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AAAR@UIUC had an eventful August and start to the school year!
On August 16, we hosted the AS&T Lecture Series, in which Nathan Edwards and Richard Potember discussed their work with low-cost sensors and the paper, "Reducing COVID-19 airborne transmission risks on public transportation buses: an empirical study on aerosol dispersion and control." This event was held via Zoom, with AAAR@UIUC introducing the speakers and facilitated questions. The talk was quite engaging, as the researchers recounted their efforts to characterize aerosol flow in early pandemic times, when it was challenging to find materials and frightening to even leave the house. They also discussed their work examining air flow on school buses and public buses. One interesting aspect is that because school bus seats tend to be higher, these seats essentially form 'baffles' hindering air circulation. They also found that wearing masks reduced the overall particle count released into the bus by an average of 50% or more depending on mask quality and reduced the dispersion distance by several feet. We look forward to the next AS&T Lecture Series!
This figure demonstrates the 'baffle' effect of the high-backed seats on school buses (Supplementary Information Figure S13, Edwards et al., 2022)
On August 21, we participated in Quad Day, where student organizations have a table on the main quad and answer questions and recruit new members to join their organization. We had many conversations sharing the mission of AAAR, and had over a dozen students sign up, mostly undergraduates. We are excited about involving undergraduates in aerosol research and helping them identify interesting research opportunities.
On August 26, we held our back-to-school scavenger hunt. We had nine members attend, including both new and returning members. We split up into two teams of four, with event co-organizer (Tessa Clarizio) sending out clues. The clues directed the teams to campus landmarks, where they had to send on a selfie before getting the next clue. Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner together, thanks to SORF event funding secured by co-organizer Hope Hunter. Some photos are shown below.
Finally, two of our committee members passed their qualifying exams this month: Yicen Liu and Manho Park! Congratulations on achieving this PhD milestone!
Next month, we look forward to our Student Research Symposium on September 8, as well as our monthly journal club.
By Tessa Clarizio
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