Ukraine has a quarter of the world’s chernozems and 41.5 million hectares of agricultural land, covering 70 percent of the country. Agriculture pollutes about 60 percent of land resources and approximately 45-48 percent of reservoirs, representing 18-24 % of global GHG emissions. SmartAGRO's goal is to develop a precision fertilization solution that will help Ukraine achieve its climate policy goals. SmartAGRO is based on capillary electrophoresis technology, which enables the determination of various macro- and microelements in the soil. The goal is to develop a precise agriculture platform with recommendations for soil fertilization for agricultural crops growing in Ukraine, taking into account the chemical profile of the soil, the type and the crops grown, helping to reduce the use of fertilizers, increase/maintain yields and reduce GHG emissions.
Drug Hunter is a portable analyzer for the detection of narcotics in saliva. The project's goal was to integrate machine learning methods into an expert system for substance detection to reduce the competence required of the analyzer's user to interpret the results and thereby reduce errors in substance detection. Various machine learning methods based on supervised learning - artificial neural networks - were tested during the project. In order to prepare (annotate) the data necessary for training the neural network, a cloud service was created, where the technical parameters of all analyzes and the obtained electropherograms, on which the substances to be analyzed were marked, were stored. The best results in detecting electrophoretic patterns were obtained using a convolutional neural network (CNN). The analyzer was tested in cooperation with Estonian Police at roadside drug testing raids in Estonia.
ECAC unites the competence and analytical capabilities of three prominent organizations in Estonia: University of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology and the Estonian Environmental Research Centre and offers access to analytical instruments as well as services and collaboration both to academia and industry.This network enables the use of analytical apparatus in an optimal way and avoids duplication.
The main objectives of ECAC are:
(1) to create a “cross-user network” between research institutions. This allows the users easily to carry out complex projects, which require advanced apparatus. In addition, it avoids the duplication of the equipment (Objectives 1, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4).
(2) to be an innovation and technology development support unit for R&D projects and industrial innovation (incl. to achieve the goals of a smart specialisation) (Objective 1)
(3) to be the center of analytical chemistry education and knowledge transfer (Objective 3);
(4) to be the support structure in analytical chemistry for Estonia's participation in various EU cooperation networks such as ESA, Eurachem, Euramet / EMPIR (Objectives 2.2, 3).