State Department, Diplomatic Security Service: Explosives Countermeasures Unit Interactive Library

This was my first major project for the State Department. The Explosives Countermeasures Unit (ECU), an arm of the US Diplomatic Security Service (DS), wanted to convert a couple of shipping containers into an interactive exhibit that chronicled the Service's long history of dealing with explosive devices and attacks at home and abroad. They had a modest budget and a wealth of materials they wanted to incorporate but no real idea of what to do or even what they needed. I could tell that other team members were shying away from the challenge but I saw it as an opportunity to use a wide variety of the tools I'd picked up in my career.

When I first joined DS, I spent the first month or so of my tenure working with our team's 3D artists to try and pick up some new skills. By the time I was assigned this project, I had already contributed a few short, but fully modeled and rendered animations to after-action and "lessons learned" reports regarding embassy attacks overseas. Using these rudimentary skills, I created a detailed fly-through video of the two shipping containers showing my ideas for the library to the stakeholders. They liked my approach and I was given the green light to proceed.

I had spent some time before joining DS working with a local exhibit manufacturer Nomadic Display managing their design department and through my work had developed relationships with large-format graphic businesses in the area. This allowed me to immediately decide on resources and materials to be used. I solicited quotes from several vendors and once the winner was selected, I went to work creating all the graphics that would be used in the library.

The centerpiece was a timeline that detailed incidents of explosive attacks on diplomatic personnel, but there were over 30 large graphics that informed the viewer on the different types of attacks and the techniques and equipment used. Many actual artifacts from the field were displayed in the library and they all required tags for attribution or technical explanation.

I oversaw the production of all the graphics and managed the installation on-site by the vendor. To say the client was pleased at the final result would be an understatement but more than their appreciation, I was struck by how proud I was of myself. No one really wanted this task and I was able to take the challenge on and make it shine.

Here are some of the renderings I presented to show proof-of-concept alongside photos I took of the completed installation.