Last week, the International First and Second Level Master Courses in Protection against CBRNe Events successfully organized and concluded an intensive and highly engaging module dedicated to Decision Support Systems (DSS) in CBRNe scenarios.
This year’s configuration was slightly different. The opening day featured alternating lectures and practical sessions by Prof. Andrea Malizia and Dr. Alessandro Puleio. Prof. Malizia introduced the students to the use of free-license software for dispersion simulations of RN agents (HOTSPOT, developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) and chemical agents (ALOHA, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), while Dr. Puleio provided an in-depth focus on how Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Artificial Intelligence can enhance CBRNe safety in simulations, identification, detection, and decision-making processes.
The module continued with Dr. Gian Marco Ludovici, biologist and expert in biological risk, who guided students through the challenging yet valuable STEM (Simulation Training Exercise for Pandemic Modeling) software by EpiSim, giving them hands-on training in simulating pandemic events. By the end of the session, students had become familiar with three open-source CBRN software tools.
The week also included two Table-Top Exercises (TTX), each spanning a full day.
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The first was led by Dr. Michael Ian Thornton, a long-standing lecturer of the CBRNe Masters since the very first edition. He divided the class into seven working groups (four from the First Level and three from the Second Level), who faced a dynamic CBRNe emergency scenario through a series of injects, tackling it from the perspectives of first responders and decision-makers respectively.
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The second TTX was delivered by Dr. Francesco Marelli and Dr. Mariana Diaz Garcia from the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) (https://unicri.org). This innovative session combined first-level and second-level students, starting with a set of front lectures that prepared the ground for a TTX on disinformation management. Students had to analyze injects, prepare official responses, and act as spokespersons in a simulated press conference—an incredibly realistic and unique experience that we hope will become a tradition in the years to come.
The week concluded on Friday with additional practical sessions using HOTSPOT, ALOHA, and STEM, before students enjoyed some well-deserved rest.
A special thank you goes to our didactic coordinators Dr. Colomba Russo and Dr. Alba Iannotti, our research fellows Dr. Gabriele Giuga and Dr. Sabrina Rao, as well as Alessia Rotondi and Rachele Douhay for their outstanding back-office work and support throughout the module.
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