Lads I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to be as excited during this presentation as I was. I’m not well-versed in the details of mass spectrometry or chromatography—beyond your typical organic chemistry course, but let’s face it, that was eons ago at this point. Even so, it was clear that this was the work Dr. Krogh was meant to do. When it comes these types of presentations, which may be very technical and detail-heavy, I find that it can be an opportunity for an exercise in thoughtful observation; to sit back and observe someone thoroughly enjoying their work. Dr. Krogh was an excellent example here—he expressed with his hands, he didn’t hide behind his laptop, but strode back and forth before the audience, even coming up into the first and second rows in his enthusiasm to answer questions.

I did appreciate his brief explanation of your typical mass spectrometry setup, and he immediately linked what we were already (somewhat) familiar with to how this new mobile system works: direct contact with the sample on a roving van. I was surprised at the level of precision this mystery-machine offered—being able to pinpoint not only the type of air pollutant but the geographic location of its source, down to the level of specific vehicular sources! He mentioned they were collecting massive quantities of data with this collection system, especially when collecting in urban centers, but regardless I’m extremely interested to see exactly how much of a city grid they can analyze with their mobile mass spec system.

This is why I got so excited—the applications! A little bit of backstory, and forgive me if I’ve relayed this information before: the past few years I worked as a remote sensing technician for the survey department of an engineering firm in Louisville, Kentucky. I found it interesting that this mobilization of “scanning” technology was reflected in the world of drone photogrammetry and (especially) LiDAR collection in much the same way as outlined by Dr. Krogh; equipment is getting smaller, we want things on wheels and wings instead of a stationary tripod. It’s fantastic to see such specialized technology paving the way for accurate mobilization to be the new norm.

But more specifically, my department was briefly involved with a city-wide study, coordinating with the University of Louisville and the Louisville Metro Government to assess the effects of increased urban vegetation on air quality, cardiac health, and other health and social factors within the targeted neighborhoods. We provided the LiDAR scanset of their first round of biofilters, and around the time I left I believe they were using it to develop algorithms to determine leaf area density from aerial LiDAR. My point being—I think this roving wonder of Dr. Krogh’s design would fit perfectlyinto this type of city-wide study! I definitely should have asked if he and his team had ever assessed the air quality of an area that had undergone steps to reduce pollutants. Needless to say, while his methods don’t exactly line up with my current project goals, I’m thrilled to see the direction Dr. Krogh will take mobile mass spectrometry.