糖心vlog鈥檚 College of Information Technology and Engineering conducted their 2026 Capstone Exhibit for BSIT (Bachelor of Science in Information Technology) and BSCPE (Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering) graduating students. They presented their innovative capstone projects featuring sustainable engineering and game-changing software which were designed to address community challenges, improve lives, and drive sustainability.
Among the outstanding projects is from Arvin Valero, a fourth-year Computer Engineering student, who developed an Embedded Electronic Nose System for Indoor Airborne Event Classification. It is a device designed to detect and distinguish between different types of airborne particles and gases in real time.
Recognizing Airborne Events
Distinguishing between smoke, vape aerosol, and ordinary background air is not always straightforward, especially indoors where these events often go unnoticed until it is too late.
The system works by continuously monitoring three key indicators: PM2.5 levels, which measure fine particulate matter in the air, carbon monoxide (CO) concentration, and what Valero calls Gas Drop, a metric that tracks sudden changes in gas composition. Under normal conditions, the system sits in a baseline sampling state. But when an airborne event occurs, such as smoke or vape aerosol entering the space, the sensors pick up on distinct spikes, particularly in Gas Drop and PM2.5, allowing the system to flag and classify the event almost instantly.
During a live demonstration, Valero used incense as a stand-in for smoke. The moment the incense was lit, the system’s dashboard, labeled Embedded Electronic Nose, registered a clear spike in Gas Drop percentage and PM2.5 readings, correctly logging the event as a Vape Aerosol classification in its event history. Valero noted that because the demonstration relied on incense rather than the actual substances the system is designed for, some false positives are expected in real-world testing.
The dashboard interface itself reflects the project’s practical, user-facing design. It displays the current event classification alongside live PM2.5 and CO readings, gas drop percentage, and a timestamped event history, giving users a clear, at-a-glance understanding of what is happening in the air around them at any given moment.
Prevention for Protection
This inventive project will protect students in a school setting. This device will help monitor the air quality in areas without a video surveillance system, protecting the students’ health.
Valero’s project points to a growing need for smarter, more responsive indoor air monitoring, particularly in spaces where smoking and vaping are prohibited but difficult to police in real time. By combining multiple sensor inputs into a single classification system, the Embedded Electronic Nose offers a low-cost, scalable approach to catching airborne events as they happen, not after the fact.
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