Research with societal impact

McMaster is expanding its nuclear program as its campus reactor drives medical isotopes production, student training and research among amid renewed interest in nuclear energy.

Postdoctoral Fellow Mouna Reda explains how concrete can be made more environmentally friendly through self-healing technology, using microcapsules and bio-based agents to repair cracks automatically.

The 2025 stories of our faculty, staff, alumni and student's expertise, innovations, experiences and more.

Developing luminescent tools for bioimaging and biomedical diagnostics. That’s the goal for Dr. Lucie Haye, postdoctoral fellow in McMaster’s Department of Engineering Physics.

Researchers in the lab of P. Ravi Selvaganapathy, professor and co-director of biomedical engineering at McMaster University, have developed a rapid, low-cost method for creating cell sheets that could transform regenerative medicine — and even cultivated meat production. 

Ramla Qureshi, an assistant professor in Civil Engineering who specializes in fire safety and resilience against extreme hazard, emphasizes the need to return to the fundamentals and research wildfire behaviour in urbanized settings.

McMaster Engineering researcher Sébastien Mosser and a team of international experts are working to make artificial intelligence systems safer, fairer and more transparent for users.

Sara Imani’s research focuses on developing a long-lasting antimicrobial coating for high-touch surfaces in hospitals and public spaces. Applied like paint, the coating forms a thin, nearly invisible film that continuously inactivates pathogens, including drug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA.

While top Google results for microneedle patches point to acne treatments and anti-aging solutions, researchers at McMaster University are proving that these tiny tools can be more than skin-deep. They see an opportunity to transform food safety and sustainability. 

Postdoctoral fellow Timothy Warner’s journey from Melbourne to McMaster began with a shared research interest, leading to diverse projects in chemical engineering.

Engineering professors and students have developed biodegradable seaweed-based tablets to make menstrual cups cleaner and more accessible, reducing its stigma and potentially detecting infections.

Postdoctoral fellow Julia Rosén recently created the RoboConsent Framework, which supports more user-centered, transparent and ethically robust consent processes.