Forensic scientist A. J. Fardella was the presenter in the Mesa Speaker Series, “Careers in Stem” on Mar. 5 in room 102 of the Science Building. Fardella is a Cyber-Crime and Data-Forensics expert who has performed work for the Secret Service, the F.B.I., the Pittsburg Police Department, and various attorneys, among others.

Fardella has toured with the Rolling Stones and has appeared on Larry King Live, Nancy Grace, and most recently, Lifetime networks new show, “My Life is a Lifetime Movie,” in a piece about the international Cyberstalking case of Leandra Ramm titled ‘Stalking a Diva.’ Fardella was also consulted on the book of the same name, written by D. Rocca. His presentation entitled ‘Making Science Count’ included discussion about his training and credentials, methodology, the programs he uses in his work, and the capabilities of the technologies he employs using authentic cases.

Fardella said, “I am the chief operating officer and certified data forensic examiner for Black Diamond Data. I’ve been around for about thirty years.” He acknowledges sciences and technology as having a tremendous influence on our society. Fardella added, “It makes things easier for us in communications to mobility to just about everything under the sun.” Fardella is also credited with inventing the first generation coherent kinetic ophthalmic laser which, ironically, in its third generation, helped to save his eyesight by reattaching the retina of his left eye after suffering from dryness of the eyeball.

Fardella is an advocate against Cyber-Crimes such as social engineering, child pornography, and any other criminal activities being perpetrated via the internet or criminal information discovered on a suspects computer. He spoke about a case he had been assigned to where a doctor was accused of killing a patient and attempted to cover up the crime by resetting the dates on a few documents on his hospital computer’s hard drive. His job was to find any trace of unauthorized changes made on the hard drive. According to Fardella, “Files are stored in series. So when dates or other information get changed, the original serial number assigned to that date is still there.”

Helping people avoid taking financial losses, catching child predators, and law enforcement discover the truth are among his duties. Fardella had to cut his presentation short due to time restraints, part two of his presentation is in the works, although a definite date has not yet been set.