This week on IAQ Radio we talk to some of the staff and students at the Carnegie Mellon Universities CREATE Lab. The CREATE Lab came to our attention when a friend asked if we would like to try out the Speck IAQ Monitor. Radio Joe has had the monitor on his desk for a month now and it's time to discuss the invention with some members of the team that helped pull together the venture.

M. Beatrice Dias (Bea) was born and raised in Sri Lanka and went on to earn her undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in Clinton New York. Following college, she worked in the private sector for two years before moving to Pittsburgh to complete her Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Her postdoctoral field research focused on evaluating the impact of technology in under-served communities across the globe. Bea currently serves as a Project Director for the CREATE Lab at CMU. In this capacity she works with a variety of communities to explore how technology can serve as a tool for empowerment.

Sara Longo, a native Pittsburgher, earned a Biology degree and French minor from Allegheny College. She then spent two years in clinical smoking cessation research at the University of Pittsburgh while working as a TSS for the Watson Institute. After leaving her clinical work, she took her career in a new direction by co-founding the social sharing app, Share Closet, and igniting her passion for empowerment through technology. She now carries that passion through to her volunteer work at ACEing Autism and to her career as the Operations Manager for Speck, where she works to empower people to breathe easier.

Mike Taylor is a PhD Candidate at the CREATE Lab, part of Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute. His research interests include methods and calibration for low-cost sensors, machine learning, and air quality.LEARN MORE this week on IAQ Radio!