Lunch ‘n Learn presentation: The National Science Foundation has funded a multimillion-dollar Engineering Research Center based at Princeton University that is expected to revolutionize sensor technology, yielding devices that have a unique ability to detect minute amounts of chemicals found in the atmosphere, emitted from factories or exhaled in human breath. The speakers will talk about the work of the center and discuss an atmospheric field campaign in Beijing this summer. The summer field campaign was directed at monitoring air quality, clouds and precipitation during the 2008 Olympic games. Of particular importance are analyses of the impacts of pollution reduction strategies implemented for the Olympic Games. The center – dubbed MIRTHE, for Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment – will combine the work of about 40 faculty members, 10 post-docs, 70 graduate students and 30 undergraduates from the six universities.
