CED Workshops
What Is CED?
Concealed Explosives Detection conferences continue the education and research goals of CED scientists world wide. The primary theme of the annual workshops will be research and development but other topics will be introduced and discussed: policy, complimentary detection techniques, associated signal processing, detection techniques for weapons and narcotics, experiences of deploying new detection technologies, end-user requirements, operational experience, etc.
About the Concealed Explosives Detection Workshops
For many years the GRC (Gordon Research Conference on Illicit Substance Detection) provided a unique and valuable forum for the explosives detection research community. This event was discontinued and its loss created a break in discussions and exploration for the explosives detection community. To meet this need, the team elected at the last GRC joined with other well-known experts in our community to create a workshop which will enable our community to continue exploring novel concealed explosives detection, research and product development.
The focus continues on highly technical discussions and sharing experiences that may maximise the chance of getting new technologies from the laboratory into operation. As such, the aim is to have all participants in the community - from inventors, developers, operators, funding bodies and commercial entities that can exploit technologies - to be participants and leaders.
Concealed Explosives Detection (CED)
The first annual Concealed Explosives Detection (CED) Workshop was held at Downing College Cambridge, UK, in September 2016. Sessions were held during typical working hours. Other activities such as networking receptions and dinners were arranged for the evenings. The CED Workshop is run on a not-for profit basis; organizers look to Governments and Industry to provide financial sponsorship to fully support the participation of academia, support the costs of some speakers, and to support events such as dinners, poster sessions and receptions.
The primary theme of the workshops is concealed explosive detection research and development; however, other associated topics including policy, complimentary detection techniques, associated signal processing techniques, detection techniques for weapons and narcotics, experiences of deploying new detection technologies, end-user requirements and operational experience will be considered and discussed.
Each Workshop, the exact theme and program are defined, as are session chairs and discussion leaders. The aim of the CED Workshop is to have innovative content of high technical merit shared with and explored by the participants. It will not be appropriate to use the CED Workshop for sales and marketing purposes. All attendees will be required to provide an abstract for a paper or poster. Selection of papers and posters will be at the CED organizing committee’s discretion. Active participation and discussion is expected from all attendees. This is an opportunity to build strong links between all players in explosives detection. All content will be unclassified from a security perspective, but no proceedings will be produced. Furthermore, to foster a spirit of openness in discussions and content, recording of presentations and photography of posters will not be permitted.
To ensure a dynamic, communicative environment, Workshops are capped at around 100 participants. Delegates will be selected based on the merits of the abstract described in their completed application. The intention is to have a good balance of participation from Government, Industry and Academia, with representation from end-users as well.
The organizers of the CED Workshop believe this event will meet a real need for the community and provide a unique opportunity for researchers, government and industry experts to meet, share experience and knowledge, explore funding options, grow networks, and maximize the opportunities to apply promising new techniques to the very real and serious problems we all face from explosive threats.
