Career Achievement
Patrick Grother/NIST - Patrick Grother is a senior scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and an internationally recognized leader in the field of biometrics. He is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on biometric testing and standards, leading groundbreaking research and standardization work that has greatly impacted the use of biometrics in the federal government and private industry. His pioneering work as lead developer of biometric standards for the Federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) program paved the way for the integration of biometrics with smart cards. This identity verification solution has been implemented at the core of applications in both government and private sector programs. He is widely acknowledged as a visionary leader by the biometrics research community, where his pioneering contributions in biometric technologies and quality continue to be recognized internationally.
Grother oversees NIST research supporting numerous U.S. government agencies use of biometrics and has been DHS' and FBI’s primary face recognition SME since 2003. He is the project lead of face and iris research at NIST, and has built and led numerous test programs over the years, including the Minutiae Interoperability Exchange Test (MINEX) as a conformant instance of his ISO/IEC 19795-4 Interoperability Performance Testing standard, Iris Exchange (IREX), expanding iris recognition capabilities to support a marketplace of iris-based applications based on standardized interoperable iris imagery, and the Ongoing Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT), which has become a globally-recognized “gold-standard” for testing face recognition capabilities.
Grother’s 30 years of dedication and sustained contributions to the biometrics community has made him the subject matter expert in the biometrics community that agencies, industry, policy, privacy, and the media look to for technical advice and leadership.
Best Technical Advancement
Arun Vemury/RIVTD Team (DHS S&T) - Arun Vemury is leading DHS S&T’s groundbreaking Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration (RIVTD). The RIVDTD is an independent, third party testing of identity and access management companies’ fake document, likeness, and selfie-matching testing. DHS S&T and its partners evaluate the ability of systems to authenticate identity documents, assess the "liveness" of selfie photos, and evaluate identity verification using images taken with smartphones and similar devices.
Best Operational Success
IRS Secure Access Digital Identity (SADI) Team - The IRS SADI Team is responsible for executive oversight of technical development activities for external ID proofing, authentication, and authorization, and helped secure over 1B site visits in search of various IRS online services. As a result of their work, this program has enabled more than double the amount of people to securely access IRS online tools and applications.
Service and Leadership
Bethany Retton (DOJ FBI CJIS) - Bethany Retton has been involved in research and development at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division for more than 10 years. She has worked on various projects including the latent search best practices using FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, Universal Latent Workstation (ULW) software, Latent Quality Metric (LQMetric) software, and the FBI's iris pilot all of which are now operational. She is currently a member of National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Iris Expert’s Group (IEG) supporting further advancement of iris recognition capabilities. Retton also is the vice chair of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science’s (OSAC) Facial and Iris Identification Subcommittee assisting in the development iris recognition standards. Additionally, Ms. Retton serves as Chair of the International Association for Identification’s (IAI) Biometric Information Services Subcommittee and is also a certified latent fingerprint examiner through that organization.
More Information On Winners and Finalists
Best Technical Advancement
An individual or team that has created new capabilities or discovered limitations that will profoundly impact the federal government’s future identity capabilities or practices.
Winner: DoD Automated Biometric Identification System (DoD ABIS) Biometric Enabled Watch List (BEWL) Dissemination Management Functionality (BDMF) Team
Finalist: Adam McBride, Department of Health and Human Services
Finalist: FBI’s Iris Program Team – Department of Justice
Best Operational Success
An individual or team that has implemented new technology or practices and/or influenced legislation, regulation or policy in the federal identity community resulting in qualitative or quantitative success.
Winner: Social Media Exploitation Team (SOMEX) – Department of Justice
Finalist: Karyn Bennett – Immigration & Customs Enforcement
Finalist: Patrice Wilmot – Internal Revenue Service
Best Educational Effort
An individual or team that has excelled in providing training and/or education-based opportunities either: a) to the federal identity community; or b) about federal identity applications to the public, media, or Congress.
Winner: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN), and Tech Sprint Teams
Finalist: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Contactless Fingerprint Team
Service and Leadership Award
An individual or team that has provided substantive guidance and/or leadership to the federal identity community.
Winner: National Institute of Standards and Technology Image Group (NIST-ImG)
Career Achievement Award
An individual who has achieved significant and sustained achievements within the FedID community over a period of at least fifteen years.
Winner: Jim Loudermilk, former Senior Level Technologist, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Best Technical Advancement
An individual or team that has created new capabilities or discovered limitations that will profoundly impact the federal government’s future identity capabilities or practices.
Winner: Jason Lim, Transportation Security Administration
Runner up: Defense Forensic Science Center, Office of the Chief Scientist
Best Operational Success
An individual or team that has implemented new technology or practices and/or influenced legislation, regulation or policy in the federal identity community resulting in qualitative or quantitative success.
Winner: National Vetting Center
Runner up: Defense Forensic Science Center, Biometrics Operations Directorate
Runner up: Project Management Office for Department of Defense Biometrics
Best Educational Effort
An individual or team that has excelled in providing training and/or education-based opportunities either: a) to the federal identity community; or b) about federal identity applications to the public, media, or Congress.
Finalist: NIST Public Safety-First Responder ICAM Project Team
Runner up: Lora Sims, Ideal Innovations, Inc.
Service and Leadership Award
An individual or team that has provided substantive guidance and/or leadership to the federal identity community.
Finalist: Nandini Diamond, General Services Administration
Runner up: Steve Evans, Customs and Border Protection
Career Achievement Award
An individual who has achieved significant and sustained achievements within the FedID community over a period of at least fifteen years.
Winner: Jonathon Phillips, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Best Technical Advancement
An individual or team that has created new capabilities or discovered limitations that will profoundly impact the federal government’s future identity capabilities or practices.
Winner: Technical Services Field Office - Identity Activities Branch, NCIS
Runner up: DoD PM Biometrics BISCO Team
Runner up: Technical Team, National Vetting Center
Best Operational Success
An individual or team that has implemented new technology or practices and/or influenced legislation, regulation or policy in the federal identity community resulting in qualitative or quantitative success.
Winner: CBP Entry/Exit Team
Runner up: James "Edd" Kirkley
Runner up: DHS/DoD Biometric Information Sharing Interoperability Project Team
Best Educational Effort
An individual or team that has excelled in providing training and/or education-based opportunities either: a) to the federal identity community; or b) about federal identity applications to the public, media, or Congress.
Winner: Face Recognition Test Vendor Program, NIST
Runner up: Jeremy Grant
Runner up: Ann Wallwork
Service and Leadership Award
An individual or team that has provided substantive guidance and/or leadership to the federal identity community.
Winner: John Wagner
Runner up: Alicia Harrison
Career Achievement Award
An individual who has achieved significant and sustained achievements within the FedID community over a period of at least fifteen years.
Winner: Chris Miles