MQ Photonics Seminar
Hosted by Macquarie University, the MQ Photonics Research Centre Seminar took place virtually on 25 August 2021.
The NSW Smart Sensing Network Environment & Agtech Theme Leader, Dr Tomonori Hu, and NSSN Ambassador at Macquarie University, Dr Nousin Nasiri, were speakers at the event.
Dr Tomonori Hu, an expert in developing mid-infrared fiber lasers, spoke about his experience as an NSSN Theme Leader in bringing together academia, industry and government to form collaborative R&D projects.
Dr Hu drew on a recent collaboration between the NSSN, University of Sydney and industry that aims to develop a sensing system to detect whales at sea addressing the challenges faced in the seismic survey industry for oil and gas exploration.
Seismic survey ships find oil and gas resources by firing air guns that release compressed air into the ocean. Regulations to protect whale hearing from the noise require the air guns to be shut down when whales come closer than a certain specified distance.
Presently, marine mammal observers on the ships keep a continual lookout for whales, warn when whales are approaching, and estimate their distances. The limitations of the current method include difficulty spotting the whales at nighttime and in heavy sea conditions.
The team have proposed a solution to use a vessel-mounted thermal detector paired with a Robotic Eye pointing system to respond to the end-user requirements.
Dr Noushin Nasiri, Senior Lecturer and Head of NanoTech Lab at Macquarie University, spoke about ultraporous nanoparticle networks for superior light detection.
UV light is known for its harmful effects on human health, and it is the major cause of skin cancer due to the mutation in p53 tumour suppressor genes. Therefore, monitoring of UV exposure in sunlight via wearable devices is important in preventing skin cancer.
Dr Nasiri’s team has designed and developed a smart wearable UV detector made of vertically stacked layers of ultraporous nanoparticle networks with outstanding sensitivity to UV radiation. The device is equipped with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication that consumes low energy and lasts at least one day fully charged.
The wearable UV detector is a personalised UV monitoring system that can perform based on real-time data measurements and has the potential to be calibrated based on end-user skin type.
The NSW Smart Sensing Network (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.
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