Linköping University, Sweden
Dr. Omer Nour
Bio
Dr. Omer Nour (O. Nur) obtained his B. Sc. Honors in Physics from the University of Khartoum (U. of K.), and after working for four years as a teaching assistant, he joined Linköping University and obtained his Ph. D. degree in device Physics in 1990. Then he moved to Chalmers University of technology and worker as a researcher. In 2002 he has obtained the rehabilitation and obtained the associate professor degree. In 2007 he moved to the Department of Science and Technology at Campus Norrköping, Linköping University. At present, O. Nur is the leader of the research group of Physical Electronics and Nanotechnology. O. Nur research interest is on materials and devices for technical and medical applications, and he has authored over 300 scientific articles and 10 book chapters.
Project
RP5: Sensor for pathogens monitoring in water and food (ESR5, LiU)
The microorganisms (pathogens) which include fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa and worms cause disease in humans and other warm-blooded animals and are transmitted from one organism to another. These transmissions mainly occur by contamination of food/water or by direct contact. To measure the sanitary quality of water for agricultural, industrial, and water supply purposes, the fecal indicator bacteria such as Escherichia coli, fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci are typically used. These bacteria survive few hrs or days in surface water and live long in ground water due to protection from sunlight and predators. For drinking water, water purification is required to avoid the microorganism. However, there is no clear way to associate (1) risk of disease and the presence of fecal indicator bacteria which present in ground water and (2) no report of relation between the presence specific pathogens and of fecal indicator bacteria. In addition to this, for the growth of microorganism, an optimum pH level is more favourable. Hence, this project will develop innovative amperometric sensors to monitor the pathogens in the surface and ground water and determine their relationship with other parameters of water quality.