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Raymond Legge |
Mark Pritzker |
Professor
Garry L. Rempel |
Professor
Luis Ricardez Sandoval |
Assistant Professor
Leonardo Simon |
Professor, Associate Chair of Graduate Studies
Leonardo Simon’s research group made advances in 2013,
applying thermoplastics nanocomposites in 3D printing, with a
focus on renewable materials. They collaborated with industry in
automotive and packaging. After two years as Research Associate
with Leonardo, Dr. Mehdi Tajvidi accepted a tenure-track Assistant
Professor position at the University of Maine, where he is starting
a research program in renewable nanomaterials. Several under-
graduate students worked in his research lab during their co-op
terms. One of them, Juliana Soares, an international student from
Brazil took part in the Science Without Borders exchange
program. During her co-op she developed methods allowing
measurement of molecular weight distribution of thermoplastic
starches. In 2013 Leonardo Simon was appointed the Associate
Chair for Graduate Studies. The graduate program in CHE
continues growing. A highlight of 2013 was the use of a newly
developed system, managing application to teaching assistant-
ships and evaluations of TAs.
Mark Pritzker returned from a 1-year sabbatical. He was a
Visiting Scholar at the University of Victoria researching the
electrochemistry of metal deposition and PEM fuel cells with
Prof. David Harrington. Pritzker worked with his students and
colleagues on: Li-ion batteries, solar cells, PEM fuel degrada-
tion, PEM fuel cell catalysts, solid oxide fuel cells, atomistic
simulation modeling of electrochemical deposition and
self-assembly of oligopeptide nanostructures for biological and
materials science applications. He did research projects with
industrial partners: Blackberry (corrosion of electronic compo-
nents) and AFCC Corp. (PEM fuel cell degradation). In 2013,
his PHd student, Shankar Dhanushkodi, graduated and took a
Post-doctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia.
Pritzker participated in the Canadian Chemical Engineering
Conference, IEEE Pulsed Power and Plasma Science Confer-
ence, International Conference on Solderability & Reliability,
Surface Canada 2013, Canadian Biomaterial Society.
During 2013 Garry Rempel had a very productive research year
with 17 new refereed publications, a number of new patents
granted, and 13 co-authored conference presentations. In 2013 he
served as Chair of the Canadian Catalysis Society as well as
serving on a number of other professional committees. He also
received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for
distinguished service to the profession and society.
Luis Ricardez-Sandoval’s research group grew in 2013 with the
addition 1 PhD and 3 MASc. He partnered with a leading Cana-
dian company in the analytical services sector to develop an
optimization-based scheduling algorithm for efficient operations’
management. Due to his work in simultaneous design and
control, Luis will supervise an employee of one of the world’s
leading companies of the design and construction of innovative
chemical engineering pilot plants. In 2013, Luis received funding
from the Federal Government to develop a comprehensive
modelling study to analyze the viability of advanced technologies
for Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle power plants with
CO2 capture. Luis continues to teach undergraduate engineering
courses on process control, computer programming and process
modelling using benchmark software. Luis’s research group
continues to work on multi-scale process systems, optimization of
large-scale industrial applications under uncertainty, and theoreti-
cal studies on industrially-relevant chemical reaction systems.
