A breath of fresh air: NSSN hosts Air Quality Sensing Workshop
An online workshop hosted by the NSW Smart Sensing Network in May 2021 has brought together policymakers with scientists to discuss Australia’s air quality challenges.
The half-day Air Quality Sensing Workshop was hosted by the NSW Smart Sensing Network and featured participation from experts from the University of Sydney, Queensland University of Technology and NSW Department of Planning, Industry and the Environment (DPIE), among others.
NSSN Co-Director Professor Benjamin Eggleton opened the workshop and said air quality sensing is vital for our health.
“The NSSN is looking to identify the right platforms to deliver transformational impact in the area of air quality sensing,” Professor Eggleton said.
Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley AO addressed the audience and said there is no shortage of excellent research in Australia, but we need to improve how our research outputs are translated into impact.
“We need to bring in a whole range of skills to take the research outcomes to commercialisation,” said Dr Foley.
“We also need to strengthen the connections that link up the work of scientists and researchers and innovators with industry and policymakers.”
Director of Climate & Atmospheric Science at NSW DPIE, Matthew Riley, and City of Sydney Councillor Jess Miller were also among the speakers.
The workshop continued with a panel discussion on national air quality issues and was followed by a collaborative activity to design an initial collaboration framework and roadmap.
NSSN Board Member Mr Peter Runcie said the workshop brought together air quality and sensing researchers from around the country to explore how the research community can increase its impact on air quality and urban heat.
“Following the workshop we are now developing recommendations to policymakers,” Mr Runcie said.
The NSSN, an initiative of the NSW Government Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer, is a consortium of eight leading universities across NSW and the ACT that brings together academia, industry and government to develop smart sensing solutions for complex challenges.
The NSSN member universities are at the forefront of smart sensing research, exploring new frontiers in optical, chemical and in-line sensing to deliver next-generation sensors that are wireless, networked, smaller, cheaper and more sensitive.
Building on existing technologies, researchers at the University of Sydney have developed portable air quality sensors that can be deployed in large arrays to provide location-specific data on air quality in real-time. The data captured can then be fed into other air quality databases, enhancing the integrity of the collected air quality data over time.
Researchers at Western Sydney University have developed a Wearable Environmental and Biological Sensor (WEBS) platform that monitors particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ambient temperature, pressure and humidity. The platform also measures physiological variables such as heart rate, respiration rate, blood oxygen saturation and temperature of the user.
The platform, which can send data over a cellular data connection, operated successfully during the entire bushfire season in 2019–2020. In particular, the sensor was able to accurately detect and distinguish between smoke and dust atmospheric events in real-time.
To learn more about NSSN’s capabilities in air quality sensing, please contact us here.
Media: Shahrzad Abbasi
M: 0466 548 145
E: Shahrzad.abbasi@nssn.org.au