Skip to main content
Latest information and updates about COVID-19 (coronavirus) from McMaster University

Podcast: Big Ideas for a Changing World

Innovation is at the heart of McMaster Engineering. Our rapidly changing world demands creative and sustainable solutions.

In each episode, hear from researchers from the Faculty of Engineering and beyond who are transforming discoveries into practical solutions to our world's greatest problems. From rigourously testing medical grade masks to virtually modeling the safe reopening of cities, hear about it on Big Ideas for a Changing World.

Hosted by John Preston, Associate Dean of Research and External Relations.

Episodes

Innovating masks and protective gear for healthcare workers

Guests: 

Ravi Selvaganapathy, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaud, Professor of Medicine and Staff Physician at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS)

Creating an accurate COVID-19 antibody test, and 3D-printing cells for drug research

Guests: 

Ishwar Puri, Dean of Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Rakesh Sahu, Research Associate, Adjunct Assistant Professor in Materials Science and Engineering

Making surfaces repellent to bacteria and viruses with Repel Wrap

Guests:

Leyla Soleymani, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Miniaturized Biomedical Devices, Department of Engineering Physics

Tohid Didar, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering

Getting stable, cost-effective vaccines to remote parts of the world

Guests:

Carlos Filipe, Chair of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University

Sahar Esmaeili Samani, Research Engineer and McMaster Engineering alumna, Elarex Inc.

Simulating virus spread and campus reopening using network science

Guests:

Wael El-Dakhakhni, Professor in Civil Engineering and the McMaster School of Computational Science and Engineering

Zoe Li, Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering

The road to making 1 million face shields, with MMRI and Whitebird

Guests:

Simon Oomen-Hurst, Program Manager, McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI), McMaster Engineering alumnus

Peter Tamminga, Operations Manager, Whitebird

The future of engineering education, according to global experts

Guests: 

Joris Melkert, Director of Education in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands.

Charlette N’Guessan, Co-founder and CEO of the BACE GROUP, an African digital identity software company, and 2020 recipient of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.

Colin Tan, Director of Operations at TusPark UK, a growing science and tech incubator.  

Testing COVID-19 medications using novel drug delivery technology for the eyes

Guests:

Heather Sheardown, Professor in Chemical Engineering and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Ophthalmic Biomaterials

Fran Lasowski, Executive Director, C20/20 Innovation Hub and PhD graduate in Chemical Engineering