2023-04-21 17:04:09
ERC Awards Proof of Concept Grant to Hanay Group

Assoc. Prof. Selim Hanay (Mechanical Engineering and UNAM) has received a European Research Council Proof of Concept Grant. The grant will enable the Hanay group to screen for microplastic contamination in drinking waters.

ERC Proof of Concept funding is made available only to those who already have an ERC award, to establish proof of concept of an idea generated in the course of their ERC-funded project. PoC grants aim at facilitating exploration of the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC-funded research.

In 2018, Dr. Hanay was awarded an ERC Starting Grant, which provided five years of funding for his project “Resonant Electromagnetic Microscopy: Imaging Cells Electronically.” In this project, the Hanay research group has worked to develop a portable, fast, low-cost electronic instrument for the early detection of diseases.

Recent work in the group led by Uzay Tefek demonstrated the material classification capability in these sensors. Further critical input was provided by Dr. Hashim Alhmoud on converting the sensor demonstrations into a technology roadmap. Hanay research group will apply their technology to screen water sources for microplastic contamination in the project titled "Rapid Microplastic Analysis by Microparticle Radars".