Dr. Zhong has multidiscipline background in chemistry, environmental sciences, and occupational health. She has more than 15 years experience in scientific research and development, and applications of environmental monitoring instruments. Dr. Zhong is an expert in industrial hygiene, air and water quality monitoring, on-site investigations of chemical contaminations, chemical analysis, exposure assessment, and wastewater treatment.
Dr. Zhong’s experience includes demonstrating the potential for novel technologies to solve complex chemical measurement problems in the occupational and environmental health areas. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Zhong was a research and development scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Air Quality Instrument Business, working on the development and application of environmental monitoring instruments.
Dr. Zhong’s research accomplishments include real-time determinations of complex mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at trace levels such as vapor-phase markers of environmental tobacco smoke. This research was the first reported use of a portable direct-reading instrument for this application. Other instrumental applications investigated include indoor air monitoring, rapid detection of ‘signature’ VOCs emitted from U.S. paper currency to facilitate the U.S. homeland security efforts (a potential screening method to intercept large quantities of cash illegally shipped across the border) and determination of VOC biomarkers of lung cancer (part of a project to develop a portable system suitable for conducting rapid screening-level diagnostics in a hospital, clinic, or home).
Dr. Zhong’s early career experience includes on-site monitoring and treatment of sewage and wastewater from a broad spectrum of industries in China, and innovative oxide-fluocculation reactor (OFR) technique to treat wastewater containing cyanide and organic cyano compounds.
Zhong Q, Steinecker WH, Zellers ET. Characterization of a high-performance portable GC with chemiresistor array detector. The Analyst 2009; 134:283–293.
Zhong Q, Veeneman RA, Steinecker WH, Jia C, Batterman SA, Zellers ET. Rapid determination of ETS markers with a prototype field-portable GC employing a microsensor array detector. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 2007; 9:440–448.
Zhong Q, Steinecker WH, Zellers ET. Meso-scale VOC-mixture analyzer with tunable separation and microsensor array detection. Rare Metal Materials and Engineering 2006; 35(3):61–64.
Xiong Y, Zhong Q, An TC, Cha ZH, Zhu XH. Removal of cyanide from dilute solution using a cell with three-phase three-dimensional electrode. Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A –Toxic/Hazardous Substances & Environmental Engineering 2002; 37(4):715–724.
Peng YF, Chen WG, Zhu XH, Zhang JH, Zhong Q, Ruo CR, Xu S. Experimental researches on paint wastewater treatment—the application of coagulation-flocculation and oxidation-flocculation reactor technique. Industrial Water Treatment 2000; 20(1):13. (In Chinese).
Zhang JH, Zhong Q, Chen WG, Zhu XH. Basic study on the oxide-flocculation reactor technique for the treatment of wastewater—II. Kinetic of degradation for organic compounds. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni 1999; 38(5):55. (In Chinese).
Li XY, Zhong Q. The effect of time on the cyanide result by the method of iso-nicoticnic acid and pyrazolone photometric determination. Administration and Technique of Environmental Monitoring 1999; 11(2):45. (In Chinese).
Liu Y, Zhang JH, Liang LW, Zhong Q, Chen WG, Zhu XH. Researches on the decolorization of high colority dyeing wastewater. Industrial Water Treatment 1998; 18(5): 15. (In Chinese).
Li YY, Zhang MS, Zhong Q. Optimal synthesis and luminescence of LaxCeyPO4: Tb1-x-y. Journal of Guangdong Non-Ferrous Metals 1996; (2):35. (In Chinese).
Conference Proceedings
Zellers ET, Reidy SM, Veeneman R, Gordenker RJ, Steinecker WH, Lambertus GR, Kim H, Potkay JA, Rowe MP, Zhong Q, Avrey C, Chan HK, Sacks RD, Najafi K, Wise KD. An integrated micro-analytical system for complex vapor mixtures. IEEE International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators (Transducers), pp. 1491–1496, Lyon, France, June 2007.
Zhong Q, Steinecker WH, Rowe MP, Jin C, Zellers ET. Meso-scale VOC-mixture analyzer with tunable separation and microsensor array detection. Technical Digest of the 6th East Asia Conference on Chemical Sensors, pp. 152–153, Guilin, China, November 2005.
Steinecker WH, Rowe MP, Xu H, Zhong Q, Jin C, Farina L, Kurdak C, Zellers ET. Au-thiolate nanoparticles as interfacial layers on microsensor arrays for micro gas chromatography. Proceedings, Eurosensors XIX, pp I1-I6, Barcelona, Spain, September 2005.
Rowe M, Steinecker W, Zhong Q, Xu H, Kurdak C, Zellers E. Monolayer protected nanoparticles as vapor sensor array interface materials. 207th Electrochemical Society Meeting, Quebec City, Canada, May 2005.
Zellers ET, Wise KD, Chan HK, Pang SW, Da Silva LW, Kaviany M, Kim J, Kurdak C, Lu Y, Aslam DM, Zheng J, Agah M, Potkay JA, Zhong J, Oborny MC, Steinecker WH, Nichols J, Rowe MP, Matzger AJ, Lambertus GR, Elstro A, Whiting J, Sacks RD, Bergstrom PL. Materials and processing challenges related to the fabrication of a MEMS micro gas chromatograph. Symposium on Materials, Mechanisms, and Systems for Chemical and Biological Detection and Remediation, San Francisco, CA, April 2004.
Zellers ET, Wise KD, Najafi K, Aslam D, Brown RB, Cai QY, Driscoll J, Flynn M, Giachino J, Gordenker R, Hsieh MD, Nguyen Ct-C, Bergstrom P, Drelich J, Friedrich C, Gamble E, Kaviany M, Lu CJ, Matzger A, Oborny M, Pang S, Potkay J, Sacks R, Tian W-C, Steinecker W, Whiting J, Zhong Q. Determinations of complex vapor mixtures in ambient air with a wireless microanalytical system: Vision, progress, and homeland security applications. Technical Digest of the IEEE Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security, Waltham MA, IEEE, pp. 92–95, Boston, MA, November 2002.
Conference and Seminar Presentations
Zhong Q. Portable GC with adsorbent preconcentration, dual-column separation, and sensor array detection: Characterization and adaptation to trace-level breath biomarker analysis. The Pittsburgh Conference (Pittcon), New Orleans, LA, March 2008 (oral).
Zhong Q. A novel multi-vapor analyzer: Characterization and application to analyzing breath biomarkers of lung cancer. Seminar at the Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Wireless Integrated Microsystem (WIMS) at the University of Michigan, February 2008.
Zhong Q. A field-portable GC with multi-stage preconcentration, dual-column separation, and chemiresistor-array detection for VOC analysis. The 33rd Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS), Lake Buena Vista, FL, October 2006 (poster).
Zhong Q. Meso-scale VOC-mixture analyzer with tunable separation and microsensor array detection. The 6th East Asia Conference on Chemical Sensors (EACCS), Guilin, China, November 2005 (oral).
Zhong Q. A portable GC for indoor VOC determinations. The Pittsburgh Conference (Pittcon), Orlando, FL, March 2005 (poster).
Zhong Q. Chamber and preliminary field studies of a versatile portable instrument for indoor VOC determinations. American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Expo (AIHce), Atlanta, GA, May 2004 (poster).
Zhong Q. Portable analytical system employing tunable separation and microsensor array detection for monitoring organic vapor contaminants in indoor air. American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Expo (AIHce), Dallas, TX, May 2003 (oral).
Zhong Q. A microfabricated gas chromatographic subsystem for complex vapor-mixture analyses. American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Expo (AIHce), Dallas, TX, May 2003 (poster).