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The Technical Staff Showcase took place on the 30th March, in the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Cloisters and Jeremy Bentham Room. The day-long event included exhibition stands in the cloisters and a series of talks highlighting technical achievements and careers at ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº.

¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Institute for Sustainable Heritage’s Lab Technician Dr Miriam Wright took part in the event with an exhibition stand in the North Cloisters.

The Institute's contribution focused on non-destructive analytical techniques used for collecting information about heritage objects in different contexts. The demonstration featured sampling tools and techniques used prior to analysis using Gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) and Solid phase microextraction and Thermal Desorption-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (SPME- and TD-GC-MS ).

In addition to finding out more about our technical facilities and expertise, visitors had the opportunity to find out more about how the aforementioned techniques can be used to:

1. collect and obtain chemical information about historic smell samples, and to smell historic scent recreations;
2. collect and analyse volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by modern and contemporary heritage objects, and why these techniques are a valuable tool for monitoring and detecting deterioration in museum collections (SPME-GC-MS);
3. develop analytical methods for identifying and quantifying indoor air pollutants, through the presentation of technical work carried out in collaboration with ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering

The Technical Showcase event was opened by ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº President and Provost Dr Michael Spence, and Professor Nigel Titchener-Hooker, Dean of ¹û¶³Ó°Ôºâ€¯Engineering.