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Smelling by Ion Mobility minispectrometer provides fast determination of wine origin

Submitted by Santiago Marco on Fri, 08/03/2012 - 00:08

Wine fraud is a growing problem, with experts estimating that up to 10% of the wines offered to consumers in some European countries are of a lesser quality than the label claims. It’s an issue that affects everyone from expert collectors to average consumers, and is such a concern in some countries that drastic measures have been taken: the Italian Carabinieri Corps, for instance, has educated 25 of their officers as sommeliers. 

This only addresses part of the problem, though. Wine fraud is difficult to detect because of a variety of considerations: the sheer time it takes to train a wine ‘nose’, for example, coupled with the challenge of ensuring these ‘noses’ are in the right place at the right time – not to mention the fact that even top sommeliers aren’t foolproof when it comes to detailed identification. Now though, in collaboration with the University of Córdoba, IBEC researchers have made steps towards combating the problem with their development of a reliable, cheap and quick detector to classify white wines according to their Certified Brands of Origin that could be used in variety of environments.   

Recent PhD thesis

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 07/23/2012 - 11:49
  1. Davide Polese, "BIoinspired signal processing for chemical sensor array", PhD programme in Sensorial and Learning Systems Engineering, Supervisor. Dr. Eugenio Martinelli,  Faculty of Engineering, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"
  2. Rosamaria Capuano, "Respiratory pathologies analyzed through volatile compounds by both gas chromatographic techniques and olfactive images",PhD programmed in Sensorial and Learning Systems Engineering, Supervisor: Prof.

Quality Coding by Neural Populations in the Early Olfactory Pathway: Analysis using Information Theory and lessons for Artificial Olfactory Systems

Submitted by Santiago Marco on Mon, 07/23/2012 - 11:00

The mammalian sense of smell is an excellent chemical sensing system that far outshines any man-made reproduction, so researchers have long been trying to analyze and recreate the animal olfactory system to develop artificial ‘noses’. Now researchers at IBEC have shed new light on this highly efficient system that could allow better chemical sensing systems with important applications in such critical areas as health, security or the food industry.

Server relocation!

Submitted by IsocsAdmin on Sun, 05/27/2012 - 15:59

We will are relocating this server to a different place on 4th June!

The relocation will take place between 4th June 22:30 (PM) and approximately 5th June 10:00 AM Central European Time (UTC + 1).

In preparation for this relocation we may take down the server for short periods of time.

 

Robotics master program at Örebro University

Submitted by Marco Trincavelli on Mon, 12/19/2011 - 21:46

International Master's in Robotics and Intelligent Systems

120 ECTS points, 2 years, Örebro University, AASS Research Center, SWEDEN

Örebro University offers an exciting two-year Master’s program for students seeking to gain high-profile competence in Robotics and Intelligent Systems. The program provides solid practical and theoretical knowledge in intelligent systems with a particular emphasis on robotic systems. Its vision is to create a new generation of highly competitive research leaders, ready to engage in successful careers in modernized industry, service organizations or academia.

Applications open for Fall semester 2012

Non-Swedish applicants must apply at www.universityadmissions.se
deadline: Jan 16th, 2012

Swedish applicants must apply at www.studera.nu
deadline: April 15th, 2012

Obituary for Rebecca Simpson

Submitted by Jan Mitrovics on Mon, 07/12/2010 - 10:14

Rebecca was an excellent manager in the field of R&D, who was able to adapt, seamlessly, to new areas. She came to us from Optics and in a few months managed to get familiar with Artificial Olfaction. She has done it by focusing her bright mind on the new subject, distilling the essentials and making sure that she will keep them in mind no matter how disturbing and confusing the information we throw at her was. She could bring order and discipline even to eclectic gatherings of scientists. She knew how to listen to you and was then able to, concisely and precisely, tell you what you meant. She could keep her coolness in very stressing situations, being able to fine tune a project application until the last minutes before the deadline. Rebecca was also a very successful manager helping us to win a string of high profile projects; for the last one - in again a new field, Oxide Electronics - she practically worked until the very end.

We are sure that Rebecca enjoyed her work otherwise she would not have been able to put so much passion. We will miss her, personally and professionally, very badly.

Udo Weimar

 

"All the members of ISOCS are much indebted to Rebecca because she helped define it as a legal entity and thus its very creation. She was one of the founding directors of ISOCS and was its first treasurer. Through her efforts ISOCS was formed and its financial management systems put in place. So it is a sad loss to both ISOCS and the artifical olfaction community that she is no longer with us."

Julian Gardner, President of ISOCS

ISOCS News Edition 2 Summer 2010

Submitted by Julian Gardner on Sun, 07/11/2010 - 23:22

Message from the President

It is a great pleasure to bring to you the first electronic ISOCS Newsletter. The ISOCS management team feel that this is a much more cost effective way to reach out to you and also a “greener” way. I was elected as President in April 2009 and so this has been my first year as ISOCS President. It has been an enjoyable 12 months with a number of events to report. First of all we held a week long Summer School in Barcelona (Spain) in September 2009 on “Artificial Olfaction” and this was followed by a Winter School in Val Gardena (Italy) in February 2010 on the topic of “Smart Circuits, Systems and Micro-technologies for Chemical and Biological Sensing. This was followed by the first Spring School (in Rimini Italy) in May on the topic of “MOX gas sensor technology”. In addition to these Schools we have sponsored four workshops on related topics and helped promote the activities of our members.

ISOCS welcomes Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna as new steering committee member

Submitted by Jan Mitrovics on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 17:03

Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna is joining the steering committee of ISOCS.

Ricardo has worked in the field of artificial olfaction for many years and is an expert in the area of cognitive neuroscience. He is associate professor at Texas A&M University and has published numerous journal articles on the area of artificial olfaction.

Julian Gardner, president:
"I am delighted that Ricardo is joining the ISOCS Steering Committee under my presidency; he will greatly enhance our expertise in the field of computational neuroscience. It also helps ISOCS to reach out from Europe and become more international in nature."

Kodak announces Aromatography

Submitted by IsocsAdmin on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 16:31

Today Kodak has announced a breakthrough in olfactory imaging. Apparently they found a method to embed olfactory information in the digital pixels of a photo.

More information can be found on the Kodak website at http://www.kodak.com/

Obituary for Prof. Moriizumi

Submitted by IsocsAdmin on Tue, 02/09/2010 - 12:04

We regret to inform you that Prof. Toyosaka Moriizumi passed away on the 6th Feb. 2010 in hospital following a period of illness.

Professor Moriizumi was an early pioneer in the field of artificial olfaction and electronic noses. He contributed to the first ever NATO Advanced Workshop held on the topic of electronic noses in August 1991 (NATO ASI Series E: Applied Science, Vol. 212, p217).  Professor Moriizumi worked at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and has published a plethora of innovative research over the past 20 years or so. For example, he has authored many wonderful papers on the combination of electronic noses with mobile robots to enable the tracking of odour plumes or so-called source localisation.

Professor Moriizumi leaves behind a considerable legacy not only in terms of many publications but since his retirement a strong research group in Tokyo. He is survived by a wife (Dr. Yoko Moriizumi) and two beautiful daughters. He will be sadly missed by all those who knew him.