"We’ll be working with students from mathematics, physics, engineering, music, computer science and biometrics. And I’ve been talking with the FBI, CIA, Scotland Yard, Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Agency, Department of Justice and Department of Defense," Sanders says. "We’ll have specialized classrooms and computer labs. The program will be 48 credit hours, and we’ll have a 10- to 14-student cohort."
Sanders landed the federal grant on the strength of his research into the evidence the nation’s power grid leaves on recordings. Any time you use digital media in the United States, you use one of three power grids: the East, the West or Texas. Each grid produces telltale fluctuations on recordings so Sanders proposes that those fluctuations be continuously documented so that any future recording can be matched up to each grid’s unique fingerprint and the precise time of recording determined.
Sanders says the National Center for Media Forensics will advance the field and will create the first graduate program in media forensics. He also plans to operate a continuing education program for the law enforcement community.