ABOUT CASRA

CASRA History

The Center for Adaptive Security Research and Applications (CASRA) was founded in 2008. But its roots go back to the Visual Cognition Research Group (VICOREG) of the University of Zurich (1999-2008). Please feel free to browse through our history to learn more about roots and evolution:

1999

2000

2002

2006

2008

2011

2012

2014

2018

1999

The Visual Cognition Research Group (VICOREG) was founded at the University of Zurich. We investigated perception and recognition of faces, objects and scenes using controlled laboratory experiments and cognitive and computational modeling.

2000

The first research projects on X-ray screening started at Zurich airport. We found that visual abilities and training are important determinants for the performance of airport security officers (screeners).

2002

The first version of X-Ray Tutor and first versions of tests for screener selection and competency assessment were developed and evaluated in research projects at Swiss airports.

2006

The European Commission funded a research and development project with six European countries and ten airports (www.viaproject.eu). The project confirmed the importance of our approach for selection, training and competency assessment of screeners in all participating countries and airports.

2008

CASRA was founded when Adrian Schwaninger became professor at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, School of Applied Psychology, Institute Humans in Complex Systems (MikS). With CASRA it became possible to combine applied research from MikS with the research of VICOREG and software development by APSS.

2011

X-Ray Tutor Version 3 was released. It covers various areas (CBS, HBS, Cargo, Mail, Prison, etc.) and is available as a web-based solution.

2012

We started the Systematic Threat Assessment (STA) by analyzing data from the open web, the deep web, social media, terrorist propaganda and by cooperating with other organizations. The monitoring of current threats and the identification of new and emerging threats became essential for keeping screeners up-to-date through computer-based training, e-learning and threat image projection.

2014

We extended our research by investigating human-machine interaction and a sociotechnical systems approach. We started studies on multi-view and 3D imaging with automated explosives detection and 3D computer simulations of airport security checkpoints.

2018

CASRA is a leading organization for research and applications to strengthen security and increase facilitation in X-ray screening. Our interdisciplinary effort and success is documented in more than 100 publications, many research projects , and software products that have been installed at hundreds of airports and other sites worldwide.

CASRA Members

CASRA is an interdisciplinary team of more than 50 scientists, security experts, and software engineers. Our management and team representatives are listed below.

Management

Dr. Diana Hardmeier

Director

Diana Hardmeier gained her PhD with the thesis “Aviation Security Resource Management: A Psychological Approach to Pre-Employment and Training Procedures” and has more than 15 years of professional experience in research of human factors in aviation security.

Before being appointed as director of CASRA in 2009, she worked at Zurich State Police Airport Division for three years and was responsible for the development, deployment, and supervision of quality control measures for airport security control processes.

Alex Kunz

Vice Director

Alex Kunz is Vice Director at CASRA and is responsible for Business Development. He has provided and implemented a variety of services and solutions for a large number of companies, government agencies and organizations worldwide.

During his business administration studies and before joining CASRA in 2010, he worked at the Zurich State Police Airport Division as a security screener.

Prof. Dr. Adrian Schwaninger

Chairman

Adrian Schwaninger lectures at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland.

He is the Chairman of CASRA and the Head of the Institute Humans in Complex Systems at the School of Applied Psychology of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland.

CASRA Team Representatives

Matija Antunovic

IT Services

Matija Antunovic is Systems Engineer and a designated point of contact for technical issues. He ensures the operation of the CASRA IT infrastructure and implements security improvements. He is happy to help in case of any technical challenges.

Samuel Baumbach

IT Services

Samuel Baumbach is Systems Engineer and a designated point of contact for technical issues. He is responsible for the implementation of CASRA products at and for customers and helps with all kinds of technical challenges you may have.

Mahé Becker

CUSTOMER RELATIONS & SALES

Mahé Becker is CASRA’s first point of contact for all inquiries from customers and interested parties. She advises customers all around the globe to find their individual solution. She is also responsible for the marketing materials, including the CASRA newsletter.

Sara Bracceschi

Consulting & Services

Sara Bracceschi is Head of Consulting and Services for Customs. Prior to joining CASRA, she worked in Mexico for seven years as Operations Director for one of the leading X-ray system manufacturers, managing 150 X-ray image analysts and over 400 X-ray system operators in numerous Mexican border crossings and maritime points of entry.

Nico Bürge

PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

Nico Bürge is Head of Product Management and as such responsible for CASRA’s entire product portfolio. Through his previous position as Product Owner of X-Ray Tutor 4, he already has in-depth knowledge of the main product of CASRA.

Roman Eggenschwiler

CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

Roman Eggenschwiler is Co-Head of Content Development and as such responsible for content used in our CASRA products. He ensures the satisfaction of internal and external stakeholders through his focus on quality optimization of the image libraries.

Katarzyna Koziol

CUSTOMER RELATIONS & SALES

Katarzyna Koziol is CASRA’s Sales Engineer. She advises and supports customers and interested parties on technical issues. She combines technical know-how with client facing experience and is responsible for any product-related instructions and workshops for our clients and interested parties.

Marius Latscha

Research Projects

Marius Latscha leads research projects in the areas of human decision-making, socio-technical systems design and visual search behaviour. Marius conducts field and laboratory studies, analyses large data sets and acts as a link between data engineering, research and software development.

Cédric Lüthi

Project Management

As Deputy Head of Project Management, Cédric Lüthi leads research and development projects at the intersection of human-machine interaction and data science. In addition to conducting data analysis and research, he coordinates cross-team collaboration with software and content development.

Johanna Müller

Project Management

Johanna Müller is Deputy Head of Project Management with long term company experience in various national and international projects. She is responsible for the certification of security screeners and the coordination of test development within the national certification project.

Dr. Sarah Merks

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Sarah Merks is Head of Project Management and manages multiple national and international projects. She is also responsible for the strategic alignment and supports the project portfolio management.

Jonathan Nagel

Content Development

Jonathan Nagel is Co-Head of Content Development and as such responsible for content used in projects and studies conducted by CASRA. His responsibility also includes the corresponding software tools and production pipelines. During his studies and prior to joining CASRA, he worked as a security screener.

Patrick Schäublin

Software Development

Patrick Schäublin takes responsibility for implementing the business requirements in software concepts and specifications for CASRA products. As SCRUM Master he heads the agile software development process and also acts as a Deputy Head of Software Development.

Felix Schmorell

Software Development

Felix Schmorell is Head of Software Development and responsible for the development of CASRA’s applications. He leads a team of engineers within an agile software development process (SCRUM).

Dr. Yanik Sterchi

DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS

Yanik Sterchi leads data science projects for developing data products, analysing large data sets, and investigating the cooperation between AI and humans. Yanik also acts as a link between data engineering, research, and software development.

Adam Troczyński

CONSULTING & SERVICES

Adam Troczyński is Head of Consulting and Services for Aviation. He specializes in consulting of aviation security projects, researches and initiatives, focusing in particular on the implementation of training solutions for aviation security as well as the Security Management System (SeMS) in general.