FireFly Silver Award 2021
A*STAR researchers recognised for contributions in combating COVID-19 pandemic
11 Sep 2021
Our A*STAR team consisting of both IHPC and IMRE scientists collaborated with government agencies to help combat COVID-19 by looking into assessment of Environment Transmission Risk for Public Health, Public Awareness and Future Resilience.
When news of the COVID-19 pandemic first broke out, there wasn't much information about the virus. Back then, there were numerous studies published on droplet dispersion, but those reports did not incorporate important aspects of physics and the biology of viral transmission.
A*STAR conducted studies to better understand the spread and movement of droplets and airflow. This was done using:
- computer simulations solving complex mathematical formulations to represent air flow and the airborne droplets around human subjects. Computational modelling studies were conducted using national supercomputer facility, supported by National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) – Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC)
- experiments using a droplet/aerosol generator to represent a potential infectious person and particle sensors to represent human subjects in the real-life setting – Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE)
The team was honoured when their efforts were recognised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore (MTI). They received the FireFly Silver Award 2021 at MTI's Firefly Symposium 2021 held online on 20 August 2021.