► Development and fabrication of homogeneous coatings on additively manufactured substrates for electrification
► Development and characterization of components such as heaters to perform stimuli responsive movements of 3D printed materials
► Ensuring space suitability of developed materials and devices
Project Description: Sensing technologies are the basic perception layer of the so called “Agriculture 4.0”, a novel and fast-growing agricultural revolution playing a promising role in enhancing sustainable farming. There is a need for a more efficient real-time in planta sensing technology to enable a continuous analysis that enables an early-stage stress detection thus an early-solving intervention that lead to a yield increase without compromising environmental resources. Although many approaches have been used, these methods have some drawbacks (eg. weak specificity, expensive or not suitable for continuous monitoring).
The main goal of this PhD project is to develop an electrical sensor, mainly noninvasive, selective to detect specific plant stress and biocompatible relying on specific materials.
Project Description: The project aims to develop a stable EG-FET-based biosensor capable of detecting foodborne hazards, which range from bacteria, such as E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, to toxins such as biogenic amines. One of the objectives of this project is also to understand the working mechanism of these devices by studying the underlying mathematical model, in order to perform simulations.
Project Description: The aim of this research is to develop a low cost, and low energy sensor platform for field monitoring of crop stress conditions for precision agriculture, Precision management of resources is essential in modern societies as feeding is part of the basic needs of human beings. With the increasing world population, the importance of advancements in farming in order to increase food production with high-productive and sustainable agriculture has been highlighted in society. Precision agriculture uses site-specific information to precisely deploy the resources based on the soil and crop characteristics unique to each part of the field. It uses IoT sensors with near and remote sensing techniques. Furthermore, using advanced techniques of the cyber-physical system will increase enable capability, adaptability, scalability, resiliency, safety, security, and usability.
The main parts of the project will be:
► Cloud computing
► IoT integration devices
► Smart farming techniques
Project Description: In order to increase the performance and compactness of gas sensing devices, this Ph.D. project aims the investigation of innovative functional nanomaterials to develop a new compact sensor that allows to detection of different gases with elevated selectivity and sensitivity. The system will be formed by two different components, the µ-fabricated system for the separation of the different gases and the sensor that allows detecting the single components. The integration of these two devices will allow us to obtain a compact integrated platform useful for different applications such as indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring, precision farming, and medical screening. The research project will be performed in three steps:
► Functionalization of the µ-fabricated device
► Developing of the gas sensor using nanoparticles as a sensing material
► Integration of the two systems to create an integrated gas sensor device
Project Description: The PhD project aims at conceiving, developing, and characterizing engineered bio-photosynthetic systems consisting in photo-synthetic organisms interfaced and integrated with (organic, inorganic and hybrid) nanoparticles. The final goal is to fabricate enhanced and hybridized bio-photosynthetic systems that will lead to enhanced crop and biomass productivity as well as to boast new Agri-Tech markets, by envisioning new precision-farming approaches, combining remote sensing techniques (i.e., monitoring the lack of nutrients or the drop in photosynthesis in plants) with targeted application of photosynthetic boosters with corresponding nutrients.
Project Description: Our research project focused on assessing the quality of apples—an economically significant product for both the country and the region of South Tyrol, where it is the main crop. The project is focused on the development, integration and application of non-destructive techniques within the apple production chain, in order to correctly assess the state of ripeness of the apple from cultivation to sale, through harvesting and storage. The key to the project is the collaboration between UniBZ, with expertise in the field of sensor technology for assessing fruit ripeness, and the Laimburg Research centre, a leader in apple quality assessment.
Project Description: The project aims to design and develop an electrochemical sensor for conditions and substance detection in sweat for human health monitoring.