A Queen’s University researcher has been shortlisted for a £200,000 inventor prize for his robust wireless communications system, which can battle through an earthquake, tsunami or hurricane.
Dr Trung Duong is one of those in the running for the 2017 Newton Prize, awarded for the best research or innovation that supports the economic development and social welfare of developing countries.
Dr Duong, who is originally from Vietnam, has been leading an international research team to tackle the problems of maintaining communications under hostile conditions. They have designed an integrated heterogeneous wireless system (IHWS), which is robust in disaster scenarios, coping with issues such as physical destruction of telecommunication networks, lack of power supply and network congestion. The system also provides early warning of natural disasters by detecting water level, vibration and wind. While in cities it can detect increases in dust, temperature, noise and carbon dioxide levels.
The Newton Prize winners will be announced next month.
