Principal Investigator: Dr. Elliott Gall
Dr. Elliott Gall is an assistant professor at Portland State University (PSU) in the department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. He received his B.S.E. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida and his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. At PSU, Dr. Gall leads the Healthy Buildings Research Laboratory, which aims to conduct fundamental and applied research exploring the many factors that impact our exposure to air pollution inside buildings. Current research areas include evaluation of indoor air pollution in near-roadway buildings and indoor air quality during wildfire events. Evaluation of air cleaning technologies and interventions to reduce indoor exposures to air pollution are another current focus.
Dr. Gall has authored over 40 peer-reviewed journal publications on indoor and urban air pollution. He was acknowledged with the 2018 Yaglou Award from the International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate for his work on indoor ozone chemistry. Dr. Gall is active in professional societies, including ASHRAE and the International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate. AT PSU, he leads an NSF-funded scholarship program on building science, which has supported over 100 students pursuing building-science related degrees in engineering and architecture. His research at Portland State has been featured in national and local media, including The Atlantic, National Geographic, and The Seattle Times. He occasionally tweets about research and other topics @etgall.
Research Analyst: Aurélie Laguerre
Aurélie Laguerre is a research analyst at the Healthy Buildings Research Laboratory. She received her M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry from the Université de Bourgogne in France. She joined the lab in 2018, where she has been involved in multiple research projects carried out in the laboratory. She is in charge of the deployment and management of air quality equipment, sampling, and analysis using a variety of analytical methods. She has a special interest in the proton transfer reaction – time of flight – mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS), allowing for real time VOC measurements. Her works focus on the determination of VOC emissions from building materials and from green-roof plants as well as the evaluation of indoor air quality, and evaluation of air cleaning technologies.
Ph.D. Candidate: Pradeep Ramasubramanian
Pradeep is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering department at Portland State University. He received his BSc. in Mechanical Engineering at California State University Long Beach and his MSc. in Mechanical Engineering at Portland State University. He studies the impact of urban vegetation to indoor air quality and the effectiveness of air filtration systems at various scales. He has published 2 peer-reviewed papers on green roof impacts to indoor air quality and has received the Green-Building scholarship, the NSF S-Stem scholarship and the ASHRAE Grant-in-Aid scholarship award.
Prior to graduate school, he spent three years as a Project Design Engineer working with injection molding, machining processes, and incorporating PCB/PCA designs. He currently is the founder and CEO of a wearable air filtration company, AirWear Devices (https://airweardevices.com/). He is passionate about environmental policies, human health and comfort, and wearable tech.
Pradeep is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering department at Portland State
University. He received his BSc. in Mechanical Engineering at California State
University Long Beach and his MSc. in Mechanical Engineering at Portland State
University. He studies the impact of urban vegetation to indoor air quality and the
effectiveness of air filtration systems at various scales. He has published 2 peer-
reviewed papers on green roof impacts to indoor air quality and has received the
Green-Building scholarship, the NSF S-Stem scholarship and the ASHRAE Grant-in-
Aid scholarship award.
Prior to graduate school, he spent three years as a Project Design Engineer working
with injection molding, machining processes, and incorporating PCB/PCA designs.
He currently is the founder and CEO of a wearable air filtration company, AirWear
Devices (https://airweardevices.com/). He is passionate about environmental
policies, human health and comfort, and wearable tech.
Undergraduate Researcher: Brett Stinson
Brett Stinson is currently majoring in mechanical engineering with a focus on fluid and thermal science at Portland State University (PSU). He is a McNair, S-STEM, Green Building, and Ford Family Foundation scholar, president of PSU’s ASHRAE chapter, and SALP-recognized Student Leadership Fellow. He recently completed his Honors College thesis titled Modeling Airflows and VOC Source Strengths for an Occupied School and has submitted work to the 2021 PSU Student Research Symposium, 2022 ASHRAE Winter Conference, and Indoor Chemistry 2021 conference. His research interests include indoor air quality, sustainable building design, and energy conservation. Brett is on track to complete his master’s degree in fluid and thermal science at PSU in spring 2023, and then plans to pursue a PhD. Through his research in building science, he hopes to make the world a healthier, safer place for future generations.
Current Undergraduate Researchers:
Warren Gunn (MME)
Franklyn Santos (CEE)
Joshua Zulueta (CEE)