the popular mobile apps Snapchat and Pokemon GO; forensic speaker recognition of males speaking both Arabic and English; studies into the personality characteristics of computer hackers; and coping mechanisms for investigators working child pornography cases. Also look for presentations on methodologies for image and video enhancement, digital stratigraphy, automatic carving of deleted and damaged digital files, obscuring faces and preserving anonymity in video, and forensic findings in a study of the Apple Watch. Take the opportunity to see these and many more presentations, including research conducted on various digital devices such as knockoff cell phones, commercial drones, vehicle infotainment and telematics systems, and internet of things (IoT) cloud services. The Poster Sessions for DMS will be presented Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. See the Advance Program on the AAFS website at https://www.aafs.org/wp-content/uploads/2017AdvanceProgram_Online.pdf for details.
The DMS Section will hold its annual luncheon on Wednesday, February 15, at 12:00 p.m. Join us as we welcome guest speaker Reva Schwartz, Research Manager at NIST. Reva will cover current topics relevant to the digital and multimedia community, including testing and evaluation, and how issues related to the weight of evidence play out in our field. Reva will also touch upon ways to foster dialogue to address the cultural issues between and among forensic stakeholder groups. You MUST pre-register for the luncheon in order to attend. The Annual Section Business Meeting will follow from 2:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m., immediately prior to the AAFS Annual Business Meeting. Please start thinking about which section committee you would like to participate in for the upcoming year, as we will be forming committees during the Section Business Meeting. Be sure to attend both the Section and Academy Business Meetings in order to get credit for attendance, which goes towards advancement in the Academy.
Last but not least, there are three nominees from the Digital & Multimedia Sciences Section for this year’s Emerging Forensic Scientist Award, and we are looking for volunteers to evaluate our section’s submissions. One presentation is oral and scheduled for Thursday morning, February 16; two are poster presentations – one each on Wednesday and Thursday. You must be a Member or Fellow to participate. This is a good opportunity for any Member who is attending the conference to receive credit towards promotion to Fellow. To volunteer, or for more information, please e-mail DMS Awards Committee Chair Josiah Dykstra at dykstra@umbc.edu.
See you in New Orleans!