Mestech spring bulletin
- 1. Spring Bulletin 2014 MESTECH Spring Bulletin 2014 Introduction to the COMMON SENSE Project SmartBay present their plans for 2014 Dr Jenny Ronan on her passive sampling project Researchers present at TCD Sensor deployed in collaboration with Commissioner of Irish Lights (CIL) Kick-off in Limassol, Cyprus, March 2014 Top: MESTECH Group March 2014 Left: Watch this space Collaboration with Limerick School of Art and Design on Manipulate to Recreate Highlights This Issue Welcome from Director FP7 Successes Oceanology Researcher profile Environ 14 CIL and MESTECH MariaBox In the first quarter of 2014 there has been a significant drive to build on what has been achieved in the past year - in terms of EU funding successes, through the new Horizon 2020 programme; building the partnerships with SmartBay Ireland and Newfoundland; engaging with new opportunities in Ireland through SFI to establish Centres of Excellence and continue to develop in-situ monitoring capacity to provide agencies with support to develop decision support tools. The plans to establish a SmartBay Innovation Hub at the DCU Innovation Campus will lead to mechanism whereby cleantech companies can scope out new opportunities into the marine environment. The planned roll-out of the SmartBay cable in Galway Bay this year is an exciting development in the overall plan to exploit our marine resource. We continue to welcome visiting students from Portugal, France and Brazil on an annual basis and congratulate Lizandra Paludetti on successfully defending her research project carried out at MESTECH, as part of her degree in the University of Sao Paulo.
- 2. . Spring Bulletin 2014 COMMON SENSE Project The COMMON SENSE project aims to provide easily usable, cost-effective, multi-functional innovative sensors to perform in-situ measurements on key parameters. This project focuses on eutrophication, contaminants, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The primary role of the DCU project team (John Cleary, Margaret McCaul and Eoghan McNamara) is the development of microfluidics-based sensors for nutrients in the marine environment, in addition to providing a platform for integrating electrochemical sensors for heavy metals which are being developed by project partners. Dr Caroline Murphy and Prof Fiona Regan attended from the MariaBox kick-off on the 6-7th of March hosted by the project coordinator Dr Panayiotis Philimis in Cyprus. Marine environmental in situ assessment and monitoring tool box or 'MariaBox' is funded under the European FP7 Ocean.2013 program to address the topic of innovative multifunctional sensors for in-situ monitoring of the marine environment. Prof Regan (pictured right) presented work on maritime MariaBox kick-off in Cyprus March 2014 system which includes a web platform to bring a more sophisticated view of the environment. Once validated under laboratory conditions, the sensors will be deployed on marine platforms such as buoys, submerged moorings and a range of marine vessels. The projects initial objective is to provide an understanding and basis for cost effective development and integration of sensors. It will then focus on design and development of new sensors for the detection of nutrient analytes, low concentrations of heavy metals, surface concentration of micro-plastics, and underwater noise. The sensors will be integrated with transversal sensors into a multifunctional, modular Top right: Microfluidic phosphate detector Left: Syringe pump array for mixing reagents maritime biofouling, algal-toxin immunosensor development and marine sensing systems. The group will be working with researchers from the National Research Council, Italy, The Norwegian Institute for Water Research as well as the Spanish National Research Council.
- 3. . Spring Bulletin 2014 SmartBay Newfoundland Collaborations IBM Agri Food Symposium, January 2014 Invent 2013 award for MESTECH Prof Regan and MESTECH members Dr Aoife Power and Alan Barrett, were awarded an Invent DCU, 2013 Award for engagement with business/industry on the 24th February. The award was in recognition for the teams engagement in an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership, regarding the development of advanced optical coating technologies, with Valeo Vision Systems. The IBM event was designed to highlight key technologies that are driving efficiencies, cost reduction and growth in the agri food sector. Some IBM Business Partners demonstrated their solutions in terms of forecasting and providing decision support for the sector using a range of scenarios. The Symposium illustrated how technology underpins and enables growth in the Irish Agri/Food sector selling into demanding global markets. Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine attended and addressing the event he emphasized the need to implement ICT, including monitoring technologies and data management systems, in the sector to support the projected growth targets over the coming years. There is growing interest in building on the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation and taking advantage of the partnerships and relationships between SmartBay Newfoundland and SmartBay Ireland. The opportunities for industry exchanges and joint research initiatives have been the focus of engagements over a number of years. This year, we will see the bridging of the collaboration between the two Atlantic regions and infrastructures. Initial projects will look at supporting the fishing industry through the use of data management systems to store and analyse their vessel-captured data as well as industry deployments of technologies at both locations in Canada and Ireland. Left: Hydrophobic surface developed in DCU Right: Photo courtesy of Martin Pettitt
- 4. . Spring Bulletin 2014 Oceanology International 2014 Oceanology International is a biennial international tradeshow and conference in London recognised as the leading marine science and ocean technology event. It hosts over 525 suppliers and is attended by international leaders in the marine technology sector, including companies, technical specialists, scientists exhibition are interested in deploying technology in SmartBay for testing and validation because of the significant capacity in the team to support a deployment and also add value to the work through data management and system integration. SmartBay had the opportunity to present at the Ocean Technology symposium at Excel during Oceanology where the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health xPrize initiative expressed interest in using SmartBay as a potential test site for the innovative pH sensor technologies being developed as part of the xPrize. SEAS-ERA Strategic Forum 2014 Prof Fiona Regan, Director of MESTECH, attended SEAS-ERA on 25th February in Brussels. The Forum will address SEAS-ERA key outputs, SEAS-ERA legacy and future cooperation mechanisms and next steps. The Marine Institute was represented by Geoffrey O'Sullivan who gave a presentation on The EU Atlantic Action Plan (2014-2020): The contribution of the SEAS-ERA Atlantic partnership. SEAS-ERA is a partnership of the leading Marine RTD Funding Organizations in 18 countries aimed at coordinating the national and regional efforts. The SmartBay team presented their plans for the expansion of the Galway Bay infrastructure in 2014. The cable is due to be in place in this year with the capacity to support ocean energy developers as well as other industries and researchers that require additional bandwidth for data. Companies attending the Left: SmartBay exhibition at Oceanology 2014 and policy makers The Marine Institute organised an Irish Pavilion to promote Irish marine ICT and related technologies. Established in 1969, Oceanology International features the worlds largest exhibition for marine science and technology.
- 5. . Spring Bulletin 2014 Researchers Present at Environ 2014 MESTECH researchers presented their research at ENVIRON 2014 in Trinity College Dublin, from Wednesday to Friday 26th-28th February. The theme of the conference was 'Environmental Challenges and Solutions' which asks researchers to consider how their research investigates contemporary threats to the natural and human environment and/or contributes towards finding solutions to those threats. Beaufort Summer internships Postdoctoral researcher Dr Tim Sullivan gave an overview of the environmental sensing projects at MESTECH and an insight into the current state of autonomous high frequency sensors for environmental monitoring. PhD Student Gillian Duffy presented her work on the adaptation of a phosphate sensor to utilise the molybdenum blue method for phosphate determination in order to improve the limit of detection, making it suitable for monitoring unpolluted freshwaters. MESTECH offers internships for undergraduate science and engineering students. These 3 month scholarships provide students with direct experience of laboratory research where they integrate with members of a multi- disciplinary team. The programme aims to give students an opportunity to extend themselves intellectually, beyond the limits of degree course and gain valuable experience for their future careers. For information please contact claire.williams@dcu.ie Below: A Beaufort Marine Research Project using LEDs Postdoctoral researchers Drs Tim Sullivan, Kevin Murphy, Lisa Jones and Jenny Ronan as well as PhD students Brendan Heery, Gillian Duffy and Dian Zhang gave talks on their work. Above: Tim Sullivan presents at Environ Below left: The exhibition space at Environ
- 6. 2014Spring Bulletin Collaboration with USP in Brazil As part of a collaboration between MESTECH and the University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazilian students from USP have visited MESTECH to undertake research on sensors for environmental monitoring. The project aims to monitor pollutants in river waters used as sources for potable water in disadvantaged areas. Pollutants are monitoring using an optical colourimetric sensor developed in the NCSR. This Erasmus Visiting Students Ana Esmeralda Gon巽alves and Mirandolina Correia are current Erasmus students with MESTECH. Starting in February this year the students have worked on projects with Drs Tim Sullivan, Aoife Power and Kevin Murphy. Both students are studying Environmental Health at Coimbra Health School, Portugal and will finish in May this year. The projects will allow the students to develop skills in material sciences and gain valuable laboratory experience to further their education. Ana has been working on LEDs as part of the optical colourimetric system. The aim is to learn concepts and techniques in the area of instrumentation as well as develop skills in engineering and in the laboratory from the work carried out with the sensor. Jou cycl Right: Visiting student Lizandra Paludetti defends her research. Mirandolina is a working on materials development for antifouling purposes with a focus on nanomaterials and testing of doped sol-gels with both nanoparticles and natural compounds. Above left: Ana Esmerelda Gon巽alves Below right: Mirandolina Correia sensor measures turbidity and colour changes in water to detect for pollution. DCU hosted undergraduate student Lizandra Paludetti for five months and will host Gustavo Voltani von Atzingen a PhD student for several weeks in late March. The collaboration will continue with the deployment of the OCS in Brazilian rivers during the Summer. This work is funded by FUNASA, the National Health Foundation, and ISCA Brazil funding an SFI funding collaboration between Ireland and Brazil. Above left: The Optical Colourimetric Sensor
- 7. Spring Bulletin 2014 Burrishoole INTRA Project The purpose of the project is to analyse these data sets with respect to the work previously carried out by MESTECH in the National Marine Reserve L. Hyne. The data collected comprises real-time sensor data related to environmental water quality parameters including pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen and temperature. The student working on this project will work in DCU with Prof Fiona Regan and Dr Tim Sullivan and with Dr Elvira de Eyto in Newport in Co. Mayo. MESTECH postdoctoral researchers Drs Tim Sullivan and Kevin Murphy visited the Commissioner of Irish Lights (CIL) in Dublin this February to collaborate on their activities in Dublin Bay. A commercial sensor will be installed on the CIL Dublin Bay Buoy. The sensor will make avail of the power and telemetry systems on the buoy to monitor chlorophyll, temperature, turbidity, conductivity (saline) and oxygen. The aim is to integrate these analytes with the AIS radar system to provide these additional measurements to the CIL network. Commissioner of Irish Lights & MESTECH Collaborate CIL is a maritime organisation delivering safety services around the coast of Ireland to protect the marine environment and support the marine industry and coastal communities. SmartBay Ireland and Burrishoole in collaboration with the Marine and Environmental Sensing Technology Hub (MESTECH), DCU are seeking a student with expertise in data analytics. The 6 month project will analyse a historical data set of the environmental monitoring in the Burrishoole catchment. This catchment includes the freshwater L. Feeagh and the coastal lagoon L. Furnace. Below right: The lakes at Burrishoole Photo courtesy of Daniel Brady, Burrishoole Fisheries Right and below left: Sensor buoys from CIL
- 8. Spring Bulletin 2014 Contact Us General Enquiries: Mary Comiskey NCSR Administrator mary.comiskey@ dcu.ie 01 700 8898 Further enquiries: Prof Fiona Regan Director, MESTECH fiona.regan@dcu.ie Next Issue: Horizon 2020 Opportunities LSAD Collaboration Asset 2014 Europtrode Conference Researcher Profile Jenny Ronan Jenny Ronan graduated with a BSc Hons degree in Marine Science from NUI Galway in 2003. She worked in the Marine Institute in Galway analysing shellfish for marine biotoxins and then worked in the institutes residues monitoring programme. She completed her PhD entitled An integrated assessment of oestrogenic endocrine disruption in the Irish marine environment, with particular focus on chemical measurements with Trinity College in 2013. She joined MESTECH in 2013 as a postdoctoral researcher on an EPA funded project investigating the role of passive sampling for screening and monitoring new and emerging chemicals. The project uses polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) samplers for organic contaminants and polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) for polar contaminants in the aquatic environment, along with water and biota sampling. Follow us on Twitter: @SensingResearch Bulletin produced by Colm OHehir www.mestech.org Recently a number of compounds have been added to the list of priority substances for chemical monitoring under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The current method of grab sampling has proven ineffective in meeting the monitoring requirements of the WFD. The project aims to provide a report on recommendations for the use of passive sampling as a tool Ireland can use to meet the WFD specs. Further sampling will take place next year in Cork as well as Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Dublin. Left and top: Jenny Ronan deploying a passive sampling device