Since our first project review meeting in February 2024 at Santiago de Compostela (Spain), the DCU Team has been working hard on the preparation of the report corresponding to the project Deliverable D2.4 due at the end of May. This deliverable presented the different approaches investigated during the development of the new portable sensors produced by DCU for on-site detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and microplastics in water runoff samples. Congrats to the whole team for the successful submission of D2.4 on time!
Initial results obtained with these portable systems have also been presented at the 9th Annual Chemistry Day held at DCU on 10th May by our younger Waterunners, Caoilte and Marianna. Caoilte presented a flash talk on the colourimetric assay with smartphone detection for PAHs, getting the award for the Best Postgraduate Flash Talk. Congratulations, Caoilte, for your fantastic achievement! Marianna presented a poster introducing the methodology developed for the analysis of microplastics with our smartphone-based fluorescence system. Marianna also presented a poster at the 75th Irish Universities Chemistry Research Colloquium held at Trinity College Dublin on 17-18th June 2024, where she introduced the WATERUN project and our approach to microplastic analysis to a national and international audience of research chemists getting really useful feedback. Caoilte and Marianna will also be presenting at two more international conferences happening in Ireland this summer: the 9th EuChemS congress (Dublin, 7-11th July 2024) and the International Environmental Forensics Conference (INEF) (Galway, 27-28th August 2024). So watch out for their talks and posters if you are interested!
Caoilte during his flash talk (left) and Marianna besides her poster (right) at the 9th Annual Chemistry held at DCU in May 2024.
We also got the invaluable opportunity to showcase our portable sensing systems to a group of local stakeholders and potential end-users during the 2nd Co-Creation Committee Meeting held in Aarhus (Denmark) on 11th June 2024. The meeting was organised by our WATERUN partner SEECON and hosted by our partner Aarhus Vand and resulted in an engaging experience that provided us with detailed feedback around factors such as user-friendliness, design, perceived reliability, added value, and cost reduction potential. Thanks to all the stakeholders who participated!
Local stakeholders during the discussion forums run at the 2nd Co-Creation Committee Meeting in Aarhus in June 2024 (left)
following Mercedes showcasing of the portable system for microplastic analysis (right).
Authors: DCU Team (Contact: mercedes.vazquez@dcu.ie, caoilte.orourkeocuirrin43@mail.dcu.ie)