Chemical Engineering

Super spreading events: How to minimize SARS-CoV-2 aerosol transmission

October 27, 2020

9:50 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. ET

Details

Join the Chemical Engineering Department for a seminar from Shelly L. Miller of University of Colorado Boulder about super spreading events. This event will be hosted by ChemE’s Coty Jen.

The link to join our Zoom is below. Here are the login details if you are prompted:
Meeting ID: 933 1502 7122
Passcode: 161546

Speaker bio

Shelly L. Miller, Ph.D., is a professor of mechanical engineering and faculty in the Environmental Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, holding an M.S. and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in applied mathematics from Harvey Mudd College. Miller teaches about and investigates urban air quality and works diligently to understand the impact of air pollution on public health and the environment. She is also an expert on indoor environmental quality including airborne infectious disease transmission and control and air cleaning technologies. Miller is a member of the Academy of Fellows of the International Society for Indoor Air and Climate (ISIAQ) and is also an associate editor for Environmental Science and Technology. Miller has published more than 80 peer reviewed articles on air quality, authored a chapter on indoor air quality in the Environmental Engineering Handbook, is an active scientist on Twitter, and publishes open access as often as possible.

Abstract for talk

As the COVID-19 pandemic has moved across the world, scientists are working around the clock to better understand how the SARS-CoV-2 virus is transmitted, the details of the symptoms and illness, and how to stop the spread of the virus. Engineers including Shelly Miller are working diligently to inform the public and leaders that evidence is overwhelming that transmission is happening due to the inhalation of respiratory particles released while breathing, talking, singing, coughing, and sneezing. Superspreading events have resulted in large numbers of people being infected at a single event, thought to happen as a result transmission by aerosol released by infected asymptomatic or mild symptomatic persons in crowded unmasked environments with poor ventilation. In this seminar Miller will review the transmission routes, discuss superspreading events, and present a summary of her work on the Skagit Valley Chorale outbreak and the musicians and performers aerosol study as well as discuss the benefits of ventilation, filtration and germicidal ultraviolet light.

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