A Mathematical Tour of Forensic Science
SSP FOR RISING TENTH GRADERS
Second Week: June 22-28
A Mathematical Tour of Forensic Science - 10E
J. KEITH MCELVEEN, a practicing forensic audio/video examiner, researcher, and lecturer, spends much of his time alternating between 1) poking fun at the forensic science as depicted in popular TV programs, such as CSI, and 2) trying to figure out ways to make these scientific "miracles" work in the real world. In this course, students will be introduced to fundamental concepts of the physics of light and sound and gain an understanding of the science and mathematics that apply to collecting, analyzing, and extracting useful information from audio, photographic, and video evidence found at a crime scene. Since criminal prosecutions revolve around identifying what was done and who did it, the course will also go into how human biology affects the generation of evidence (e.g. speech); the perception of evidence (e.g. vision and hearing); and the identification of humans (e.g. gait, voice, tattoos, and face recognition). Students will also gain hands-on experience by applying the various mathematical techniques learned in the course to cleaning up audio and video recordings using both mass-market commercial and professional forensic software applications. By the end of the course, the student will never watch CSI the same way again but may want to portray one of the characters in real-life. Among the software his students will use during the week and then take home are Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 for image editing and Acon Digital Media Acoustica for audio editing. Tuition: $625
Mr. McElveen (BS, MS, Clemson Univ.) has traveled the world over the course of the last 20+ years, sifting data to find useful information. After graduation, he began working for the US federal government and later moved to commercial industry, where he helps develop the tools and techniques used by federal, state, and local law enforcement to investigate crimes and prosecute cases. He spends most of his spare time sharing the interests and activities of his four children, who range in age up to 12. His personal hobbies and interests include fencing, hiking, and reading and blogging about general and forensic science.
