
Micro-Nano Systems
Our devices, tools, and solutions are getting smaller.
Micro and nano systems research focuses on the fabrication and integration of nanometer scale structures and devices.
Micro, nano, and molecular-scale systems are at the core of emerging technologies and solutions in health, digital and manufacturing sectors, such as in lab on chip diagnostics, micro-machining, additive manufacturing, solar energy capture, advanced nano-scale materials science and microlectricomechanical systems in razor thin devices.
With groups working on cutting edge nano-materials, microelectronics, microfluidics, and the fascinating effects of changing material properties at the atomic scale, McMaster Engineering is a world leader in the field, with some of the best researchers and institutes.

Related People:

Leyla Soleymani
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Miniaturized Biomedical Devices
Related Faculty

Dr. Jonathan Bradley
Assistant Professor and Barber-Gennum Chair in IT
silicon photonics, integrated optics, lasers, photonic materials, optical communications, sensors, microphotonic systems

Prof. Qiyin Fang
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biophotonics
biophotonics, microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy & imaging, intelligent sensing for point-of-care, aging-in-place, & environmental monitoring

Prof. Rafael Kleiman
Department Chair
solar energy: photovoltaics and solar thermal, concentrator photovoltaics, solar testing and instrumentation, solar materials; silicon, III-V, hyperspectral imaging, device modelling, advanced light trapping, device fabrication

Dr. Gitanjali Kolhatkar
Assistant Professor
neuromorphic materials; piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials; III-V semiconductors; thin film technology; nanostructures; photovoltaics; Raman spectroscopy; structure-function relations in materials; scanning probe microscopy; atomic force microscopy; near-field spectroscopy; memristive devices; strain imaging; smart sensors; artificial synapses

Dr. Ray LaPierre
Professor
solar cells (photovoltaics), photodetectors, betavoltaics, thermoelectrics, quantum information processing (quantum computers)

Dr. Ryan Lewis
Assistant Professor
Self-assembly of semiconductor nanostructures, molecular beam epitaxy, III-V semiconductors, III-V on Si, optoelectronic materials and devices

Dr. Peter Mascher
Professor
Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy; Point Defects in Materials; Thin Film Technology; Silicon Nanostructures; Silicon Photonics; Luminescence; Rare Earth Doping; PECVD; Optical Characterization; Ellipsometry

Dr. Matthew Minnick
Associate Undergraduate Chair
MEMS; Robotics; Micromachining; Resonance; Fluid-Structure Interactions; FEM; Automation

Dr. Dave Novog
Professor and NSERC Industrial Research Chair
nuclear safety, reactor physics, thermalhydraulics, multiphysics reactor analysis, nuclear fuel and fuel cycles, severe accident modelling, emergency accident response and mitigation

Dr. John Preston
Professor
Pulsed Laser Deposition, Self-Assembly of Epitaxial Nanostructures, Photovoltaics

Dr. Leyla Soleymani
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Miniaturized Biomedical Devices
biosensing, point-of-care diagnostics, lab-on-a-chip, DNA detection, health monitoring, nanofabrication, wrinkling, rapid prototyping

Dr. Ayse Turak
Associate Professor
nanoparticle synthesis;perovskites;degradation at interfaces in organic electronics; classification of spatial order for 2D objects; modelling and tailoring of organic thin film morphology; photovoltaics; sensors; water splitting; lasers; surface and interface physics

Dr. Chang-qing Xu
Professor
Photonic devices (lasers, optical sensors) and sub-systems for applications such as optical satellite communications, quantum communications, GHG detection, bioinstrumentations, laser display, and bacteria detection.

March 16, 2022 / Department News
Silicon photonics student researcher awarded international Optica Amplify Scholarship for Black scientists, engineers
Hamidu Mbonde, a PhD student in engineering physics, is one of 15 Black students worldwide that has been awarded the prestigious Optica Amplify Scholarship.

December 8, 2021 / Department News
In the Media: The smart packaging that knows if your food is safe to eat
Tohid Didar, professor of biomedical engineering, discusses how smart bio-markers on food packaging, developed by McMaster researchers, can detect contamination and assist food recalls.

December 8, 2021 / Department News
Researchers create contamination test for dairy products, using technology that can be printed inside containers
Researchers have developed a test to reveal bacterial contamination in dairy products well before they have a chance to reach anyone’s lips.

June 28, 2021 / Department News
NSERC awards 14 McMaster Engineering researchers
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has awarded 11 McMaster Engineering researchers through its Discovery research program, and three others have been awarded funding through the Research Tools and Instruments grants program (RTI) and Joint Canada-Germany Projects

May 19, 2021 / Department News
Kathryn Grandfield wins prestigious Human Frontier Science Program grant
Kathryn Grandfield, associate professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering, has received a prestigious grant worth more than $1.3 million for research that could lead to better understanding of — and treatments for — illnesses related to bone density.

October 14, 2020 / Department News
Microscopic bone discovery holds promise for implants and bone diseases
A multidisciplinary team of researchers at McMaster University have discovered a structural feature of human bone that has never been studied before under a microscope, bringing scientists closer to advancing bone implants and treatments for bone diseases.

August 12, 2020 / Department News
Making surfaces repellent to bacteria and viruses with Repel Wrap
In Episode 3 of the Big Ideas for a Changing World podcast, Leyla Soleymani and Tohid Didar share the latest on their bacteria and virus repellent plastic wrap and its potential use during the pandemic.

March 7, 2019 / Department News
International Women's Day: Zeinab Hosseini-Doust and Azucena González Gómez
This year, McMaster Engineering is celebrating International Women's Day by honouring nine women who are supporting each other through mentoring relationships.

March 4, 2019 / Department News
15 questions with Heather Sheardown
Chemical Engineering professor Heather Sheardown, who has been elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineers (AIMBE), answers 15 questions in this rapid-fire interview.

November 26, 2018 / Department News
Fresh Faces: Li Xi
In 2013, Li Xi landed his dream job as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster. In his Fresh Faces spotlight he discusses his upbringing in Suzhou, China, the rewards of connecting with students and decoding experiments on polymer materials.

November 6, 2018 / Department News
Fresh Faces: André Phillion
Welcome to Fresh Faces. In this series, we’re highlighting over 40 engineering faculty members, all hired in the last five years, who are doing interesting and innovative things in the lab and the classroom.

October 24, 2018 / Department News
Researchers design “smart” surfaces, creating promise for safer implants and more accurate diagnostic tests
Researchers at McMaster University have solved a vexing problem by engineering surface coatings that can repel everything, such as bacteria, viruses and living cells, but can be modified to permit beneficial exceptions.

September 13, 2018 / Department News
McMaster engineering professor named Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Gianluigi Botton, an engineering professor in the department of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy, has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

January 23, 2018 / Department News
Making water testing more affordable
Ravi Selvaganapathy's sensors will be useful to others outside of First Nations communities: hydrologists who need a way to monitor rivers, watersheds and reservoirs, for example, or mining companies that want to monitor the integrity of their tailing ponds.

August 15, 2017 / Department News
Engineering researchers receive $1.9 million in federal funding
Six McMaster researchers have been awarded more than $1.9 million combined for infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

June 28, 2017 / Department News
#InsidetheLab: New ideas sprout from nanotechnology
Can innovations in nanotechnology improve plant growth for crop-based farming?