Using high-tech sensors, drones, artificial intelligence models, and an app, the National Polytechnic Institute’s (IPN) State Network of Participatory Sensors for Environmental Research and Resilience (RESPIRA) project aims to monitor pollutants in municipalities across the state of Puebla to prevent respiratory diseases and save millions of pesos in public health costs.

Puebla is not only located near the Popocatépetl volcano; it is currently experiencing a silent crisis of respiratory diseases linked to air pollution. For this reason, hundreds of scientists gathered during the Third Meeting of Polytechnic Research and Graduate Networks 2025 to address these issues.

Among the presentations, Paola Castillo Juárez, head of the Virology Laboratory at the National School of Biological Sciences (ENCB) of the IPN, stated that “scientific evidence indicates that in 2025, a 3.2% increase in new cases of respiratory diseases associated with acute infections was recorded. This means that approximately 623,000 new cases were reported from January to October, and these figures place Puebla in fifth place nationally.”

In this context, RESPIRA was born, a collaborative project among polytechnic specialists working to transform the way the state of Puebla understands, monitors, and responds to what people breathe.

WHAT IS RESPIRA AND WHAT IS ITS GOAL IN PUEBLA?

It is a state-level platform that integrates state-of-the-art sensors and environmental drones linked via open technology. The data collected is processed using AI models to build a citizen science project featuring respiratory health information and digital education tools.

“RESPIRA is a project that integrates sensors to monitor air quality and create a platform where institutions, the public, and anyone can access the data,” explained Paola Castillo in an interview with the Conversus News Agency (AIC) . RESPIRA is interdisciplinary and aims to take data science beyond servers and into communities. Its purpose is to build a network capable of monitoring pollutants, identifying risk episodes, and correlating environmental data with medical symptoms to direct cases to local health services.

The initiative is led by Claudia Marina Vicario Solórzano, a professor at the Interdisciplinary Professional Unit of Engineering and Social and Administrative Sciences (UPIICSA) and a member of the Computing Network, while the project was presented by Dr. Castillo Juárez of the IPN Health Network. For them, RESPIRA doesn’t just measure air: it measures life, risk, prevention, and education.

THE TECHNOLOGICAL BACKSTORY OF RESPIRA

RESPIRA is the result of years of research within the IPN and learning at the Latin American level. The project is based on SILICUANTAX, a low-cost mobile sensor capable of measuring in real time fine particles PM2.5 and PM10—considered among the most harmful due to their ability to penetrate deep into the lungs—as well as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon dioxide.

This sensor has been validated in neighborhoods, along avenues, and in schools, and it feeds data into a portal containing thousands of measurements. This development was complemented by research conducted at the Interdisciplinary Center for Research on Comprehensive Regional Development (CIDIIR), Sinaloa Unit, where allergens and traces of insecticides and fertilizers associated with respiratory inflammation and lung cancer risk were detected. This evidence reinforces the urgency of correlating environmental and health data.

But RESPIRA doesn’t just want data; it wants community. For this reason, Dr. Vicario Solórzano’s team has created techno-pedagogical platforms and citizen science projects that demonstrate that children, adolescents, and teachers can interpret air quality data and turn it into community care initiatives.

“We want to engage society. We want to encourage children and adolescents to engage with STEM field, so they realize they can be active participants in generating science and data that nourish our network,” noted researcher Castillo.

The platform also incorporates governance tools developed by UPIICSA professor Rocío Huerta Cuervo, a specialist in public policy, who created an index designed to identify municipalities capable of supporting technological infrastructure and coordinating local institutions.

Finally, RESPIRA also drew on Latin American experiences. Its design is inspired by Kuaira, a certified Peruvian mobile sensor that can be mounted on bicycles or easily carried to map air quality during every day travel.

FROM PLANNING TO ACTION

RESPIRA is ambitious, and therefore its implementation will proceed in stages. The first phase involves engaging in dialogue with communities and municipalities to select pilot areas using the Municipal Institutional Capacity Index. This will help build a solid territorial foundation for turning data into public decisions. At the same time, the IPN team will design a state-level monitoring dashboard.

The second stage involves building an environmental network by installing dozens of kits equipped with Mexican-made sensors and drones, located in schools, city halls, and community spaces.

The third stage will focus on empowering thousands of students and teachers through STEAM modules and learning experiences that allow them to understand the science behind air quality and analyze data in real time. Castillo Juárez, a scientist at the Polytechnic Institute, emphasizes that this is a nationally developed technology, mobile, and low-cost technology. “RESPIRA aims to promote active education, in collaboration with the public, using real-time data,” she noted.

Finally, once the system has been validated, the state platform, the governance dashboard, and a replicable model for implementing RESPIRA in other states across the country will be launched.

With this rollout, the “Respira Contigo” app will be introduced—an accessible platform that allows users to check air quality, receive alerts, understand pollutants, and access healthcare resources.

RESPIRA: WHEN SCIENCE IS A SOCIAL INVESTMENT

RESPIRA protects health while redefining public health through citizen science and shared community responsibility.

Using social science approaches, researchers from the polytechnic institute assessed the project’s impact through TIB and NEC methodologies, which compare health, educational, and environmental costs and benefits, while also measuring community effectiveness and territorial strengthening.

Projections indicate a social return of 2.8 pesos for every peso invested, equivalent to more than 3.5 million pesos in cumulative benefits.

This project demonstrates that it is not just about technology, but a social network of environmental stewardship. It measures air quality, but it also measures life opportunities; it generates data, but above all, it fosters scientific skills and career interests among young people. In a state where urban pollution, volcanic ash, and social inequalities converge, RESPIRA proposes a new pact between science and the community.