NJIT Smart Gun Project Flow

VOLUME I






APPENDIX B






PROJECT FLOW


















DATE
ACTIVITY

August 1999
The Project was funded July 1, 1999, and the project manager, William Marshall, was contracted Aug. 5, 1999. The Governors Office received an initial briefing on Aug. 8, 1999, concerning NJIT’s focus on handgun safety, with special consideration given to firearms in the home and in the hands of young children.

September 1999
Information searches were conducted to determine the extent of prior technical research achieved in this field, and specifically, the identification of technology that could assist in the protection of children from firearms without impairing of handguns in defense of life or personal property

October 1999
The Team met with representatives from Colt on Oct. 21, 1999, at the NJIT campus in Newark. Beth Lavach, vice president for marketing, and Andrew Brignoli, vice president of engineering, discussed the potential for a working relationship with our team to collaborate on a technology search. Colt had participated in the Sandia Study, giving the company a head start in developing prototypes. Mr. Brignoli explained some of the problems posed by “smart” technology, such as severe power consumption and the need for a robust systems board. Since Colt was working closely with a law enforcement council it had formed to conduct testing, cooperating with Colt appeared promising at first. But a formal collaboration was soon doomed because of liability issues common to the firearms industry. At this time, Colt has reorganized and neither Ms. Lavach nor Mr. Brignoli are employed by the company.



Kenneth Pugh, President and chief executive officer of Fulton Arms in Houston, Tex., also contacted us to express his concern over our use of the term “SmartGun”. Claiming he had coined this phrase, Mr. Pugh said he had gained exclusive rights to its use. He furthered advised us that he had developed a handgun that employed technology that prevented unauthorized users from firing it. We invited Mr. Pugh to be our guest at NJIT from Nov. 17 through 19, 1999. Mr. Pugh arrived with two firearms using magnetic rings for authorization. We engaged him as a project consultant to the project, an arrangement that allowed us to work closely with an expert whose 10 years in the field would provide valuable insights into the industry and the marketplace

November 1999
Because there was no clear repository for information on research and development technology for handguns, our team began contacting and visiting with firearms manufacturers whenever and wherever possible. In particular, we contacted several companies -- Smith & Wesson, Colt and Mossberg -- all of which are located within driving distance. At Smith & Wesson’s corporate office in Springfield, Mass., on Nov. 12, 1999, the NJIT project manager briefed the president, Ed Schultz, and the vice president, Kevin Foley, at the corporate office in Springfield, and broached the potential for collaboration. Mr. Foley displayed several weapon platforms that had been developed over the last several years. Noting that S&W had worked on several different approaches in that time, Mr. Schultz said the company had spent more than a million dollars for research and development performed by independent contractors, most of which possessed electronics expertise unavailable at S&W. Seeing that S&W might offer a valuable forum for open dialogue, the project director offered NJIT’s services for future developments. Noting that S&W was embroiled in multiple lawsuits, Mr. Schultz and the project manager agreed informally to consider the potential for a non-disclosure agreement between the company and NJIT. The project manager met informally with Mr. Schultz in Nevada in January 2000, but so far, S&W has not yet formally proposed such an agreement or memorandum of understanding.

December 1999
Progress meetings were held establishing what additional assets would be required to facilitate the end goals of the project.

January 2000
A visit to Ken Pugh of Fulton Arms, Inc., was conducted at his office in Houston, Texas. The Shot Show in Las Vegas was also attended. A major event, the Honors Colloquium, was executed at NJIT for the Albert Dorman students featuring a panel discussion on weapons safety and smart gun technology.

February 2000
A technology demonstration hosted by FN Herstal Arms Manufacture at Sea Girt was attended. The arms company demonstrated a semi-automatic pistol that used “smart” technology to disable the firearm when not in authorized hands. It was one of the first such demonstrations that was executed without apology or excuse. Although this work represented only a technology demonstration – not a prototype – the test was very valuable to the project.

March 2000
Continuance of the project and meetings facilitating the ongoing progress.



April

2000
A briefing was prepared for the Governor’s Office on the progress of the project, but the meeting was postponed.

May

2000
A Smart Gun seminar conducted at NJIT focused on applied technology and was attended by practitioners, academics, and manufacturers. An event that drew extraordinary media attention, it featured two major political figures that participated as luncheon speakers. We also briefed the Governor’s staff on the current status of the project, and we visited the Marine Warfighting Lab in Quantico, Va. We also met representatives of FN Herstal Group, a large gun manufacturer based in Brussels, Belgium, who showed great interest in some of NJIT personalized weapons research.

June

2000
A meeting was held with the Joint Service Small Arms Program (JSSAP) from Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway Township. This contact, which represented our first genuine exposure to the JSSAP staff, benefited all involved and provided our project staff with an extremely valuable resource. Two scheduled briefings for legislative staffers were postponed until July.

July

2000
On the 6th of July, we attended a follow-up meeting with FN Herstal, one of the world’s largest gun manufacturers. The meeting, which followed several demonstrations and FN’s participation in our May seminar, was part of an effort to achieve an important project goal -- establishing a liaison with a firearms manufacturer. This goal was achieved only on a tiny scale with Fulton Arms. The FN meeting was believed to be the start of a co- development effort with a major manufacturer. On July 11th, the project team participated in the first interactive Legislative briefing arranged by the Office of Legislative Services (David Sallach). This meeting was highly educational for those who attended. Participants received a complete, fur-hour explanation, tour and a demonstration of various technologies. Also present for the session was Debra Wachfpreff, a representative of the Million Moms March, state Sens. Bucco and Furnari, and representatives of the State Assembly.



On July 19th, the project entered into an agreement with BES Corporation. Both parties agreed to work on testing fingerprint scanners and software in a technology demonstration on static biometric measurements.

August 2000
Dr. Donald Sebastian and Bill Marshall appeared with state Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, on a Public Service Broadcast to discuss the Personalized Weapons Project. The pair also participated with Dr. Dentcho Ivanov and Joseph Giampapa, Esq., in a field trip to FN Herstal in Brussels to meet with engineers and corporate representatives to discuss the potential for a co-development relationship in future phases of the project. We spent considerable time with Thierry Jacobs, overall program manager; George Michaels, vice president for research and development; Pierre Renieer, vice president for marketing, and Phillip Townsen, president and chief executive officer.



Overall, the trip was very collegial and helpful and will likely assist us in establishing and maintaining our credibility with all segments of the firearm marketplace. It included a guided tour of FN manufacturing facilities, which are being converted for automation and robotics systems. Much of the machinery and HVAC equipped appeared to be updated and state of the art. We also witnessed a demonstration of several FN products targeted for U.S. distribution. One technology platform was a shotgun equipped with a “smart trigger” designed by the company and fabricated at the University of Liege. This demonstration was especially satisfying because some of our working theories had been incorporated into this firearm. FN representatives said their engineers had been developing a “personalized version” of a firearm for more than five years.



We also spent time at the University of Liege with Prof. Jacques Destine and Magaly Duquesne, members of the university staff who interface with FN. The University of Liege acts in collaboration with ARAMIS, an electronics consortium venture that works within the European Union representing 12 nations. University laboratories we visited included high-tech facilities designed for some of the same kinds of R&D being undertaken at NJIT.



Part of the day also was spent at the training and demonstration center in Zodendahl Forest where we handled some FN products and a received an in-depth briefing on a demonstration platform using ultrasonic technology. This product is targeting the law enforcement market for use in overcoming service revolver “take-aways”.

September 2000
A meeting was conducted with BES Corporation to discuss an experiment using students and law enforcement personnel in gathering data for analysis in fingerprint, handgrip, and palm measurement. This information would be helpful in developing pattern analysis and grip pressure analysis. On Sept. 28th, the team flew to FNMI in Columbus, S.C., to visit the plant and meet with staffers to discuss future collaboration.

October 2000
Dr. Recce and BES executed data collection at NJIT for biometric solutions with more than 200 participants. This effort established one of the largest databases in the country. In addition, the collection offers us the ability to use three different types of scanners from three different vendors to assist in making final conclusions and recommendations about technological feasibility, type of device, measurement, and reliability. Another meeting was held with FN Herstal on public policy matters relating to personalized weapons legislation and limited-liability issues as they relate to the aviation industry and auto-industry safety devices. On October 26th, the NJIT team participated in a JSSAP-hosted event at Picatinny Arsenal. JSSAP evaluated the reliability of commercial, off-the-shelf mechanical devices. These results are documented in a report found in this document’s appendices.

November 2000
On Nov. 14th at the Newark campus, NJIT updated members of the JSSAP staff on the current status of the project and our perception of the next step in our relationship. Dr. Sebastian taped a PBS television show, “Garden State Matters,” which aired Dec. 3rd at 8:30 a.m. on the WWOR-TV. On Nov. 8th, we briefed members of the Trenton staff of Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco, R-Union, on the current status of the project and our next steps.

December 2000
The month was devoted to preparation of the final report and compiling information and budgets for follow-up steps.