Advanced Manufacturing Research at McMaster

Research and Innovation

McMaster Engineering has a well-established reputation as one of Canada's most research-intensive faculties in a range of disciplines from advanced manufacturing, materials, automotive, and nuclear research. We continue to push the boundaries of discovery in emerging areas, such as bio-innovation, micro-nano technology, smart systems, energy, and environmental sustainability.

COVID-19 Research

McMaster Engineering is a community that comes together during a time of crisis.

Visit the Faculty's COVID-19 website for information on how COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is impacting our faculty, staff, and students; learn what our researchers are doing to fight the virus; how we're transforming learning; and what we're doing to support our Fireball Family.

Learn More

Meet Our Experts

Our researchers are working rigorously across disciplines and around the clock and with area hospitals, businesses and community groups to address the unique challenges posed by COVID-19. They are applying their expertise in areas such as advanced manufacturing, bio-innovation and smart systems to design, develop and test PPE and healthcare equipement, develop antiviral drug therapies and coatings, and apply advanced modeling techniques to anticipate future needs and next steps.

Thomas Adams

Associate Chair, Graduate

Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise: Green energy conversion; semicontinuous systems; process design; modeling; simulation and optimization

Covid-19 Research: Predictive mathematical model for Covid-19 vaccine immune response and protective immune memory

Christopher Anand

Associate Professor

Department of Computing and Software

Expertise: Digital & Smart Systems, Health & Bio-Innovation, Micro-Nano Systems

Covid-19 Research: Technology to support remote socially constructivist learning for children: software technology, Design Science, analytics and visualization.

Georgios Balomenos

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Structural Engineering; Resilience and Sustainability of Infrastructure; Multi-hazard Risk Assessment; Resilience-based and Multi-Hazard Design; Risk Analysis of Interdependent Infrastructure; Structural Reliability and Optimization

Covid-19 Research: Risk Assessment adn resilience of educational institutions exposed to airborne infectious diseases

Nabil Bassim

Acting Scientific Director, Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Expertise: Structure-Processing-Property Relationships, Electron Microscopy, Focused Ion Beam Microscopy, Nanomaterials, 2-D materials, Image Processing, Beam-Sample interactions, Structural Materials (Concrete, Metallurgical Alloys), Nanofabrication

Covid-19 Research: Rigorously testing surgical and N95 mask designs to create better masks

Lofti Belkhir

Chair in Eco-Entrepreneurship

W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Expertise: Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Covid-19 Research: Use of Thermal Imaging for wave-form setting for pressure-controlled Ventilation in covid’19 patients,

Jonathan Bradley

Barber-Gennum Chair in IT

Department of Engineering Physics

Expertise: biomaterials; surface modification; protein and cell interactions; blood contacting medical devices; polymers

Covid-19 Research: Lab-on-a-chip device for testing antibodies to Covid-19

Fei Chiang

Associate Professor

Department of Computing and Software

Expertise: database systems; data quality; data privacy; data analytics; information extraction; text mining

Covid-19 Research: Develop a system which monitors seniors in long-term care homes remotely by using AI, big data and cloud computing, PRedicting the recovery path of Covid-19 Patients

Hubert DeBruin

Co Director

Department of Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences

Expertise: Development of new computer-based systems and techniques for recording and analysing physiological signals in the basic research and clinical medical laboratories; Theoretical and in-vivo experimental response of motor neurons to different modes of stimulation of human compound nerves

Covid-19 Research:Testing and deciding on the best face shield design to mass manufacture for healthcare workers

Charles de Lannoy

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemical Enigneering

Expertise: Functional surfaces and thin films, polymer nanocomposite materials, active membranes for desalination, water and wastewater treatment, fouling, membranes for gas separation, CO2 capture, nanosorbents

Covid-19 Research: Research on Rapid Testing-Validation of Alternative Materials for L3 and N95 facemasks

Sarah Dickson

Associate Chair, Graduate

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Hydrogeology; Fractured Rock; Contaminant Transport; Particulate Contaminants; Pathogen Transport; Point-of-Use Water Treatment; Local Water Security

Covid-19 Research: Develop a system which monitors seniors in long-term care homes remotely by using AI, big data and cloud computing

Tohid Didar

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Expertise: Biomedical devices; Bio-sensing; Microfluidics; Bio-functional Interfaces, Bio-hybrid micro/nano-robots

Covid-19 Research: Developed a self-cleaning surface that can repel all forms of bacteria to prevent transfer of bacteria

Douglas Down

Professor

Department of Computing and Software

Expertise: performance evaluation; stochastic models; data centres; scheduling

Covid-19 Research: Data-driven resource allocation methodology for distribution of healthcare resources among geographical areas

Thomas Doyle

Associate Professor

McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering

Expertise: Biomedical signal processing; Human-computer interfacing (HCI); Machine learning for the augmentation, rehabilitation, and enhancement of human attributes

Covid-19 Research: Designing and testing a ventilator that can be made locally to help in the fight against COVID-19

Mo Elbestawi

Director

W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Expertise: Advanced Manufacturing

Covid-19 Research: Modifying sleep apnea machines into ventilators for hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring invasive ventilation

Wael El-Dakhakhni

Martini, Mascarin, and George Chair in Masonry Design

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Complex Interdependent Networks & Systems Simulation; Data-driven Models; Systemic Risk & Resilience Quantification; Performance Prediction under Multi-hazard Scenarios.

Covid-19 Research: Integrating machine learning to aid Canada’s crisis response, Research on the Effectiveness of Masks in Limiting Covid-19 Transmission

Mohammed Ezzeldin

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Earthquake Engineering; Reinforced Masonry Systems; Dynamic Testing; Resilient Infrastructure Systems; Risk Assessment; Data Analytics

Covid-19 Research: Optimizing 3D Printing for Face Shields, SPIDeR: Virtual Reality-enabled System , Developing a Covid-19 web portal for Research, Industry and Policymakers Eco-system, Machine learning approach for Performance Predictions, A Network-of Networks Analysis and Decision Support

Qiyin Fang

Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biophotonics

Department of Engineering Physics, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Expertise: biophotonics, microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy & imaging, intelligent sensing for point-of-care, aging-in-place, & environmental monitoring

Covid-19 Research: Modifying sleep apnea machines into ventilators for hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring invasive ventilation, Developing a high content confocal microscope for Covid-19 research

Carlos Filipe

Professor

Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise: We create engineering solutions for a healthier society: thermal stabilization of vaccines, enzymes, antibodies, and phage; application of functional nucleic acids for biosensing including the development of materials able to detect pathogenic bacteria.

Covid-19 Research: Creating a test kit that people can use from the comfort of their homes, Create and validate a process to thermally stabilize the key reagents used in reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of Covid-19

Fei Geng

Assistant Professor

W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Expertise: Biotechnology

Covid-19 Research: High-Throughput Genomics research to develop “smart” antibodies against COVID-19

Kathryn Grandfield

Associate Professor

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Expertise: biomaterials; osseointegration; electron microscopy; mineralized tissues; electron tomography; atom probe tomography

Covid-19 Research: Modifying sleep apnea machines into ventilators for hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring invasive ventilation

Mohamed Hassan

Assistant Professor

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Expertise: computer architecture; embedded systems; cyber-physical systems; hardware verification; systems-on-chip; digital design; verification; security; Internet-of-Things

Covid-19 Research: Limiting COVID-19 Widespread by Intelligently Managing Public Transportation: A Research Proposal, IoT for remote patient monitoring

Todd Hoare

Associate Professor

Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise: nanotechnology, interfacial engineering, biomaterials engineering, polymer science, pharmaceutical science

Covid-19 Research: Testing mask prototypes and refining the technology needed for new medical masks, Sprayable coatings enabling long-acting viral deactivation on high touch surfaces, Delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs for acute pulmonary inflammation

Zeinab Hosseini-Doust

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise: Bacteriophage Biotechnology, Bacterial Biofilms, Phage Antimicrobials, Targeted Antimicrobial Delivery, Biohybrid Systems

Covid-19 Research: Rigorously testing surgical and N95 mask designs to create better masks, Investigating PPE Filtration/Barrier Efficiency Againts Aerosloized Bacteria

Mohamed Hussein

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Active modes of travel; enhancing road safety to support sustainability; application of innovation tools; AI; machine learning; computer vision; agent-based modeling to analyze road-user behaviour; Risk-based design of Highways and Transportation networks

Covid-19 Research: IntelliEye: A Vision-based Machine Learning System for Detecting Risky Behaviors in Ontario Healthcare Facilities

Kim Jones

Associate Professor

Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise: tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, immune and inflammatory responses to biomaterials, host remodelling of implanted constructs

Covid-19 Research: Optimizing online collaboration with other universities for Covid-19 research, Impact of covid-19 return to work on women

Andy Knights

Director of CEDT

Department of Engineering Physics

Expertise: silicon optical circuits; silicon integrated optics

Covid -19 Research: Developing a Bio-Sensor for Covid-19

Gail Krantzberg

Professor

W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Expertise: Public Policy; Great Lakes Science, Policy and Governance

Covid-19 Research: Assess and build resiliency in our city infrastructure to deal with emerging global threats

David Latulippe

Associate Professor

Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise: separation processes for water/wastewater treatment, biopartitioning and purification, microscale processing for high-throughput studies,unit operation modeling and optimization

Covid-19 Research: Rigorously testing surgical and N95 mask designs to create better masks

Zoe Li

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Uncertainty Analysis; Risk Management; Stochastic Modelling; Water Resources Management; Climate Change Impacts; Environmental Systems Analysis

Covid-19 Research: Integrating machine learning to aid Canada’s crisis response

Michelle MacDonald

Co-Director

Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences

Expertise: biomedical, interdisciplinary

Covid-19 Research: 3D Printing and Testing of Face Shield Designs for Healthcare Workers

Colin McDonald

Director of Engineering 1

Engineering 1

Expertise: Engineering Education; Interdisciplinarity; Biomechanics; Musculoskeletal Imaging

Covid-19 Research: 3D Printing and Testing of Face Shield Designs for Healthcare Workers

Moataz Mohamed

Assitant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Systemic Impacts and Risk Analysis; Electrification of Transit Systems; Optimization Models and Adaptive Systems; Public Transit Modelling and Operation; Autonomous, Connected, and Electric Mobility; Multivariate Data Analysis; Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA); Intelligent Transportation Systems; Transportation Planning and Demand Modelling; Preferences and Choice Modelling

Covid-19 Research: Autonomous Drones for Las-Mile Delivery: System Design & Simulation

Zahra Motamed

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Expertise: Medical devices, Medical imaging; Diagnostic, Intervention-predictive and intervention-optimization tools

Covid-19 Research: Monitoring COVID-19 patientes and predict catastrophic events such as heart faulure and heart attack, Developing a motor driver card to the needs of fans for maximum performance of ventilation capacities.

Mehdi Narimani

Assistant Professor

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Expertise: Power Electronics ; High-Power Conversion ; Medium-Voltage Motor Drives ; Application of Power Electronics in Power Systems ; Modeling and Control of Power Electronic Converters ; Renewable Energy Systems

Covid-19 Research: Developing a motor driver card to the needs of fans for maximum performance of ventilation capacities

Michael Noseworthy

Co-Director

McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering

Expertise: Assessment of normal and diseased tissue microstructure and the resultant modulation of tissue metabolism using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and in vivo nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy ; Diseases of interest include cancer, musculoskeletal disorders and traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Covid-19 Research: 3D Printing and Testing of Face Shield Designs for Healthcare Workers

John Preston

Associate Dean, Research and External Relations

Faculty of Engineering

Expertise: Pulsed Laser Deposition, Self-Assembly of Epitaxial Nanostructures, Photovoltaics

Covid-19 Research: Rigorously testing surgical and N95 mask designs to create better masks

Ishwar Puri

Dean of Engineering

Faculty of Engineering

Expertise: Transport Phenomena; Heat Transfer, Energy Storage; Fluid Mechanics; Self Assembly & Nanostructure Synthesis; Combustion & Pollutant Airborne Emissions; Mathematical Biology; Bioinspired Computational Biology

Covid-19 Research: Developing a home-based Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Covid-19, rapid bioprinting of ring structures for drug screening

Amin Rajabzadeh

Program Chair, Biotechnology

W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Expertise: Biochemical Engineering; Biosensors; Separation Processes; CFD

Covid-19 Research: Point of Care Diagnostic Device to Detect SARS-CoV in Saliva

Saiedeh Razavi

Director of McMaster Institute for Transportation & Logistics

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Construction; Transportation; Construction Work Zone; Smart Construction; Intelligent Transportation Systems; Safety; Mobility; Connected Vehicle; Autonomous Vehicle; Smart Cities; Infrastructure Management; Logistics; Sensing; Automation; Data Fusion; Risk Analysis; Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning

Covid-19 Research: Assessing the Logistics of Employment in Ontario during and after Covid-19

James Reily

Professor Emeritus

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Expertise: Statistical signal processing, including blind signal separation, blind deconvolution, image processing, and applications of numerical Bayesian estimation (MCMC) techniques

Covid-19 Research: Using machine learning to perform epidemic spread prediction for Covid-19 in Canada

Oleg Rubel

Assistant Professor

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Expertise: Materials modeling; density functional theory; solar cells; lasers; LEDs; quantum materials; 2D materials

Covid-19 Research: Paint with COVID-19 antiviral properties

Kyla Sask

Assistant Professor

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Expertise: biomaterials; surface modification; protein and cell interactions; blood contacting medical devices; polymers

Covid-19 Research: Lab-on-a-chip device for testing antibodies to Covid-19

Ravi Selvaganapathy

Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biomicrofluidics

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Expertise: Micro/Nanofabrication; Bioprinting; Biomedical Microdevices; Microelectromechanical Systems; Microfluidics; Medical and Environmental Sensors; Smart Textiles; Artificial Organs

COVID-19 Research: Scientific Lead on development, design and testing of PPE including surgical and N95 masks, Research on the use of plasma treatment technology for sterilization of personnel protective equipment such as masks, Lab-on-a-chip device for testing antibodies to Covid-19

Heather Sheardown

Professor

Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise: biomaterials, tissue engineering, mathematical modeling of physiologic processes, ophthalmic drug delivery

Covid-19 Research: anti-inflammatory and anti-viral drug therapies for lung-related COVID-19 illness.

Shahram Shirani

Associate Chair, Undergraduate

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Expertise: Visual Communications ; Image and Video Compression ; Image/Video Indexing and Retrieval ; Robust Video Transmission over Error Prone Networks ; Image and Video Processing ; VLSI Architectures for Real-Time Signal and Image Processing ; Multimedia Hardware Architectures ; Ultrasonic Imaging

Covid-19 Research: Using machine learning to perform epidemic spread prediction for Covid-19 in Canada

Leyla Soleymani

Canada Research Chair in Miniaturized Biomedical Devices

Department of Engineering Physics

Expertise: biosensing, point-of-care diagnostics, lab-on-a-chip, DNA detection, health monitoring, nanofabrication, wrinkling, rapid prototyping

Covid-19 Research: Developed a self-cleaning surface that can repel all forms of bacteria to prevent transfer of bacteria, RepelWrap for viruses, Developing a DIY Covid-19 test

Michael Tait

Department Chair

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Structural Dynamics; Structural Monitoring; Retrofit of Structures; Rehabilitation of Structures; Tuned Liquid Dampers; Tuned Liquid Column Dampers; Tuned Mass Dampers; Blast Loading

Covid-19 Research: Modelling Covod-19 Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics to Develop Decision-Making Framework for Ontario

Ayse Turak

Associate Professor

Department of Engineering Physics

Expertise: degradation at interfaces in organic electronics; classification of spatial order for 2D objects; modelling and tailoring of organic thin film morphology; nanoparticle synthesis; photovoltaics; surface and interface physics

Covid-19 Research: Anti viral nanoparticles for surfaces

Stephen Veldhuis

Director (MMRI) and Braley-Orlick Chair in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Expertise: Manufacturing; Machine tools; Precision machining; Ultra precision machining; Manufacturing process modeling & simulation; Tribology; Nano indentation; Surface engineering; Hard wear protective coatings; Process optimization

Covid-19 Research: Working with St. Joe’s Healthcare to source “critical supplies” for COVID-19 test kits

Tom Wanyama

Program Chair, Automation Engineering Technology

W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology

Expertise: Automation Engineering Technology

Covid-19 Research: Develop a system which monitors seniors in long-term care homes remotely by using AI, big data and cloud computing

Gregory Wohl

Associate Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Expertise: Biomechanics

Covid-19 Research: Modifying sleep apnea machines into ventilators for hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring invasive ventilation

Chang-qing Xu

Associate Chair, Graduate

Department of Engineering Physics

Expertise: bacterial sensors; biomedical lasers for diagnosis and treatment; periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN); PPLN related devices; lasers (solid, fibre, semiconductor); optical sensors and sub-systems; laser applications

Covid-19 Research: Research and development on rapid and accurate on-site SARS-CoV-2 antibody test based on microflow cytometry immunoassay (MCIA)

Cancan Yang

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Prestressed Concrete Bridges; Structural Application of Novel Materials; Damage Mitigation; Accelerated Bridge Construction; Seismic Resiliency and Sustainability; Large-scale Structural Testing; Nonlinear Structural Analysis; Reinforced Concrete Structures

Covid-19 Research: Assessing the COVID-19 Hospital Exhaust Dispersion and its Consequence on Public Safety

Hao Yang

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Expertise: Autonomous Driving; Congestion Mitigation; Urban Transportation; Human Mobility; Energy Efficiency

Covid-19 Research: Developing Multi-Modal On-demand Services to support Ontario Public Transportation During and After COVID-19

Boyang Zhang

Assistant Professot

Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise: Tissue engineering, biomaterials engineering, microfluidics, organ-on-a-chip engineering, advanced biofabrication, regenerative medicine, high-throughput drug screening

Covid-19 Research: testing mask prototypes and refining the technology needed for new medical masks.