Conference Countdown Challenge
Indoor Air 2024 will be hosting a puzzle challenge to highlight recent research/findings related to indoor environmental quality.
Here’s how it works:
- Submit images of overview figures, microscopy, graphs, photographs, or anything else that highlights your work.
- Images will be evaluated on a rolling basis and selected for inclusion. All images submitted prior to image selection will be considered (after you submit an image it will be considered for all subsequent weekly and bi-weekly selections), so you only need to submit an image once.
Challenge Rules:
Leaderboard and Prizes
- The image must be an original work by you
- You must own the copyright or have written permission of the copyright owner
- You give us permission to post the image on the Indoor Air 2024 website and use it (with attribution to you) in other materials to promote the conference
- Images must be appropriate and comply with the ISIAQ code of ethics https://www.isiaq.org/isiaq_code_of_ethics.php
Player Rules
- Post your name and organization to the leaderboard, which will be publicly visible along with your time if you score a top time. You can play an unlimited number of times each week.
- The one winner with the fastest time each week will be eligible to receive the prize. In the event of a tie, the person who posted the winning time first will receive the prize for that week.
- You can only win one prize throughout the entire competition, but you are welcome to continue to play the puzzle to have your name posted on the leaderboard.
- You must attend the conference in-person to collect the prize because we are unable to ship them to everyone. You must be registered at least 1 week prior to the conference (when we will create the list of winners) and also attend in-person.
- If the first winner for a particular week is unable to collect the prize, the prize for that week will then be made available to the next fastest time and so on until a winner is selected for that week.
Outstanding puzzle submissions will be honored at the Indoor Air 2024 Convention!
Prizes:
Leaderboard Prize
The leading puzzle solvers for each week will receive an action waterproof camera at the conference!
Submission Prize
The top 8 submissions will receive an honorary award and recognition during the conference.
Ready to get your work highlighted? Click the Button Below!
Puzzle 5: Indoor Air Quality Monitoring
Principle Investigator: Dr. Matthew Adams
Postdoc: Dr. Veerendra Sahu
Contributors: Tsaiping (Hannah) Liao, Minh Thi Nhat Dang, Kathryn Harris-Howard, Matthew Adams
Description of Findings:
- Dr. Veerendra Sahu’s submission captures the Indoor Air 2024 theme of “Sensors and Monitoring”. Puzzle #5 depicts a the monitoring of Indoor Air quality in the central library of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. The library is equipped with a central heating ventilation system and an air conditioning (HVAC) system. Particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), carbon dioxide (CO2), and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) indicators (i.e. temperature, relative humidity, and ventilation) were continuously monitored across all floors of the library using the portable air quality monitors shown in the image.
About the Student:
- Dr. Veerendra Sahu is a Postdoc at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Leaderboard Winner/Runner Ups:
Mahender Singh Rawat (Winner)
- Time: 0:07
- Affiliation: Clarkson University
Dustin Poppendieck
- Time: 0:55
- Affiliation: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Moksha Wagner
- Time: 2:46
- Affiliation: Gwalior Glory High School India
Puzzle 4: Fluorescent Tagged Household Dust
Principle Investigator: Dr. Matthew Adams
Student: Lauren Ead
Contributors: Tsaiping (Hannah) Liao, Minh Thi Nhat Dang, Kathryn Harris-Howard, Matthew Adams
Description of Findings:
- Pictured are a variety of particles found in household fallout via Nile red, a selective fluorescent dye, and confocal microscopy (405-555nm). This method is being explored to identify and characterize microplastics in household indoor air based on the fluorescent spectral profile of known materials. Through this work, we hope to identify a single combined fluorescence index value that reflects the unique fluorescence patterns of each material to aid in characterizing microplastics.
About the Student:
- Lauren Ead is a graduate student at the University of Toronto.
Leaderboard Winner/Runner Ups:
Veerendra Sahu (Winner)
- Time: 0:08
- Affiliation: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Mahender Singh Rawat
- Time: 0:09
- Affiliation: Clarkson University
Lauren Prox
- Time: 0:10
- Affiliation: Duke University
Puzzle 3: Monitoring and Measuring Viral Transmission
Principle Investigator: Andrea R. Ferro
Student: Mahender Singh Rawat
Contributors: Alan D. Roberts and Deborah M. Brown
Description of Findings:
- This research examines the dispersion of a laboratory strain of influenza A virus, H3N2, caused by human walking. The virus was produced in a sealed biosafety level 2 lab with no ventilation using a nebulizer. To monitor the aerosols, various devices were used, including the TSI APS and several PurpleAir Model PA-II low-cost particle monitors. The TSI APS utilized time-of-flight technology to measure and categorize particles with aerodynamic diameters ranging from 0.5 to 20 microns while estimating particle concentration through light scattering between 0.37–20 μm. To collect viral aerosols, three Glass Midget Impingers filled with PBS were employed at specific locations within the room: behind the nebulizer and at varying distances in front of it, all positioned approximately at a height of 1.5m.
About the Student:
- Mahender Singh Rawat is a graduate student at Clarkson University.
Leaderboard Winner/Runner Ups:
Veerendra Sahu (Winner)
- Time: 0:06
- Affiliation: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Mahender Singh Rawat
- Time: 0:07
- Affiliation: Clarkson University
Lauren Prox
- Time: 0:12
- Affiliation: Duke University
Puzzle 2: Settled Dust
Principle Investigator: Naomichi Yamamoto
Student: Cheolwoon Woo
Contributors: Cheolwoon Woo, Mohammad Imtiaj Uddin Bhuiyan, Donghyun Kim, Priyanka Kumari, Seung-Kyung Lee, Ji Young Park, Ke Dong, Kiyoung Lee, Naomichi Yamamoto
Description of Findings:
- A total of 107 settled house dust samples were collected from Korean households. After sieving the collected dust, DNA was extracted and DNA metabarcoding was performed. Then, the relationship between house dust mites, bacteria, and fungi was investigated. For more information, please refer to their paper HERE.
About the Student:
- Cheolwoon Woo is a graduate student at Seoul National University.
Leaderboard Winner/Runner Ups:
Lauren Ead (Winner)
- Time: 0:02
- Affiliation: University of Toronto
Mahender Singh Rawat
- Time: 0:02
- Affiliation: Clarkson University
Jie Yu
- Time: 0:03
- Affiliation: University of Toronto
Puzzle 1: Up in the Air
Principle Investigator: Barbara Turpin
Student: Clara Eichler
Contributors: Naomi Chang, Glenn Morrison
Description of Findings:
- Clara’s submission captures the Indoor Air 2024 theme of Indoor Chemistry, Sources, and Transformation. This puzzle depicts pieces of cotton cloth being aired out outside under a large open tent to lower the concentrations of target chemicals (neutral per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS), which are higher indoors than outdoors.
About the Student:
- Clara Eichler is a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Leaderboard Winner/Runner Ups:
Mahender Singh Rawat (Winner)
- Time: 0:15
- Affiliation: Clarkson University
Lauren Ead
- Time: 0:18
- Affiliation: University of Toronto
Leonardo Cozac
- Time: 0:40
- Affiliation: Conforlab
Puzzle 0: Indoor Air Logo
Principle Investigator: ISIAQ
Student: TBA
Description of Findings:
- The Indoor Air 2024 puzzle competition presents a way to highlight new research and findings related to indoor environmental quality. This puzzle profile section will catalog the researchers and their findings that we will be showcasing.
About ISIAQ:
- Nonprofit organization
- ISIAQ is an international, independent, multidisciplinary, scientific, non-profit organization whose purpose is to support the creation of healthy, comfortable and productive indoor environments.
- Visit us at www.isiaq.org
