TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY: Aviation Security Screening Optimizer for Risk and Throughput (ASSORT)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), operated by Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, Technology Transfer Program, solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture, and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. PNNL provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY:  ASSORT builds on risk models developed for the Department of Homeland Security and other government sponsors, extending them to airport checkpoint risk scenarios that, by modeling screening technologies such as video surveillance, biometrics, millimeter wave scanning, and X-ray along with procedures including random screening using configurable checkpoint lanes, can test operational scenarios and assess the effectiveness of new technologies.

Overview: ASSORT evaluates how different configurations affect both security effectiveness and operational efficiency by simulating real-world scenarios and generating performance metrics like wait times, throughput, and detection rates. Incorporating risk-based screening logic allows planners to test and compare various strategies, helping them make data-driven decisions to balance threat detection with passenger convenience and cost-effectiveness.

By exploring various notional traveler categories (General, Trusted, and Trusted+), along with different checkpoint screening Concept of Operations (CONOPS) tailored to each traveler type, ASSORT can help travelers who arrive at the airport with a higher starting trust level experience fewer screenings, resulting in quicker processing times through the checkpoints.

The output of ASSORT provides risk scores for predefined threat scenarios, as well as the over­all risk to checkpoints, aircraft, and the airport by traveler type. ASSORT also produces estimated wait times and throughput by checkpoint and traveler type for each simulated scenario, enabling tradeoff analysis between risk buydown and passenger experience.

Description: ASSORT is a flexible, web-based modeling and optimization platform that combines risk analysis, passenger flow simulation, and operational optimization into a single tool. At its core, the system uses mathematical formulations to model checkpoint operations, allowing users to customize inputs, such as traveler categories, checkpoint layouts, detector thresholds, staffing levels, and random screening rates.

By simulating passenger arrivals across a full day and modeling how different checkpoint configurations affect both risk reduction and throughput, ASSORT gives decision-makers a data-driven way to identify the most effective mix of resources, technologies, and processes.

Benefits:

• Assesses risk from a wide range of checkpoint and in-flight threat scenarios.
• Evaluates new technologies and screening concepts to understand their impact on risk reduction and throughput.
• Optimizes checkpoint operations by tailoring screening strategies for different traveler categories (General, Trusted, Trusted+).
• Test and refine staffing, lane configurations, and random screen rates to reduce costs while maintaining security.
• Simulates passenger arrivals and flows over an entire day to support real-time decision-making for adaptive checkpoint operations.
• Evaluates “what-if” scenarios to prepare for emerging threats or changing travel demand.
• Improves the passenger experience by reducing wait times and tailoring screening to traveler trust levels.
• Provides flexibility to support both long-term planning and real-time decision-making.

Applications: By commercializing ASSORT, PNNL and DHS S&T offer a strategic planning and optimization tool that reduces trial-and-error costs, supports compliance with evolving security standards, and enables smarter, more agile airport operations. With increasing global demand for streamlined yet secure passenger screening, ASSORT is not just a tool—it’s a competitive edge in modern aviation security management.

Because ASSORT can function as an analytical tool for both long-term planning and technology evaluation, it is broadly applicable to improving security and efficiency across the aviation sector.

Airports and aviation authorities can use it to optimize checkpoint layouts, staffing, and technology investments, while policy and regulatory agencies can assess new screening strategies and their impact on risk reduction. Technology developers benefit from testing how emerging solutions perform under realistic conditions, and researchers gain a flexible platform for simulating passenger flows, evaluating threat scenarios, and studying the effects of policy changes. Whether applied as a long-term planning tool or a real-time decision aid, ASSORT offers valuable insights to improve security, efficiency, and the passenger experience.

Development Status: TRL 4

IP Status: Proprietary copyright

For all inquiries, please reference Battelle IPID 33056 

By coming to PNNL, businesses of all sizes tap into technology and expertise, much of it already developed through multiyear government investments. At PNNL, we have been creating and moving technologies into the marketplace for more than 60 years. In fact, making our broad array of intellectual property and expertise available to businesses is part of our mission as a taxpayer-funded laboratory operated for the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s our job to tackle the most challenging problems in science, energy, the environment, and national security. By partnering with us, businesses gain valuable insights into emerging and new technological developments for solving their problems. 

What We Offer Businesses

• New technologies and other intellectual property available for licensing
• Collaborative development to transform technologies into customized products
• Access to nationally and internationally known, entrepreneurial-minded staff who understand the fast-paced, solution-focused culture of industry
• Connections to a vast entrepreneurial ecosystem for specialized expertise
• Access to EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE scientific user facility at PNNL 

Learn more about our licensing opportunities and the support we provide at: https://www.pnnl.gov/licensing-technology-transfer

NOTE:  THIS IS NOT A PROCUREMENT.  The purpose of this opportunity is to promote public awareness of PNNL-developed technology products and potential for future licensing opportunities. We do not engage in purchasing, manufacturing, procurement decisions, or providing funding. Please send letters of interest to the attention of the POC identified within this opportunity and reference Battelle IPID 33056. 

Primary POC: Commercialization Manager, Kannan Krishnaswami