Dylon Harrison
Staff Writer
The ISU chemistry department has been researching a way to help law enforcement agencies more effectively recover defaced serial numbers.
A team of ISU professors and students have been working since 2013 on a method of recovering serial numbers that uses thermal imaging. This would be used along with, or instead of, the current chemical method, which is highly destructive.
“The ultimate goal would be to develop a process or tool that could be used to help law enforcement to recover serial numbers that have been defaced,” said chemistry department chair, Rene Rodriguez.
This would make it easier to return stolen objects, as well as identify weapons used for criminal activity if the serial numbers have been removed.
While the project is not yet complete, the researchers have had some success with creating images of the defaced numbers. The next phase of the project is fine-tuning and verifying that the process works.
The researchers will also begin working on identifying letters.
“I’m really excited about the fact that we can pull an image out using our data techniques,” said co-principal investigator and ISU chemistry professor, John Kalivas.
The initial grant for the project was given in September 2013, but due to a government shutdown, the funds did not become available until December of that year.
The grant was recently renewed. The total value of the grants received so far come to an estimated $516,000.
The new grant will allow the researchers to work with law enforcement agencies in Idaho and Utah to get real samples to test their technology on.
Throughout the duration of this project, the research team had worked with both the Idaho State Police Forensics Services and the Utah Department of Public Safety.
“I’m always glad to be able to help law enforcement,” Rodriguez said. “I think law enforcement has a tough job. I think they’re somewhat underappreciated and by helping them it just gives me satisfaction.”
In addition to the professors and undergraduate students, there is also an ISU Ph.D. student working on the project. “I really wanted to work my Ph.D. on non-destructive testing,” said Ikwulono David Unobe, a Ph.D. student.
The original idea for the project came from the late Dennis Stromman, an ISU emeritus professor of chemistry and former department chair.
Stromman was the first to thing thermal imaging could be used to recover serial numbers and helped write the original grant. He passed away in 2014.
