Alumni

Benzhong |Robin| Zhao (email) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at McMaster University. Robin's background is in civil & environmental engineering, specializing in multiphase flow in porous media with applications to low-carbon energy systems. He earned his BASc from the University of Waterloo, SM and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on the fluid mechanics of geological carbon dioxide sequestration. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Toronto, where he worked on developing more efficient electrochemical devices for renewable energy storage.

Ashkan Irannezhad (email) is a PhD student in the lab. Ashkan obtained his Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Tehran in 2015. He then completed a Master's program at Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic) in 2018, where he worked on nano-structured surfaces with specified wetting properties. During his Master’s studies, Ashkan worked as a project leader in the SNE research center at the University of Tehran and co-founded a knowledge-based start-up (Jikan Surface Nano-engineering Company) to develop new laboratory devices for measuring surface wetting properties.

Mahtab Masouminia (email) is a PhD student in the lab. Mahtab finished her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at University of Tehran (2015) in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Multiphase Flow. Then, she obtained her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology (2019) in CFD and Fluid Solid Interaction. Mahtab worked as a research assistant in the SNE research center at the University of Tehran on the numerical and experimental investigation of the effect of surface treatment on the deformation of a droplet during injection.

Negar Shahsavar (email) is a PhD student in the lab. She obtained he Bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering at Sharif University of Technology (2014). She finished her Master's degree in Petroleum Engineering at Shiraz University (2017). She worked on a novel environmental friendly emulsified solvent to mitigate asphaltene precipitation and deposition which is one of the major concerns in petroleum industry. After recognizing the adverse effect of oil and gas industry on climate change and ground water, she decided to start her research in Environment field to develop more efficient processes in resource extraction, CO2 sequestration, and groundwater remediation.

Katelyn Wylie is an undergraduate student at McMaster University, in the process of obtaining her Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering and Society. Katelyn is passionate about solving the problem of climate change, and fascinated by technologies related to renewable energy sources. She aspires to work in engineering to develop a more sustainable society.