Biometrics research center CITeR names WVU site director

The Center for Identification Technology Research announced it has named Matthew Valenti its West Virginia University site director.

CITeR is a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center focused in the areas of biometric systems, security and credibility assessment.

West Virginia University is CITeR’s founding site focusing on biometrics, identification technology and systems. The University of Arizona is the Center’s second site focusing on credibility assessment systems. Clarkson University, focuses on biometric vulnerabilities and intelligence. University at Buffalo is focused on handwriting, cryptography, and soft biometrics.

Currently a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at WVU, Valenti has spent a large part of his career doing research in wireless communications, particularly with cell phone and smart phone technologies.

“Dr. Valenti has worked closely with CITeR personnel both at WVU and our other university partners,” said Brian Woerner, chair of the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. “He brings a wealth of experience in the areas of networked communications, efficient computation and security to the existing research strengths of our CITeR group in pattern recognition, machine learning and sensors.

We are delighted that he is assuming the leadership of one of WVU’s most important research centers.”

The majority of WVU’s work is in the areas of biometrics, identification technology and systems.

Valenti said the university would be expanding on these areas in the future, adding that the time is right for WVU to expand its expertise into this area.

Valenti and the CITeR team are working together to apply revocable biometrics, which would enable devices to store various biometric functions or traits simultaneously.

Researchers need to expand into other areas including the behavioral sciences and molecular biometrics, said Valenti. Currently, researchers at WVU are working on rapid-DNA analysis and hand bacteria as new biometric modalities.

Article Topics

biometrics research  |  CITeR  |  West Virginia  |  WVU