ODU Faculty Member Provides Expert Commentary on Security Checks at Local Tunnels

September 13, 2013

ODU's Ariel Pinto

Ariel Pinto, associate professor of engineering management at Old Dominion University, was a guest in WVEC-TV studios on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Pinto provided expert commentary about the decision to check all trucks going through the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and Monitor Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel following a security threat.

Pinto, director and co-founder ODU's Emergent Risk Initiative (ERI@ODU), is an expert in multi-disciplinary approaches to risk management, including the effects security and non-security-related disruptions in the continuity of operation of organizations and information systems.

He said Virginia State Police, FBI and local law enforcement agencies responded appropriately to the unspecified bomb threat in Hampton Roads on the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The miles-long backups and inconvenience to thousands of motorists at both tunnels was an unfortunate byproduct of the threat response, but necessary, Pinto said.

"The mere assets we have here in Hampton Roads, the infrastructure, and definitely the vulnerabilities we have, we are in kind of a higher level of alert than, possibly, other places," Pinto told WVEC journalist Mike Gooding.

Pinto said all threats need to be taken seriously. See his interview HERE.

Last summer, Pinto conducted a series of workshops, talks and presentations at universities in the Philippines on enterprise risk management.

In presentations at three leading universities in Manila, the Philippine capital, Pinto highlighted his current research and publications, especially his collaborative work with other members of ERI@ODU. Audience members for his presentations included energy, industrial, and environmental engineers, as well as technology entrepreneurs.

Through these workshops Pinto hopes to develop collaborations between the Philippine universities and ODU, in the field of managing risks.

The Emergent Risk Initiative was established at ODU with the vision of creating the next-generation body of knowledge in risk management for current and future systems and organizations characterized by uncertainty, emergence, complexity and interdependence.

Its mission is to prepare future researchers, educators, practitioners and entrepreneurs for the challenges of managing risks in the ever-changing global environment, by conducting research, providing an educational curriculum about managing emerging risks and developing next-generation tools and techniques for today's risk managers.