2022 workshop - Kiel

On 4 and 5 May 2022, the Olfasense team welcomed the participants of the 2022 odour workshop on product and material testing at our new laboratory facilities. 

Since our last workshop, which took place in 2020, we had expanded our laboratory capacities for odour measurements and now have much more dedicated laboratory space. Besides an olfactometry laboratory, we have a dedicated laboratory for deodorant studies and an additional lab for human sensory assessments. Also, our cutting-edge molecular laboratory for GC-MS and GC-sniffing services has moved into a larger facility. Our new laboratory also comes with a large area for our advanced sampling infrastructure, including our EK1000 VOC emission test chamber.

We were not only excited to show the 2022 workshop participants our new laboratory structure but also to convince with a promising programme.

Dr. Hans Peter Schlegelmilch, CEO of Brain of Materials AG, kicked off the first workshop day with a keynote presentation showcasing how a digital platform for smart materials can support the optimisation and acceleration of product development processes. 

After the keynote address, Björn Maxeiner, director and head of P&M testing at Olfasense, provided a holistic overview of the possibilities in sensory and molecular odour testing and the most important principles to follow to achieve the highest possible quality standards.

In the following, the Olfasense senior consultants Dr.-Ing. Laura Brosig and Alina Beier gave a presentation on the importance of the right sampling methods in odour testing. Depending on the study requirements, these can result in standardised test designs or individual test designs, as Laura and Alina demonstrated based on several case studies. 

The first workshop day was complemented by a first round of different practical lab exercises to provide skills, encourage participation, and exchange information on topics, such as sample preparation & sampling, panel training, direct odour evaluation, comparative testing, indoor room evaluation, chamber testing, molecular screening, GC-sniffing, and more.

Before we had the pleasure to invite all participants to attend the evening events at a cozy, authentic Italian restaurant, Olfasense director Simon Rützel-Grünberg made a short excursion presenting the Olfasense odour quality seal with a combined permanent quality assurance process, which enables manufacturers to highlight unique or particular olfactory properties of their products and have this confirmed by an independent body. 

The second day started with an interactive opening session by our Olfasense expert Dr. Nathalie Fentzahn. One of the key elements of successful odour testing is the selection, training, and monitoring of the noses in question, which Nathalie highlighted in her presentation. In addition, she presented the Olfasense odour wheel with sniffing sticks for panel training and invited the audience to test their skills in identifying odour characters during the interactive session.

Subsequently, Rita Ribau Domingues, senior consultant at Olfasense GmbH, provided a wide overview of analytical sensory measures and affective sensory methods, and their usefulness for different research aims and applications. The session was rounded off by a short interactive session on the usage of Affect Grids.

Before the participants could again get active in the second round of practical lab sessions, Olfasense GC specialist Dr. Luciano Vera gave a vivid presentation on the paradoxes of odours in the logic of the chemical analysis and demonstrated how the Olfasense strategy can provide approaches, such as GC sniffing, to overcome the challenging complexity of odour chemistry and olfactory perception.

The event was concluded by a closing address, which provided interesting perspectives on "Life & Olfaction" by Dr. Josep de Haro, otorhinolaryngologist and expert in sensoriality and polysensoriality management.

On behalf of the whole Olfasense team, we thank everybody for their active participation, making our workshop an interesting and enjoyable event. We hope the workshop was an enriching and useful experience for all of you, and most importantly, that you all had a safe journey back home. The whole Olfasense team hopes to welcome you again next year.

If you were not able to participate in this year's workshop we heartily invite you to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on future editions via olfasense.com/noseletter.