More affordable and reliable applications for mining, agriculture and environmental monitoring

 

Increased global travel has facilitated the spread of viruses like Zika. Researchers and personnel in the medical field are challenged to find quicker ways to combat and eliminate these viruses. ASD alongside Portable Analytical Solutions are organizing a workshop as part of the NIR 2019 conference in Australia’s Gold Coast. Learn how researchers like Dr Maggy Sikulu-Lord, from the University of Queensland’s faulty of Medicine is using the LabSpec4 NIR to detect Aedes mosquitoes before they become infections. See how her data collection is 18 times faster while costing one 110th as much compared to alternative methods like the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). 

Our workshop also discusses challenges to the mining, agriculture and meat industry as a result of heightened consumerism. For instance scarcity of viable area for mining, decreased levels of carbon in soil, hence impacting soil fertility and other environmental effects. Our specialists from our supply center alongside guest speakers will share about available remote sensing and near infra-red solutions to help businesses find quicker, more affordable and reliable methods of data collection and analysis for mining exploration, agriculture and environmental monitoring. Expand your knowledge on complementary techniques like elemental analysis using XRF which you can collectively use to help your analysis, whether in the lab or in the field. 

If you are in the Gold Coast from 15 - 20 October, drop by booths 6&7 of the international NIR 2019 conference at the Gold Coast Convention Center. 

Summary

Date:
September 18 2019 - September 18 2019
Time:
13:00 - 17:00
(GMT+10:00) AUS Eastern [Brisbane]
Country:
Australia
Location:
Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, 2684-2690 Gold Coast Hwy, Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Australia, 4218
Event type:
Seminar
Language:
English

Agenda

13:00 Introduction to ASD remote sensing and near infrared technology and solutions (Paul Martin, Portable Analytical Solutions) 
13:30 Mining: Cost effective mapping and discrimination of new prospects for mining exploration with portable NIR and remote sensing (Dan Shiley, Application Specialist, ASD) 
- Look out for case study involving renowned researchers leveraging on the TerraSpec® Halo mineral identifier to advance life on Mars 
14:00 Monitoring and regulating the spread of diseases: Use of NIR for the rapid investigation of infections such as Zika, Dengue and Malaria in mosquitoes to reduce transmission and outbreaks (Dr Maggy Sikulu-Lord, Researcher from University of Queensland’s Faculty of Medicine)  
14:30 Tea break 
15:00 Viable agriculture: Regulating the use of pesticides and fertilizers amidst monitoring of C and N for plant fertility (Dan Shiley, Application Specialist, ASD and Ben King, Technical Sales Manager, Malvern Panalytical) 
15:30 Introduction to chemometrics: collecting good data and reference libraries (Dan Shiley, Application Specialist, ASD) 
- Debunking myths relating to calibration, reference points, libraries and more 
- What to look out for 
- Making sense of the data 
16:15 Complimentary analysis using elemental analysis for other applications like air emissions and food additives 
16:30 One-on-one consultations with ASD and PAS 
17:00 End

Speakers

Dan Shiley 
is the Group leader for ASD's SummitCAL Solutions Team with Malvern Panalytical. As part of his role, he is responsible for developing novel NIR solutions to the most challenging conditions. He has over 25 years professional experience with NIR applications, both as a user of the technology and as a developer of this technology. He has over 11 years of experience in the application of NIR technology in mining; including qualitative and quantitative prediction of minerals and ore properties and spectral geology. His speciality is in Chemometric modelling, technology transfer and implementation from research to commercial applications. Dan is a patent holder for the development of data fusion techniques for determination of mineralogy and metallurgic parameters. 

Paul Martin 
is the Managing Director at Portable Analytical Systems, which distributes Malvern Panalytical ASD near infrared and remote sensing solutions. With over 20 years working in the field of scientific and analytical instrumentation, his focus is on transforming business and research through portable data capture and analysis of mission critical variables. In his role, he has been instrumental in supplying ASD solutions across various industries. These range from measuring crop conditions and environmental changes over huge areas, authentication of historical finds to industrial chemistry and more. 

Dr Maggy Sikulu-Lord 
is a medical entomologist and a mosquito-borne disease researcher at the University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health and an affiliate research assistant professor at Marquette University, USA. Her research focuses on developing new tools for the assessment and diagnosis of mosquito borne diseases. She has pioneered multiple applications of the near infrared spectroscopy technique in the field including age grading and infection detection. Her current research involves development of rapid and non-invasive techniques for profiling these diseases and their vectors. She specifically develops algorithms for profiling mosquito infection and species type. She has more than nine years’ experience in characterising mosquito population and has led multi-site, international grants and projects as the Chief Investigator. She is currently leading international projects to assess the effectiveness of vector control programs in multiple countries in Africa and South America and developing new tools to detect these infections in human populations. Her research is valuable in predicting / preventing future vector-borne disease outbreaks.