Bidimensional distributions: enabling the next generation of aerosol characterization
Speaker: Dr. Timothy Sipkens
Assistant Research Officer, National Research Council | Adjunct Professor, UBC
When: May, 09, 2025 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM
Location: CEME Building, room 1203 (6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver)
Abstract:
Aerosols are composed of small particles suspended in gases and are ubiquitous, with important climate and health impacts and nanotechnology implications. Over the past few decades, scientists have developed a wide range of methods for classifying aerosols, allowing the practitioner to select the particles in aerosols by one of several characteristics (e.g., the mass of the particles). This has enabled much of modern aerosol science. However, many real-world aerosols present measurements challenges due to their complex morphology and composition, which makes describing the particles with a single metric less useful. For this reason, the literature has seen an uptick in studies that pair a number of these classifiers together, enabling more detailed characterization of particle morphology. Even more recent work has begun interpreting these measurements as bidimensional distribution of aerosol characteristics. This seminar discusses these bidimensional distributions, the mathematical operations required to realize them, and the discoveries that these distributions can unlock. Practical examples include pairing mass and mobility characterization to define effective density or dynamic shape factor and pairing total mass and refractory black carbon mass to gain insights into a range of light-absorbing carbons.
Biography:
Dr. Sipkens finished his PhD at the University of Waterloo in 2019 and followed this with post-doctoral fellowships at UBC and U of A before moving to the National Research Council in 2021. He is an energetic and collaborative researcher with a deep understanding of the mathematics and physics of measurements, especially in the fields of combustion, air pollution and nanoparticles. Along the way he has won numerous awards for his research, papers and presentations. | Google Scholar Profile