Abderrahmane Touati

Jacobs (United States), Arcadis (United States), Arcadis (Czechia)

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Abderrahmane Touati is a leading researcher in biological contamination detection and environmental surface sampling, with a focus on developing practical, scalable methods for biosecurity and public health. His work centers on evaluating novel technologies—particularly commercially available cleaning robots—for the collection of hazardous biological agents, such as *Bacillus* spores, from indoor and outdoor surfaces. In a series of highly cited studies, Touati demonstrated that domestic cleaning robots, including vacuum-based and wet-wipe models, can be repurposed for effective surface sampling, offering a cost-efficient alternative to manual collection over large areas. His 2013 study on five different robot types for sampling aerosol-deposited *Bacillus atrophaeus* spores (11 citations) and his 2014 scenario-based evaluation of vacuum and wetted-wipe robots (2 citations) provided foundational evidence for automated decontamination and monitoring. His most cited work (2020, 17 citations) compared surface sampling methods in an extended outdoor biological contamination study, addressing critical gaps in field-deployable detection. Touati’s contributions have advanced the integration of robotics into environmental microbiology, with implications for homeland security, infection control, and disaster response.