Events

Indoor Air Quality Workshop

This workshop concentrates on indoor air quality, specifically addressing moisture, microbes, and materials. Join us to discuss the future of healthy and safe indoor environments, as well as the potential requirements posed by changing climate and the shift towards a circular economy on future materials.
Two people walking in the School of Business
Photo: Aalto University / Petri Anttila

We will hear engaging speeches focused on indoor air quality, followed by interactive round table workshop discussions, and concluding with a casual networking session.

We proudly welcome our keynote speakers, Anniina Salmela from the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, and Pekka Vuorinen from Finnish Association of Construction Product Industries, sharing their insights on the topic. Aalto University's Department of Applied Physics researchers will provide snapshots of promising materials and related scientific discoveries.  

In the second part of the event, topics based round table workshops will be organised to facilitate brainstorming in small groups. We expect people to approach the topic with a multidisciplinary angle, and everybody is welcome to share their views and knowledge for the common goal of building better materials, better buildings and a better future.  

Programme

13:45  Coffee and tea  

14:00  Opening 

  • Distinguished Professor Olli Ikkala, Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University
  • Professor Heidi Salonen, Head of Department of Civil Engineering, Aalto University 

14:10  Keynotes

  • Indoor environments in the future - what do we need to take into account?
    Anniina Salmela, Senior Researcher, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Kansallinen sisäilma ja terveys -ohjelma.
  • Promoting healthy and safe indoor environment and circular economy – future challenges for product manufacturers and contractors
    Pekka Vuorinen, Director, Environment and Energy, Finnish Association of Construction Product Industries RTT

14:45 Research highlights

  • Researcher perspective, Dr. Sourov Chandra, Research Fellow, Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University
  • The link between air quality and lethal respiratory infections
    Dr. Christopher Jonkergouw, CEO & Founder, Arivin Therapeutics

15:00 Brainstorming in groups

16:00 Summary of brainstorming

16:20 Wrap up  

16:30-17:00 Networking reception, snacks 

Keynote speakers

Anniina Salmela

Anniina Salmela

Senior Researcher, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)

Anniina Salmela, PhD (Environmental Science), specializes in environmental health and microbiology with emphasis on the bioaerosols, surface and air hygiene. Her research has covered microbial analysis, bioaerosol works and research of ground technologies and instrumentation to control biological contamination and biosafety in space. Nowadays, she is working as Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and coordinates the Finnish Indoor Air and Health programme, which implements the measures promoting health and welfare listed in the Finnish government’s programme Healthy Premises 2028 which are the responsibility of the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Pekka Vuorinen

Pekka Vuorinen

Director, Environment and Energy, Finnish Association of Construction Product Industries RTT

Pekka Vuorinen's tasks and responsibilities include circular economy, low carbon construction, energy efficiency, EU Taxonomy, assessment of sustainability and environmental performance of buildings and assets, and the assessment of dangerous substances of construction products, among others. He is also an expert in numerous steering and expert groups of relevant European and Finnish projects in these fields. In standardization, Pekka Vuorinen also contributes to the work of CEN/TC 350 "Sustainability assessment of construction works", CEN/TC 350/SC 1 "Circular Economy in the Construction Sector" and CEN/TC 351 “Assessment of release of dangerous substances". In CEN/TC 351, he chairs the working group "Radiation from construction products".

Heidi Salonen

Professor Heidi Salonen

Head of Department of Civil Engineering, Aalto University

Salonen is the head of the Department of Civil Engineering and professor in the Indoor environmental technology. She also holds an Adjunct Associate Professorship at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Salonen has numerous national and international positions of trust, and she has published over 100 scientific papers. Salonen currently leads several national and international research projects.

Olli Ilkkala

Distinguished Professor Olli Ikkala

Leader of the Molecular Materials Group, Department of Applied Physics at Aalto Univeristy

Olli Ikkala's research interest is to develop functional materials based on hierarchical self-assemblies, biomimetics, and materials originating from nature, such as nanocellulose. He was director of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Molecular Engineering of Biosynthetic Hybrid Materials (HYBER) during 2014-2019. He is currently a principal investigator in the Center of Excellence in Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials (LIBER), 2022-2027. Ikkala received the Finnish Science award from the Ministry of Education and Culture for his interdisciplinary career in materials research. He has also been elected to the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and Technology Academy of Finland as well as the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award.  

Sourov Chandra

Sourov Chandra

Research Fellow, Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University

Dr. Sourov Chandra’s research endeavor is to develop Cd-free biocompatible luminescent nanomaterials based on noble metal nanoclusters and semiconductor quantum dots. As a graduate student, he synthesized a series of carbon-based nanostructures, including carbon quantum dots and graphene dots. After that, as a Postdoctoral Fellow at National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, he was working on near-IR (NIR) emitting silicon and germanium quantum dots for long-term multiphoton imaging in human deep tissues and organs. At present, he is working on atomically precise luminescent metal nanoclusters and nanocluster-composites with diversified applications on photocatalysis, energy-devices, biomedical imaging, and therapies.

Christopher Jonkergouw

Christopher Jonkergouw

CEO & Founder, Arivin Therapeutics

Christopher Jonkergouw's interest lies in microbial communication mechanisms and how these mechanisms are utilized for a variety of purposes, ranging from synchronized cooperation, to their role in infections. Jonkergouw completed his PhD in the group of Prof. Linder at Aalto University, where he particularly focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying microbial communication. To further advance his interest in the medical aspects of microbial signalling during infections, he started working with the Immunology research group in the University of Helsinki and the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine lab at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Partially based on this research, a Finnish startup company was launched from Aalto University and the University of Helsinki where Jonkergouw is a co-founder and the current starting CEO, focusing on novel strategies to combat highly resistant bacterial pathogens in respiratory infections.

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