Diamonds are Forever? The Winner of the 2014 SWIG Early Career Researcher Prize

Well diamonds are certainly hard wearing, and in the case of a new water sensor under development, this property is being harnessed for monitoring heavy metals in lakes, rivers and other harsh aqueous environments.

Research by Zoe Ayres at the University of Warwick into the use of a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode to detect and quantify heavy metals in aqueous environments has won the SWIG 2014 Early Career Researcher Competition. The BDD makes an ideal electrode material for electrochemical x-ray fluorescence because of its superior electrochemical properties as well as its x-ray transparency. The novel method under development is cheaper and simpler than the alternatives and shows huge potential.

Zoe Ayres won the first prize for the 2014¹ SWIG Early Career Researcher Competition, and was presented with a trophy and cheque for £1,000 during the gala dinner at WWEM² 2014, where she had earlier presented her research in the poster exhibition area entitled ‘Heavy metal detection in aqueous environments’.

Zoe commented “The whole event has been a fantastic experience and I am greatly honoured to win the Early Career Researcher Prize 2014. Research into water sensing is an area of extreme importance, and this was shown by the high quality of the research conducted by the other entrants. Having the opportunity to meet others in the water industry has been invaluable and has created possibilities for collaborative work. Winning the award has also given me the confidence to attend other events to communicate my research. I now look forward to furthering my career in the water sensing field.”

Congratulations also go to the winner of the 2^nd prize, Gary Black of Cranfield University for his cutting edge research into a non-invasive method for toxicity detection in sewers entitled ‘Development of a biological early warning system: In-sewer on-line toxicity detection’. Congratulations also to the winner of the 3^rd prize, Brendan Heery of Dublin City University for his research into a ground breaking fast reaction ‘Metabolism based fluorescence assay and portable device for E.coli quantification in recreational waters’.

The quality of posters submitted this year was extremely high and the dozen shortlisted posters of the Early Career Researcher Prize on display at WWEM generated a lot of interest from the water sensor industry, who were interested to learn more about the exciting research currently being undertaken around the UK. SWIG would like to thank WWEM for sponsoring and hosting the poster display and prize ceremony.

The aim of the SWIG Early Career Researcher Prize for Sensing the Water Environment is to raise awareness of technological development and novel applications related to water measurements and thereby promote innovation in sensor research and commercial application. The competition is run every two years and is open to all ‘early career researchers’ within the first 4 years of employment within their area of expertise.

SWIG is a not for profit knowledge exchange and networking organisation which focuses on the use of sensor and associated technologies for use in water and wastewater treatment processes and infrastructure, as well as in natural environments and waters.

For further information: www.swig.org.uk or contact the programme manager: rosa.richards@swig.org.uk

¹ Sensors for Water Interest Group

² Water Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring Conference