CENSAM to Concentrate on Sensor Technology
Researchers from
MIT and two Singaporean universities met recently for an inaugural
workshop to launch CENSAM, the Center for Environmental Sensing and
Modeling. The program will develop pervasive environmental sensor
networks to collect data on parameters such as air and water quality
from many sources and use this data to provide accurate, real-time
monitoring, modeling and control of the environment.
One of the first goals of the research group is to prove the
feasibility of the concept in a carefully managed urban area like
Singapore. These concepts eventually may be applied on different scales
to provide up-to-the-minute data about the environment in areas as
small as a building or as large as the Earth's biosphere.
CENSAM is a research component of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for
Research and Technology Centre (or SMART Centre), a joint project of
MIT and the National Research Foundation of Singapore that was
announced Jan. 23.
Professor Andrew Whittle of MIT's Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering is head of the CENSAM research group. Whittle
and an initial group of about 15 MIT faculty members from civil and
environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, architecture and
earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences will work with researchers
from the National University of Singapore, the Nanyang Technological
Institute, the Singaporean Public Utilities Board, and other
governmental agencies and companies.
"Our grand challenge is to build up expertise in the general areas
of environmental sensing and modeling. Our longer term goal is to
develop a model representation of the built and natural environment
that will seamlessly transition from the micro-scale of a building to
the macro-scale, say of the South China Sea-East Asia region," said
Whittle, whose own expertise is in the underground construction of
urban environments. He has already developed prototype sensor network
technology to monitor underground water distribution and sewer pipes in
Boston.
CENSAM research will fall into five broad areas: the built and
natural environment; urban hydrology and water supply; coastal
environment; marine environment; and development of ways to monitor and
model Singapore's urban environment.
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