Univ. Licenses Air Quality Monitoring Technology

Pat Arnott and his air monitoring device (University of Nevada, Reno)

An instrument to measure air quality, developed by researchers at University of Nevada in Reno, has been licensed for commercial development to Droplet Measurement Technologies of Boulder, Colorado. The device, invented by physics professor Pat Arnott (pictured left) and student Ian Arnold, is believed to be more economical, more portable, and more accurate than older technologies.

This latest, suitcase-sized version of the photoacoustic particle measuring machine with its lasers, mirrors, flexible tubes, wires and relays, measures black carbon in the air. Arnott says it is also cheaper and faster and should be an attractive alternative for users.

Arnott says that component costs and the weight of the device have both dropped. “This will make it more accessible to researchers, businesses and government agencies,” Arnott adds, “and much easier when traveling around the world to gather data.”

Arnott and Droplet have already built beta-versions of the device that are in use by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the Bay Area Air Quality District, at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany, and in locations in Mexico City. Droplet plans to produce many more units that will be a fraction of the cost to users.

This is the second licensing deal between Reno and Droplet Measurement Technologies involving Arnott. The university licensed an earlier version of Arnott’s device to Droplet in 2005.

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