Air Connect 3MT

We had our first event of the AAAR UIUC chapter on 5th August 2021: Air Connect 3MT. In this event, participants had 3 minutes to present their research related to air quality with just one slide over Zoom, followed by 2 minutes of Q&A. A panel of judges selected the two best presentations, and the audience also voted on a favorite presentation. The event had seven participants; Haoran Yu, Jospeh V. Puthussery, P. S. Ganesh Subramanian, Shiyuan Wang, Yicen Liu, Yixiang Wang and Yu Yao.

The topics of covered in the presentations were on PM2.5 cytotoxicity, Global Disparities between PM2.5 exposure and consumption of goods and services, Aerosol Climate effects, Contradiction of PM2.5 mass and oxidative potential, Filtration efficiency of different masks, The impact of aerosol mixing state on N2O5 uptake coefficient and Ambient PM induced toxicity.

The panel of judges, Prof. Nicole Riemer and Prof. Vishal Verma, selected the top two presenters as Yicen Liu and Joseph V. Puthussery. The audience favorite presenter was Yicen Liu.

Joseph Puthussery's talk focused on ambient particulate matter (PM) induced toxicity, and the development of new health metrics that consider both PM mass concentration and chemical composition, such as oxidative potential (OP).

Yicen Liu's presentation focused on N2O5, which is a night-time reservoir for NOx, a harmful air pollutant. Hydrolysis of N2O5, however, can remove NOx from the atmosphere. She discussed how composition and morphology of particles can impact N2O5 hydrolysis rate, and how this may affect modeling NOx.

Overall, our event was a great success. Members were able to practice their presentation skills, as well as learn about our peers' exciting and important aerosol research! The rest of the presentations are shown below, and are also uploaded in YouTube in our channel (UIUC AAAR Student Chapter).

Blog post written & edited by:

P.S. Ganesh Subramanian & Tessa Clarizio