Sofia Bisogno ’20, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Sofia Bisogno ’20

Major

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Title

Measuring and Mapping Philadelphia’s Air Quality

Presentation Link

View Sofia's Presentation

Certificate(s): Dance

I worked with a team of environmental engineers to develop and deploy a mobile lab for measuring air quality. The mobile lab is an electric car outfitted with six commercial and experimental sensors that measure carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ammonia and meteorological data in real time. My internship focused on measuring and mapping air quality in Philadelphia. We worked with anthropological researchers studying former smelting sites in Philadelphia and their relationship to poor health. I was in charge of designing the mobile lab’s routes using geographic data the anthropologists provided. I also assisted in outfitting the lab and sampling the city by driving its streets, and using the collected data to map what was measured. In addition to developing my technical skills, my internship taught me what it means to be part of a research group and how thoughtful research is conducted. I now have a much better understanding of the role I want research to play in my career.