Published on March 16, 2023
“PTGAS is a link in the university community that often presents hidden potential”
A work to monitor air quality at the University has been recognized with the PAScal UPM Award in its first edition. In this interview we meet the promoters of the CanarIoT project, an initiative that demonstrates that “the university ecosystem can be tremendously resilient and capable of facing challenges, even in complex conditions.”
Fountain: UPM
“CanarIoT generated a common objective in which, throughout the different development phases, more and more units have been incorporated.” This is how Javier Maroto, from the Information and Communications Technologies Unit of the Higher Technical School of Mining and Energy Engineering of the UPM, remembers it.
He, together with his colleagues Alfredo Marín, from the Audiovisual Media Laboratory and FabLab of ETSIME, José Manuel García, from Maintenance Services, José Mª Rodríguez, Sonia Martín, Víctor Manuel Jusdado and Javier Ogallar, from General Services, Mª Ángeles González, from the ETSIME Library, and Antonio León, from the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering, launched this project as a support tool against the fight against COVID-19, to achieve “a safer university in the face of the pandemic.”
In addition, the working group includes other participants such as Juan Antonio Rodríguez Rama, head of social media at ETSIME, and Ana García Laso and Domingo Martín Sánchez as coordinator of the communication office and academic director of UESEVI, respectively, who underline that “this is a clear example of compliance with SDG 17 within our Center.”
Its objective at that time was to create a system with which to monitor air quality in real time and visualize the status of the “most critical spaces, used by the entire university community, such as the exam room and the cafeteria.” An initiative that continues to advance today with the incorporation of more spaces to this monitored network, and that will help improve indoor air quality, which has an impact on the safety and comfort of the entire university community.
This innovative solution was recognized last year with the PASCal UPM Award, aimed at administration and services staff and which UPM launched for the first time in its 2022 edition. The jury recognized this initiative for being aligned with the sustainability strategy of the UPM, with benefits for numerous groups and with the potential to be transferred to other University Centers.
Question.- First of all, when and how did the idea of the CanarIoT project come about?
Answer.- The project arose as a result of a combination of factors that made it possible. On the one hand, scientific evidence and publications from public health organizations, between September and November 2020, which began to clearly confirm the transmission of Covid 19 through the air in the form of aerosols, especially in indoor spaces. Recommendations and guides for the management of these spaces began to be edited between November 2020 and January 2021, which used CO2 measurements as a reference vector to know if the ventilation was adequate and reach a balance between safety and thermal comfort in interiors, adding one more tool to support managers to achieve, in our case, a safer university in the face of the pandemic.
“A first system was created with which to monitor in real time the most critical spaces, such as the exam room and the cafeteria”
Added to this was the existence at the ETSIME-UPM of a Tellus-UPM working group belonging to UESEVI-UPM made up of PAS, students and PDI that had a base of technical and practical knowledge that allowed the development of prototypes in a short time. space of time, also thanks to components that it already had and that it added to the IoT platform that it had been developing since 2015. With the support of the ETSIME-UPM Management, a first system was created with which to monitor in real time and visualize the state of the most critical spaces that at that time were used by the entire university community, such as the exam room and the cafeteria.
Q.- Why does it arise? What needs of the School were you trying to respond to?
A.- The need to provide the ETSIME-UPM with the greatest number of tools with which to face the exceptional situation caused by Covid 19, making the center the safest space possible, led to the provision of a wide network of gel dispensers. hydroalcoholic, distribution of screens and masks among the entire university community of the Center, the adaptation of the classrooms and their teaching to allow, at least in part, presence under the rules that the Ministry and the Community of Madrid were implementing.
“We achieved our own and scalable system with which to solve the need to monitor spaces and ensure adequate ventilation in them”
When the guides with recommendations on ventilation and CO2 values were published, the first portable meters were purchased for classrooms, although the supply of reliable equipment and its availability were a problem due to the demand that arose. To solve this and be more autonomous, in parallel the development of CanarIoT was proposed, from Tellus UPM to the Management, a project that would take advantage of synergies from the knowledge and developments of another already in the study phase, called Smart Heritage ETSIME. UPM, financed by the RES2+U program of Sustainable UPM, aimed at helping the staff of the Historical Library of our Center with the conservation of these heritage spaces. With this, a unique and scalable system was achieved with which to solve the need to monitor the spaces and ensure adequate ventilation in them.
Q.- What were the next steps? How has it evolved?
A.- The first prototype was based on an eCO2 sensor, which turned out to be very unreliable and unstable in measurements. When the management guides appeared, they made reference to the recommendation of using NDIR (“nondispersive infrared”) sensors, so we began to study equipment of this type, available on the market, that were durable and reliable, with calibrations and monitoring systems. measurement drift correction. Once selected and acquired, both the hardware and software of the prototypes were readapted to incorporate them and the measurements obtained with reference sensors were checked to validate them. In parallel, the security of the printed boxes was redesigned and checked in the ETSIME-UPM FabLab and progressive scaling began in the spaces with the most use in collaboration with the university community and the ETSIME-UPM Management.
“Indoor air quality is very relevant for the safety and comfort of users, and will make the Center more resilient in the future”
Currently, work continues on the progressive incorporation of more spaces to the monitored network to cover the entire Center, since it has become clear thanks to a large amount of scientific evidence that indoor air quality is very relevant for safety and comfort of users, and will make the Center more resilient in the future. Along with this, we are working on the parallel development of a new version of our IoT platform that is much more powerful and that incorporates the lessons learned in its improvement. In addition, we are working on versions of the CanarIoT that are more compatible with heritage spaces such as those we have at the ETSIME-UPM, through the use of special wood and granite type filaments and shapes that imitate ornamental elements present in them, thereby achieve its implementation in these very sensitive spaces, demonstrating that the dialogue between digitization and heritage is not only possible, but complementary.
“We are working on versions of the CanarIoT that are more compatible with heritage spaces like the ones we have at the ETSIME-UPM”
Q.- What have been the main obstacles that you have encountered in this process?
A.- The learning curve and implementation of the equipment, IoT platform and management protocols in a short period of time was not easy. The acquisition of the material was a challenge due to the bureaucratic, logistical and mobility difficulties that arose, in a context as complex as the pandemic we faced.
Q.- It is a project that involves School personnel (research, library, FabLab...), taking advantage of possible synergies. How did this collaboration come about? How do you value it?
A.- A project like this and in the context that it occurred, required the involvement of many units of the Center to make it possible. Many hands that contributed their grain of sand to bring it to fruition. CanarIoT generated a common objective in which throughout the different phases of development, more and more units of the Center have been incorporated, since its beginnings with the members of Tellus UPM and UESEVI -UPM, with maintenance that made the installation possible. and feeding the equipment, the FabLab with its development of adapted boxes, the ICU providing service to the Center's communications, and members of the concierge, library and cafeteria who reviewed the correct ventilation of their assigned spaces so that, together, they could achieve the ultimate goal. , have the safest spaces for all members of the university community.
“A project like this and in the context that it occurred, required the involvement of many units of the Center to make it possible. "Together we try to achieve the ultimate goal, to have the safest spaces for all members of the university community."
Without a doubt, a great experience that shows that the university ecosystem, equipped with the appropriate means and the collaboration of its members, can be a great family, tremendously resilient and capable of facing challenges, even in complex conditions.
Q.- What does it mean for the CanarIoT team and for the School to have received the 1st “PASCal UPM” Award, which recognizes the promotion of quality culture by the University's PAS?
A.- It is undoubtedly a recognition of the great personal and professional effort of those involved. It is also an indicator that we are on the right track and that not only is the idea good, but so is the way we work as a group. We have always thought that many heads together in a single effort are capable of solving the problem that arises. In addition, it represents a vote of confidence in the UESEVI Tellus working group that has been working on these issues for years.
Q.- How can this award help promote quality and continuous improvement within the School and the University?
R.- The projection and validation of an ecosystem such as Tellus IoT aimed at the development of sustainability projects with the aim of serving as a lever for the implementation of Smart University and Living Lab concepts in the Center, as well as providing solutions based on data and technology to the needs of the center, making use of all the potential of the university represented by PAS, students and PDI, will undoubtedly have an impact on an improvement in the University's work.
Q.- How can the needs identified in the different Centers in terms of quality and sustainability be addressed from the PAS?
R.- The PAS is a link in the university community that often presents great hidden potential. Recognizing it and incorporating it into its functions will result in strengthening and structuring the University. To this end, the umbrella offered by the EELISA communities represents a great opportunity to capture and value that talent.
Q.- How does this project align with the University's culture of quality and continuous improvement?
R.- Implementing a change in mentality that relies on data to make better decisions and choose which alternative is the most appropriate, for which the incorporation of the Data Driven culture, progressively, to the way of working of the University will boost quality and improvement, in which public universities must be a reference.
“The incorporation of the Data Driven culture to the University will promote quality and improvement, in which public universities must be a reference”
Q.- How can it be extrapolated to the rest of the UPM?
A.- From our point of view, the extrapolation can be done along three lines applicable in a generalized and joint manner in our Centers:
The first line is based on the public status that our University has. We are obliged to give consequence to the greatest number of SDGs and a very clear way is to apply this integrative way of working in all Centers.
The second line will be in the application of improving the environmental conditions of the spaces in the UPM Centers. This line is based on monitoring parameters to optimize environmental setpoints and this will mean energy savings.
The last line goes in the direction of self-protection systems, measuring parameters harmful to health and allowing detailed control of values such as CO2, NOX, particles harmful to health. It would be a good tool for prevention and occupational risks.
Q.- What role does PAS have in achieving the UPM's SDG objectives?
A.- Their incorporation into integrative platforms such as SDG Nodes of the Centers will ensure that their involvement is recognized and that they will progressively join in supporting projects and providing solutions.
