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Meyer grandson involved in Homeland Security

Nate Meyer-Gleason, son of Eric Meyer of Champaign, Ill., and grandson of the late Bill Meyer and his wife Joan, is employed by Sandia National Laboratories at Livermore, Calif.

He works as a lead researcher in the development of the BioWatch Indoor Reachback Center (BIRC).

BIRC is part of the Department of Homeland Security's BioWatch program, an early warning system designed to rapidly detect trace amounts of biological materials if they were to be released at a large public facility such as an airport.

Using detailed plans of these large facilities, Sandia researchers can make accurate predictions that can help secure and protect building owners.

"When a biohazard event occurs and a detector alarms, the response by facility managers is dependent upon a number of factors and key pieces of information," Meyer-Gleason said in a news release from Sandia National Laboratories. "They need to know the source and intensity of the contamination. They need to know which parts of the facilities are likely contaminated, and which ones aren't. BIRC is able to provide this kind of information."

BIRC uses a technology called BROOM (Building Restoration Operations Optimization Model), a hand-held software tool that contains building maps and other information to simplify tracking and sample collection in a contaminated area.

BIRC's resources also are available for regional planning and training exercises.

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