Technology of the Month:
"Syntactic Landmine Detection "
Photo courtesy of United Nations Image Library
Professor Kenneth Hintz of the Electrical Engineering Department at George Mason University is working to solve one of the world's largest humanitarian and military problems, unexploded landmines and ordinances.
Need:
Landmines left over from world conflicts prevent millions of acres of otherwise usable land from being used productively and are a significant cause of unnecessary deaths and injuries.
Invention:
Professor Hintz’s invention processes signals from existing ground penetrating radars. But unlike existing systems, his signal processing can image the internal structure of non-metallic landmines in spite of a myriad of soil types, miscellaneous objects and weather conditions. The imaging can also recognize the detailed external structure of metallic landmines as well as distinguish target landmines from among other landmines. Amazingly, his techniques can operate at real-time speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour.
If you’re interested in commercial opportunities for this technology, contact David Grossman, Senior Intellectual Property and Licensing Associate, in George Mason University’s Office of Technology Transfer at 703.993.4100. Mr. Grossman's e-mail address is dgrossma@gmu.edu.