Mahender Singh Rawat, a graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, working under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Ferro, won the Sisu Award at Indoor Air Conference 2022.
During the conference held in Kuopio, Finland, he broke his leg and had surgery; yet he was still able to deliver his oral presentation from the hospital just two days after the surgery, proving his perseverance and dedication to his studies, winning him the sisu award. Sisu is a Finnish concept described as stoic determination, grit, resilience and hardiness, or perseverance in a task that for some may seem crazy to undertake.
Mahender’s presentation looked at the work on respiratory aerosol emission under which he analyzed the impact of frequency and loudness on particle production rate. The results of this study demonstrate that respiratory particle production increases with both vocal intensity and phonation frequency.
Indoor Air 2022 was the 17th International Conference of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality & Climate organized by the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate. The Indoor Air conference series attracts researchers and other professionals from the fields of indoor air quality, built environments, HVAC, health sciences, public health policy, chemistry, biology, psychology, urban planning, mechanical engineering, architecture, and building design and management to discuss the latest scientific advances and ongoing research in the field.