The 79^th Annual General Meeting of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners (ASQDE, Inc) was held August 10^th to 12^th, 2021. It was again conducted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme for this year’s meeting was “ASQDE_AGM 2.0 ver. 2021 – The Future is Now”.

The Program Chair for the event was, once again, Mark Goff.  The ASQDE team put together a comprehensive, interesting and useful program.  The online format worked well with a LOT of content packed into a very short time period.

1. Dr. Michael Blumenstein spoke on “Forensic Document examination: at the frontiers of a digital transition in the age of Artificial Intelligence
2. Dr. Daniel Lopresti presented on “Synergies from Document Analysis”
3. David Messinger discussed “Multi- & Hyperspectral Imaging of Cultural Heritage Artifacts”

A plenary on “The Art of Scientific Communications” was given by Christie Nicholson, and moderated by Jason Lee Miller.

Three practical workshops were presented:

1. Demonstrative Evidence in the Courtroom, An Evaluation and Discussion of Probative and Prejudicial Characteristics of Demonstrative Visual Aids.
   • Presented by Mara Merlino, Tobin Tanaka, and Samiah Ibrahim; and moderated by Jonathan Jackson-Morris
2. Pressure Training Calibration Workshop for Digitally Captured Signatures.
   • Presented by Nikolaos Kalantzis and moderated by Timothy Campbell
3. Examination Basics for Adobe PDF files.
   • Presented by Brent Ostrum and moderated by Khody Detweiler

The trainee breakout session was given by Linton Mohammed and Michael Caliguiri, and entitled “Neuroscience of Handwriting”.

There were, as usual, several scientific sessions with some very good presentations, as follows:

• The Next Evolution of the Forensic Document Examination Testimony List
  • Presented by Kevin Kulbacki
• Rocketbook: The Notebook of the Future
  • Presented by Stephanie Kingsbury
• Is contemporary forensic document examination accurately portrayed in introductory forensic science textbooks?
  • Presented by Charles Eggleston
• Accuracy and Reliability of Forensic Handwriting Examiner Decisions
  • Presented by Linda Eisenhart, R. Austin Hicklin
• Data Protection and Privacy Considerations for Digitally Captured Signature Collection within a Questioned Document Laboratory
  • Presented by Nikolaos Kalantzis
• Distinguishing Original Signatures from Copies
  • Presented by Jane Lewis
• Accreditation Perspectives – A look at who’s looking at you.
  • Presented by Mark Goff, Darlene Morin, Jessica Toms, & Gerry LaPorte
• An objective inter-comparison of trash mark constellations from 50 photocopiers utilizing manual and automated detection methods
  • Presented by Linda Eisenhart, Joseph Stephens
• PDF Technology – Related Effects in Documents
  • Presented by Joseph Parker
• Line quality in non-original documents. Expert opinions and conclusions
  • Presented by Paolo Vaccarone
• Draft – ESDA fun/Important ESDA information
  • Presented by Larry Olson
• Indented Writing Examinations; Rubber Stamp Image Transfers
  • Presented by James Green
• Forensic Examination of Source Media on Facsimile Generated Documents
  • Presented by Mansi Gupta
• Accreditation for FDE – Practical Experiences
  • Presented by Peter Pfefferli
• Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAI) for Counterfeit Detection in Document Examination – Research Project DOKIQ
  • Presented by Rolf Fauser
• Pattern Recognition with Digital Image Processing Software
  • Presented by Janis Winchester
• ASQDE Resource Center: How Do I Use It?
  • Presented by Diane Tolliver

The following digital posters were also presented:

• Obtaining Request Handwriting Exemplars in a Socially Distant World, presented by  Khody Detwiler – Lesnevich & Detwiler
• Attracting Talent via Collaboration with Academia, presented by Julie Binette
• History and Recent Revisions to the Policies Regarding Testimony of Forensic Document Examiners in the State of Texas, presented by Keelie Johnson, Sarah Pryor
• Comparison of HPTLC and Raman spectroscopy for the examination of inkjet inks, presented by Tanja Bruder, Lukas Gwiasda
• Color Calibration and Hue Differentiation – a WYSIWYG story, presented by Jason Miller
• Machine indentations on blank paper stocks, presented by Rafal Turek, Martin Shalymoon
• John J. Harris, Predictions, presented by Diane Tolliver
• Use of 3rd party EMR styli for Digitally Captured Signature execution: a study of the LAMY Al-star black EMR stylus, presented by Nikolaos Kalantzis

Finally, there was the usual business meeting open exclusively to members of the ASQDE.

Past ASQDE meeting posts:

• ASQDE 2013
• ASQDE/ASFDE 2014
• ASQDE 2016
• ASQDE 2020