6.24.24
Deborah Kyburz
Photograph: Jessica Droujko/ETH Zurich
Jessica Droujko’s start-up, Riverkin, measures the water quality of freshwater ecosystems and helps quantify and respond to risks such as floods and pollution. Thanks to an ETH Pioneer Fellowship, her work is now picking up speed.
Jessica Droujko is passionate about water – and rivers in particular. The Canadian scientist was born along the Niagara River, spent her summers on the Ottawa River and earned her Bachelor‘s degree in Montreal, where two rivers merge to create the great St. Lawrence River. She came to ETH Zurich for her Master’s studies and fell in love with Switzerland and its rivers, prompting her to do her doctorate at the Department Of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. During this time, she developed the foundation for her start-up Riverkin, which measures and analyses the quality of river water.
It was a pure coincidence, says Droujko: “I studied combustion engines and reactive flows but wasn’t sure if that was the right topic for me. At that time, I felt very drawn to climate and environmental topics.” As a longtime kayaker, she had many friends in fields such as geomorphology, river biodiversity and biogeochemistry. “I asked some of them what they would need for their research, and they told me I should develop a turbidity sensor,” she says. It soon became apparent that turbidity had nothing to do with turbulence, as Droujko first suspected. She would have known quite a bit about turbulence, but the turbidity of rivers was something she had never thought about.
A sensor to measure water quality
Rivers become cloudy – or turbid – when the water transports a lot of fine sediment. This means that turbid river water can be an indicator of disruptions to river systems, for instance, via heavy precipitation or from mining or agriculture. However, fine suspended sediment from rivers is also important in regulating the balance of nutrients such as phosphorous, nitrogen and silica. The balance of material in a river therefore serves as a measure of the ecological quality of the water and the health of the river. As part of her doctoral thesis, Droujko developed a sensor that can measure turbidity of this kind.
Her sensor is not only robust and energy efficient but is also easy to install compared to conventional measuring stations that have to be attached to the riverbed with cement. The sensors measure water flow, temperature and fine sediment concentration. Unlike most commercial sensors, which are capable of measuring 0 to 1.5 grams of sediment per litre of water, Droujko’s model can measure up to 20 grams per litre. “Rivers are living, unpredictable ecosystems,” she explains. “In the event of heavy rainfall or strong releases from power plants, the water parameters often change abruptly. That’s why we need a large but precise range of measurement.”
The sensor is attached on the edge of the river. Photograph: Jessica Droujko/ETH Zurich
Holistic approach for intelligent water management
Measuring water quality using the hardware developed by Droujko – the sensor “Ecosystem” – is just the first step. She also wants to aggregate all of the data from her sensors into a central database, which is currently under development, and ultimately use her start-up Riverkin to change peoples’ perception of rivers and enable positive change in our water systems and the communities around them.
In the future, Droujko plans to analyse this water data to support customers with intelligent water management and decision-making where customers would feel empowered to work with the water cycle and not against it. This can take the form of understanding and reacting to the effects of natural disasters such as landslides, complying with environmental regulations or successfully integrating restoration targets. The market potential is great, as rivers and water management issues are everywhere, and some of these issues are set to intensify in the future. Droujko’s first target group is the hydroelectric sector. Mining, agriculture and irrigation are also of interest for Riverkin. Surface and groundwater are poised to be the biggest growth sector over the next decade.
Droujko also licences the data to up-and-coming companies that are specialised in AI-supported biodiversity monitoring. “Many use satellite images but don’t have any data taken on site,” she says. “Here we can help and create extra added value.” For example, historical temperature, water level and turbidity data provide insights into the complex interactions between land cover and water quality that affect terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Droujko’s start-up can help these companies enable stakeholders to make more informed decisions that promote sustainable land use and conservation practices.
This Researcher Reads Rivers – Riverkin.
Video: ETH Zurich / Nicole Davidson
Student Project House as a springboard
During her time at ETH, Droujko had a particularly valuable experience at the Student Project House, where she developed her first sensor. “I’m still excited about what was on offer,” she states. “Students not only receive coaching but also get a lot of opportunities to learn the ropes of entrepreneurship.”
The Student Project House is always on the hunt for doctoral students who want to turn their research into a marketable idea, she says. According to Droujko, many doctoral students find the idea of developing a product or service from their PhD research almost impossible. However, she encourages them to explore their options, noting that the Student Project House could help with this process.
Curiosity and openness as cornerstones of success
“Of course, you need the right mentors,” says Droujko. In her case, it was Peter Molnár, her PhD supervisor at the Institute of Environmental Engineering, who played a decisive role in her journey. Molnár believed in the potential of her idea and helped her win an ETH Research Grant to conduct her PhD and develop the sensor. “There’s always room for innovation,” she says. “You just have to be brave and take the first step.”
She advises Bachelor’s students to be fearless and inquisitive when it comes to their interests. “I’ve learned that opportunities arise from a combination of preparation and openness to new possibilities,” she says.
Science paper:
Scientific Reports
Figure 1
Our open-source sensor. (a) the sensor without the waterproof housing (see Methods for the sensor with housing), the sensing head is in black machined PVC, the circuit board is also shown, (b) operating principle behind our open-source sensors, an LED illuminated the sample in the cavity and the quantity of scattered light is measured by the detectors in Hz, three different versions are depicted: versions A and B are made from machined PVC whereas version C is 3D printed, versions A and C have detectors at 90 degrees 135 degrees and relative to the LED and version B has detectors at 45 degrees and 135 degrees.
See the science paper for further instructive material with images.
See the full article here .
Comments are invited and will be appreciated, especially if the reader finds any errors which I can correct.
five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings
Please help promote STEM in your local schools.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich [ETH Zürich] [Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich] (CH) is a public research university in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. Founded by the Swiss Federal Government in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the school focuses exclusively on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Like its sister institution The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne [EPFL-École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne](CH) , it is part of The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain (ETH Domain)) , part of the The Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research [EAER][Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung] [Département fédéral de l’économie, de la formation et de la recherche] (CH).
The university is an attractive destination for international students thanks to low tuition fees of 809 ₣ per semester, PhD and graduate salaries that are amongst the world’s highest, and a world-class reputation in academia and industry. There are currently students from over 120 countries, many of which are pursuing doctoral degrees. In the QS World University Rankings ETH Zürich is ranked very highly in the world and very highly by the Times Higher Education World Rankings. In the QS World University Rankings by subject it is ranked very highly in the world for engineering and technology, earth & marine science.
Nobel laureates, Fields Medalists, Pritzker Prize winners, and Turing Award winners have been affiliated with the Institute, including Albert Einstein. Other notable alumni include John von Neumann and Santiago Calatrava. It is a founding member of the IDEA League and the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) and a member of the CESAER network.
ETH Zürich was founded on 7 February 1854 by the Swiss Confederation and began giving its first lectures on 16 October 1855 as a polytechnic institute (eidgenössische polytechnische schule) at various sites throughout the city of Zurich. It was initially composed of six faculties: architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, forestry, and an integrated department for the fields of mathematics, natural sciences, literature, and social and political sciences.
It is locally still known as Polytechnikum, or simply as Poly, derived from the original name eidgenössische polytechnische schule, which translates to “federal polytechnic school”.
ETH Zürich is a federal institute (i.e., under direct administration by the Swiss government), whereas The University of Zürich [Universität Zürich ] (CH) is a cantonal institution. The decision for a new federal university was heavily disputed at the time; the liberals pressed for a “federal university”, while the conservative forces wanted all universities to remain under cantonal control, worried that the liberals would gain more political power than they already had. In the beginning, both universities were co-located in the buildings of the University of Zürich.
From 1905 to 1908, under the presidency of Jérôme Franel, the course program of ETH Zürich was restructured to that of a real university and ETH Zürich was granted the right to award doctorates. In 1909 the first doctorates were awarded. In 1911, it was given its current name, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. In 1924, another reorganization structured the university in 12 departments. However, it now has 16 departments.
ETH Zürich, EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne) [École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne](CH), and four associated research institutes form The Domain of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Domain) [ETH-Bereich; Domaine des Écoles polytechniques fédérales] (CH) with the aim of collaborating on scientific projects.
Reputation and ranking
ETH Zürich is ranked among the top universities in the world. Typically, popular rankings place the institution as one of the best universities in continental Europe and ETH Zürich is consistently ranked among the top universities in Europe, and among the best universities of the world.
Historically, ETH Zürich has achieved its reputation particularly in the fields of chemistry, mathematics and physics. Nobel laureates are associated with ETH Zürich, the most recent of whom is Richard F. Heck, awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2010. Albert Einstein is perhaps its most famous alumnus.
The QS World University Rankings placed ETH Zürich very high in the world. ETH Zürich has ranked very highly in the world in Engineering, Science and Technology, just behind The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and The University of Cambridge (UK). ETH Zürich also ranked very highly in the world in Natural Sciences, and in Earth & Marine Sciences.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings has ranked ETH Zürich very highly in the world in the field of Engineering & Technology, just behind
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, The California Institute of Technology, Princeton University, The University of Cambridge (UK),
Imperial College London (UK) and
The University of Oxford (UK).
In a comparison of Swiss universities by swissUP Ranking and in rankings published by CHE comparing the universities of German-speaking countries, ETH Zürich traditionally is ranked very highly in natural sciences, computer science and engineering sciences.
In the survey CHE Excellence Ranking on the quality of Western European graduate school programs in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics, ETH Zürich was assessed as one of the institutions to have excellent programs in all the considered fields, the other two being Imperial College London (UK) and the University of Cambridge (UK), respectively.
sciencesprings 