Good, Kevin

Kevin is a chemical engineer that has spent nearly two decades serving as the programmatic and technical lead on Battelle’s numerous detection canine R&D initiatives. Through his work for various government, security, law enforcement, and military agencies, he has designed and directed hundreds of canine team field assessments (CONUS and OCONUS), developed novel training aids for inherently unsafe contraband, hosted dozens of handler educational events, conducted laboratory studies, and led product/software development efforts. These experiences, combined with his engineering/scientific background, provides unique insight and thoughts on the principles of detection canine training/testing, challenges faced by handlers and trainers, and rigorous evaluation procedures.

Class: Best Practices in Pursuit of the Best Detection Canines

While canines have the potential to provide an unmatched detection capability in terms of speed, mobility, selectivity, and sensitivity, common pitfalls and simple mistakes can have long-lasting detrimental effects on their realized abilities. Geared towards explosives detection, but helpful to all disciplines, this classroom instruction aims to share longstanding and novel best practices to avoid these damaging pitfalls and mistakes. Topics to be covered include the not-so-obvious benefits of the use of non-targets, fundamental concepts on odor concentration/generation, training aid integrity/storage, and the problematic “cheats” that canines can use to their advantage in training and testing.