
News and Events
An Extra Sense for Fire Investigators
Scientists from Washington State University will begin testing new sensors they hope to imbed in paint to provide more accurate information in fire and arson investigations.
Hergen Eilers, senior scientist and associate director of the WSU Institute of Shock Physics applied sciences laboratory, was recently awarded a $517,243 grant from the Office of Justice Programs’ National Institute of Justice. More than $29 million in research was awarded to more than 60 individuals “who proposed work designed to strengthen forensic science and advance criminal justice policy and practice,” according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
Eilers said the grant will begin January and is expected to continue funding for research and testing throughout the next 2 1/2 years.
Six years ago a report was released that was highly critical of forensic evidence, expert conclusions and courts accepting questionable evidence, specifically when it came to fire investigations, Eilers said. Eilers said there are guidelines fire investigators use to determine how or where a fire originated, but they can be flawed. He said in one test, 53 investigators tried to determine the origin of a fire but only 10 percent did so correctly, Eilers said.
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ASL News and Events
2013 – Present
- June 16, 2022
ASL 2022 Breakfast Update Meeting - October 21, 2016
An Extra Sense for Fire Investigators - October 31, 2013
ASL 2013 Fall Breakfast Meeting - August 7, 2013
Summer Newsletter 2013 - March 18, 2013
Partnership Boosts State Aerospace Industry
- September 25, 2019
ASL 2019 Fall Breakfast Meeting - May 11, 2015
The History of the WSU Spokane Campus - October 9, 2013
Investors, Industry Welcome WSU Research Innovations, - June 11, 2013
ASL Provides Summer Research Opportunity to WSU Undergraduate Students - January 13, 2013
ASL Winter Newsletter
- June 1, 2017
Changing Your Risk Profile with Vegetable Oil - February 13, 2014
WSU Streamlines Processes to Stimulate Research Commercialization - September 13, 2013
Inaugural Research Day 2013 - April 25, 2013
Spring Breakfast Update
2007 – 2012
- November, 2012
Fall Breakfast Update - January, 2012
Local-level R&D is Driving Growth in Communities from Coast to Coast - October, 2008
WSU Scientists Land $8.5 million Defense Contract - April, 2008
Itron and ASL Establish Research Partnership - September, 2007
WSU’s Applied Sciences Laboratory Receives Federal Funding for Sensor Research
- Summer, 2012
ASL Summer Newsletter - November, 2011
New Multiteraflop Computing Facility at ASL - August, 2008
WSU Applied Sciences Lab Adds High-Performance Computing Capability - October, 2007
Energy Project Gets Funding Boost
- June, 2012
ASL Expands Research Team: Examining Brain Function through Optical Methods - March, 2010
WSU Scientist Developing Detectors for National Security Applications - August, 2008
Washington State University’s Applied Sciences Laboratory Announces Relocation to SIRTI Technology Center - September, 2007
Lab Finds Growth in Applied Science