03/21/07 -- Boise State University engineering professor Wan Kuang received a $50,000 grant to develop a microsensor that can be used to identify and measure contaminants from a chemical spill or other industrial source, or agents used in chemical warfare.
The grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was awarded to the university's Center for Environmental Sensing as part of a program to encourage innovative new research, said Molly Gribb, the center's director.
The microsensor Kuang is developing could be used to detect contaminants in vapors or in liquids.
Hundreds or even thousands of sensors could be integrated onto a single microchip so that the miniaturized device could measure multiple chemical substances simultaneously, Kuang said in a statement.
The new sensor would be a significant advance over microsensors currently in use, which are capable of only detecting a few different chemicals at the same time, he added.
