Kristopher Dane presents his research on the influence of building geometry on active shooter events

On November 8, IAS alum Kristopher Dane presented his doctoral research “Does building geometry affect active shooter outcomes?” at the SecureWorld Expo in Seattle. His research discusses how current building standards for protective design focus on a “fortress” approach that does not effectively protect against contemporary attack vectors such as active shooters. Furthermore, these standards provide little guidance to private building owners whose facilities are increasingly targeted by “active shooters.” His findings show that overall building geometry has an effect on active shooter casualties and that modifications to interior door alignment and the addition of direct exit doors can reduce the casualties in active shooter events.

Dane is the Director of Digital Design based in the Seattle office of Thornton Tomasetti, an international structural engineering firm. He has 11 years of experience managing teams, administering technology, and developing custom tools to support the design of over 5 million square feet of structures around the world. Dane holds a Doctor of Engineering in Engineering Management from The George Washington University and a Graduate Certificate in Information Security and Risk Management from the UW Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity.

Dane is also a proud graduate of the Master of Arts in Policy Studies program (’12) and served as an alumni ambassador from 2015-17. As a Policy Studies student, he researched human trafficking, private provision of prison services to states, and defense against malware. His capstone consisted of original research into the stock price impact of corporate data breaches and was published in the May 2016 edition of the Information Systems Security Association Journal.