The HSSTAC provides scientific and technical advice to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Under Secretary for Science and Technology (S&T).  The members support the Department’s mission to strengthen America’s security and resiliency by providing knowledge products and innovative technology solutions for the Homeland Security Enterprise. The HSSTAC consists of leaders and experts in science, technology, systems engineering, innovation and first responder needs.  The HSSTAC is one of 26 such advisory committees in DHS and was created by Congress as a statutory committee in 2003 and continued as a discretionary committee in 2009.

Secretary Janet Napolitano appointed the following members to the committee:

Dr. Amy Alving - Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and former director of the Special Projects Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 

Dr. Steven Bellovin - professor of computer science at Columbia University, expert in cyber security, and researcher on computer networking and security.

Dr. Kathleen Carley - Professor of Computation, Organization and Society in the Institute for Software Research at Carnegie Mellon University and developer of software tools that are in use worldwide.

Dr. John Carrano - President of Carrano Consulting and former Vice President for R&D for the Luminex Corporation, with expertise in chemical threats and clinical diagnostics for infectious diseases and biological agent detection.

Dr. Julie Casani - Director, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, North Carolina Division of Public Health.  In a previous position with the State of Maryland, she implemented enhanced health surveillance systems for bioterrorism.

Dr. Phil DePoy - Private consultant, leading thinker in systems engineering, founding director of the Institute of Systems Engineering at the Naval Post Graduate School and former president of the National Opinion Research Center.

Mr. Dean Kamen - CEO of DEKA Research and Development Corporation, founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), inventor and entrepreneur. 

Dr. Alexander Levis - University Professor of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering and Head of the System Architectures Laboratory at George Mason University and former Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force, with research expertise in Command and Control, from architectures to operating in a contested cyber environment. 

Mr. Mark Lister – President, StratTechs, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in brokering technology within the defense, intelligence, and homeland security government markets.  

Chief John (Jack) Parow - President and Chairman of the Board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and college instructor in fire safety and emergency management.

Dr. Yossi Sheffi - Elisha Gray II Professor of Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Director, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, and an expert in systems optimization, risk analysis and supply chain management. 

Members are selected based on expertise and application of science and technology solutions to real-world problems.  All selected members serve two-year terms on the committee.