A new gas detector, developed by researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus, enables highly accurate odour analysis for so many different applications it has been nicknamed the ‘artificial nose.’

Researchers in the School of Engineering have developed a state-of-the-art microfluidic gas detector that can detect small traces of gases quickly and efficiently. It has a number of potential uses including environmental monitoring, food and beverage quality assessments, and biological and chemical analytical systems.

The device, explains Professor Mina Hoorfar, is essentially ‘an artificial nose’ that can smell any sort of odour including noxious substances like natural gas, ammonia or sewage.

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