IEEE BH Subsection: Security Engineering
Security Engineering: Protecting People, Facilities, and Information in a Changing World
We live in an increasingly volatile world and the need for security - and safety - is constantly changing. Security Engineering focuses on physical and technical security, protecting people/facilities/information, while insuring this security also includes essential elements of safety. Unfortunately the field of security engineering is seldom in the news (we don’t have a tv show about security engineers). So what is a security engineer and what do they do? This presentation will introduce the field of security engineering through a case study of the evolution of the technical and physical security programs at the US Department of State. Although security has always been an essential element of the Department of State, the role of Diplomatic Security Services has seen many changes over the years. The bombings of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon in the early 1980’s, the East African bombings in Africa in 1998, and “911” have all had a huge impact on the size and mission of DSS, and the need for security engineers continues to grow. But DSS is not the only organization that employees security engineers - so we will look at the skill sets necessary to be a security engineer as well as discuss the types of employees that would be interested in engineers with a familiarity of security engineering concepts.
Date and Time
Location
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- 501 E. Saint Joseph Street
- Rapid City, South Dakota
- United States 57701
- Building: EEP
- Room Number: 336
- Starts 16 March 2026 07:48 PM UTC
- Ends 08 April 2026 06:00 PM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Daryl Zimmerman
Biography:
Daryl graduated from SDSM&T with a BSEE in 1979 and worked for several companies in the Minneapolis area (Magnetic Peripherals as a QA engineer, and both Tektronix and Fluke as a field Sales Engineer). In 1987 Daryl made a serious career changed to work as a Security Engineer for the US Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security Services (DSS). Over the next 23 years Daryl lived and worked in: Washington, DC; Athens, Greece; Geneva, Switzerland; Pretoria, South Africa; Beijing, China; Manila, Philippines; and finally Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Daryl retired from full time duty and moved back to Sturgis, SD in 2010, although continued to work on an intermittent basis for DSS until 2024 (my last overseas “assignment” was Aman, Jordan, arriving three days before the Hamas/Israel conflict in October, 2023). Daryl is now fully retired and enjoying the Black Hills.
Agenda
5:00 - Complimentary Food w/Registration
5:15 - 6:15 - Presentation
6:15 - 6:45 - Additional Q&A as needed