Research Team

Yasmine's research focuses on the design, manufacturing, and rigorous analysis of polymer based composite materials. Through this rigorous data analysis and digital modelling, Yasmine is establishing a deeper understanding of the structure-property relationship of composite structures in digital simulation techniques relating manufacturing to long-term structure performance.

Dr. Arjmand is recognized as a leading and award-winning researcher in the field of nanotechnology and polymer engineering. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus (UBCO), a Canada Research Chair in “Advanced Materials and Polymer Engineering”, and the lead of the Plastic Recycling Research Cluster (PRRC) at UBCO.

Susan's overall research goal is environmental sustainability of Canadian society through bioremediation where active (reactor-based) and passive (natural) processes are studied that involve microbes and biomonitoring, which concerns the use of biological organisms for monitoring potential deleterious impacts from industrial and other human activities.

Fellow of The Canadian Academy of Engineering

Joerg is a world leader in the fields of plant and forestry genomics and in plant natural products biology. He is distinguished for his research on the genomics of defence and resistance mechanisms of conifers against insect pests and insect-associated fungal pathogens, as well as on plant terpenoid biochemistry. New systems for high value bioproducts, as well as groundbreaking approaches for conifer improvement, are emerging from this work.

Nadine’s research focuses on understanding the fate of organic molecules in the atmosphere with implications for air quality and climate. Her research team uses field-deployable mass spectrometers, aerosol instruments and cloud chambers to study the fate of pollutants in the air that we breathe. For example, her team studies wildfire smoke, termed brown carbon, to determine how atmospheric biomass burning generates oxidants and nucleates clouds.

The focus of Harry’s research is to understand the way in which particular enzymes act to alter the structure of polysaccharides found in biomass (especially plant cell walls and wood fibers), and to harness these enzymes for application. The discovery and characterisation of new enzymes involved in these processes provides a foundation for the development of enzyme technology for the improved use of renewable biomass resources in the forest products, agricultural, and textile industries.

Gary has spent most of his early career working as a management consultant, an economist for two large forest product companies and as an economist for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.  Today he is a professor of forest economics and management at UBC and department head.  His focus is on timber suppy and carbon or bioenergy economics; international trade in forest products and the assessment of forest carbon financing.

Emily and her team are designing high-performance materials to replace those that are based on non-renewable resources by learning from nature and using bio-based components. Their current focus is on the production, functionalization and characterization of cellulose nanocrystals aimed at tailoring interfacial properties for nano-enhanced and nano-enabled bioproducts.

Joe’s research tests emergent materials in two different registers. Quantitative methods measure their structural and environmental performance, while their qualitative spatial and cultural potentials are evaluated through public architectural installations. His research provides pathways for emergent materials derived from regionally specific biological and geological processes to enter architectural practice. These materials offer new expressive capabilities to architects while positively affecting local ecosystems.

With extensive industry background, Chunping is interested in both fundamental and applied research in wood and bamboo-based composites. His current research areas include: - Modeling and innovative manufacturing of engineered wood products; - Round and engineered bamboo products for sustainable building applications; - Natural fiber composites for bio-packaging; - Improvement of veneer and strand-based composites; and - Bamboo processing and utilization technology.

Dr. Dee’s research uses biophysical tools and protein engineering to study protein folding and aggregation, particularly amyloid fibrils (aka nanofibrils). Certain amyloid fibrils play a role in disease, while functional protein nanofibrils hold promise for a variety of applications, including as adhesives, cell-culture scaffolding, biosensors, encapsulants, and food ingredients. Current projects include the conversion of plant proteins into nanofibrils for use as meat-analogues, and the use of bioconjugation to create functionalized nanofibrils.

Naoko’s expertise lies in the area of multiphase reaction engineering with emphasis on fluidized beds. Some current projects include: CO2 capture; biomass gasification and pyrolysis; chemical looping combustion; pyrolysis product utilization including bio-oil and biochar applications; and biofuels. In particular, she is involved in utilizing biomass through production of liquid fuel from biomass waste, developing biochar for capacitive deionization, tar reduction in biomass gasifiers.

Lindsay’s primary research interest is bacterial enzymes and pathways responsible for the degradation of aromatic compounds, including lignin, and steroids. His most significant contributions, including the first characterization of a bacterial lignin-degrading enzyme, have changed the way we think about how important classes of enzymes work and how certain pathogens survive in their hosts. Lindsay’s research has important implications for the development of novel biocatalysts for more sustainable processes as well as the development of novel therapeutics.

Fellow of The Canadian Academy of Engineering

Haibo received his PhD training in UBC Civil Engineering in the field of Sustainable Construction. He was an Assistant Professor for over 2 years at Northumbria University in the UK before joining the Department of Wood Science at UBC Forestry. He also worked in construction industry for over 6 years on construction management and sustainable building design.

Johan’s research currently focuses on structuration, functionalization and fundamental aspects of reinforcement and deformation in polymers and bio-products, and the application of that science to engineering of novel implantable materials and lightweight materials, 3D printing and various responsive “smart-polymers-and-materials” applications.

Dr. Frostad's research group investigates the physical models and mechanisms that govern complex food systems, agricultural sprays, oil spills and their remediation, complex fluid-fluid interfaces, as well as other multiphase fluid systems. Such investigations often require measurements that cannot be made with commercially available research tools, so his lab regularly designs and builds novel instrumentation for making these measurements.

Research in Derek’s group bridges the traditional areas of inorganic chemistry and polymer science. The development of synthetic methodologies to prepare new macromolecules with interesting structures and properties is a challenging frontier in chemistry. Derek’s group has developed synthetic methods to prepare unprecedented polymers that incorporate phosphorus atoms into the backbone. These new macromolecules possess unique physical and chemical properties.

Bhushan Gopaluni is a professor in the department of chemical and biological engineering and an Associate Dean for Education and Professional Development in the faculty of Applied Science at the University of British Columbia. He is also an associate faculty member in the Institute of Applied Mathematics, the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems, Pulp and Paper Center and the Clean Energy Research Center. He was the Elizabeth and Leslie Gould Teaching Professor from 2014 to 2017.

Dana’s core research areas are in Biofluid Mechanics, Liquid crystals, Multiphase flow, Fluid Mechanics, Computational fluid dynamics, and Rheology. A few accomplishments: Development of new robust and efficient computational methods to simulate 2D and 3D flows of liquid crystalline materials in complex geometries potentially for industrial and biomedical applications. Fundamental understanding of synovial fluid rheological behavior, and the effect of viscosupplements and glucosamine on it.

Sheldon is a specialist in industrial fluid mechanics, and more specifically the application of experimental and numerical techniques to study and resolve industrially relevant fluid mechanics problems.  His research has involved the experimental and CFD study of papermaking forming fabric flow and, more recently, dryer fabric performance, and the interaction of spray droplets and spray jets with moving surfaces, which is relevant to the application of friction control materials to railroad tracks.

Junling Guo received his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He pioneered research on polyphenol-based engineering of particles and thin-film systems, including metal-phenolic network (MPN) and polyphenol-based modular assembly method.

Steven harnesses the awesome power of environmental genomics to explore the microcosmos, describing microbial community structure and function across a wide range of natural and human engineered ecosystems. Each of his projects shares a core set of interdisciplinary tools sourced from ecology, molecular biology, genetics and computer science, and each views microbial community members as cellular constituents within the body of an ecosystem providing essential nutritional, energetic or detoxification services through distributed networks of metabolite exchange and feedback regulation.

Savvas has over 25 years of experience in the rheology of complex fluids including polymer melts and their blends, suspensions, gels and pastes. His group is using rheology as a probe to gain a better understanding of structural changes taking place in complex systems under flow. Primary focus is on polymer melts of controlled molecular architecture, nanocrystalline cellulose suspensions, gels and pastes.

The Hudson group is focused on developing new bio-based polymers for use in compostable plastics. Tens of billions of pieces of single-use plastics end up in rivers, oceans and landfills every year, most of which take thousands of years to naturally break down. Food and beverage packaging is the single largest source of single-use plastic waste, with only a small fraction of that ever being recycled.

Reinhard's research interests focus on the formation, composition, structure, properties and function of plant surface waxes. Lipids play a pivotal role in all interactions between plants and their biotic and abiotic environment. Integrative research in his lab spans secondary metabolites, wax accumulation and recovery after damage, biosynthetic pathway of enzymes, cloning of relevant genes and expression studies, characterization of infochemicals at the plant surface, and wax compounds forming the transpiration barrier.

Feng’s research interest lies in converting naturally abundant biomass into functional nanocellulose and assembled structures. His strategies include: (1) developing green and efficient isolation/modification pathways to reduce production cost and diversify surface chemistry, (2) assembling nanocellulose into hierarchical structures including fibres, films, hydrogel/aerogel, and nanocomposites, and (3) designing novel structures and functionalities for targeted applications in environmental remediation, biomedicine, structure and building, as well as energy storage and harvesting.

Jaya Joshi is a synthetic biologist interested in the directed evolution of enzymes to transform inefficient designer biocatalysts into highly active enzymes. Jaya recently finished a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Andrew Hanson at the University of Florida and moved to Dr. Vincent Martin’s lab at the Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics, Montreal, to explore the enormous power of biofoundries in the field of synthetic biology.

Patrick's current research activities include internal combustion engine studies focusing on novel combustion strategies utilizing natural gas (NG) and biofuels, in particular the development of instrumentation, diagnostic techniques, and phenomenological models. He is developing a membrane reactor research program, with a focus on the surface fuel conversion processes and the development of practical reactor configurations for fuel conversion.

Building on a tradition of creative design and fabrication of fibre based surgical implants, the Advanced Fibrous Materials Laboratory is dedicated to the development of a nanofiber platform for tissue engineering scaffolds in orthopedic, vascular and neual prostheses.

Dr. Kontogiorgos received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Food Science from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). A full scholarship was then awarded from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) for PhD studies in Food Science at the University of Guelph (Canada), where he investigated the physical chemistry of foods at sub-zero temperatures. After his PhD, he worked as an NSERC research fellow at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Canada), studying the phase behaviour of mixed protein-polysaccharide food systems.

Rob’s current research and teaching interests revolve around sustainable business management practices and issues and providing business-based solutions to complex problems related to sustainable development, forestry, wood products and the emerging conservation economy. Currently, his work focuses on the wellbeing of forest-dependent communities, international development and poverty alleviation strategies, forest certification, corporate social responsibility, and forest sector sustainability and competitiveness.

Hongbin’s research currently focuses on elastomeric protein-based biomaterials and single molecule protein mechanics. He and his research team are developing rational approaches to engineer protein-based biomaterials with tailored mechanical properties by using well-characterized single protein building blocks. His work is bridging the gap between single molecule mechanics and mechanics of macroscopic biomaterials.

Taking inspiration from nature, he assembles new materials with hierarchical structures on the nanoscale. Much of his research is aimed at developing new materials using biopolymers – cellulose and chitin – as a template. Using cellulose nanocrystals, for example, his team has constructed glasses and plastics that mimic the structure and iridescence of beetle shells. Furthermore, they have developed new cellulosic materials that can be used for pressure sensing and as hosts for nanomaterials.

Mansfield and his team use a combination of molecular biology, biochemistry, analytical chemistry and plant cell wall characterization techniques to elucidate the role of various biosynthetic pathways in the development, growth, chemistry and ultrastructure of secondary xylem formation in trees or plants.

Dr. Manso received her D.D.S. degree at the University of Londrina, Brazil, Master of Science in Restorative Dentistry at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and PhD in Dental Biomaterials at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Additionally, she holds two specialty degrees, in Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry along with 28 years of private practice experience.   

The focus of Mark's research is on fluid mechanics, flow visualization, multiphase flows and computational fluid dynamics with applications to industrial problems. He is currently working on the following research projects:

Parisa’s research focuses on catalysis and bridges inorganic and polymer chemistry. She has developed indium and zinc catalysts for the selective and controlled polymerization of lactones, some bio-sourced, to form biodegradable material. These catalytic systems have allowed the precise formation of block copolymers and star shaped polymers as well as immortal polymerization of various monomers in the presence of alcohols. These catalytic systems are air and moisture tolerant, limit the need for purification of monomers, and make reactivity with bio-based monomers possible.

Carl's group studies biological, organic and inorganic materials, using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as the primary tool. The current projects include:

Bill has made pioneering advances in understanding bacterial metabolism of terpenoid compounds, including plant defense compounds and steroids, as well as understanding complex microbiomes residing in soil, wastewater treatment systems and humans.  They are also studying the composition of complex microbial communities in soil and marine environments and are working to understand how the composition of communities relates to the important ecological services provided by those communities.

Dr. Mohseni's research focuses on water quality and the application of advanced water treatment processes to improve the quality of drinking water. He specifically works on the development, evaluation, and implementation of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), particularly UV-based AOPs, ion exchange, and electrochemical processes. His laboratory's research involves laboratory-scale development and investigation, as well as pilot scale and field evaluation of the technologies under real operating conditions at several partner community sites.

Michael's research interests lie in how bacteria respond to stresses such as iron limitation, antibiotics, and barriers to motility. The systems used by bacteria to overcome these stresses are required for growth during infection and are potential targets for therapy. He investigates the function of proteins involved in stress response through a combination of structure determination, genetic phenotypes, and biochemical assays.

William Nikolakis, PhD, LLB, BBus practices law in British Columbia, and practiced in Australia. His focus is on the intersection between Aboriginal rights and natural resources law.

An industry leading expert in the application of physics and fluid mechanics, James Olson’s research has led to revolutionary developments in the pulp and paper industry.  He currently leads a five-year university-industry collaborative research program whose  primary goal is to reduce energy consumption in allied industry through the development of several innovative technologies.

Gregory's research spans a wide range of forest management problems, with a focus on the application of operations research (OR) methods. His interests lie in the complex intersection of forest science, forest economics, forest and industrial engineering, data science, computer science, and operations research. He aims to solve complex decision problems relating to forest resources management using a mathematical optimization approach.

Anubhav and his team have been developing various novel physical processes and novel technologies for obtaining sustainable improvements in food quality and nutrition. Novel thermal processing technologies like agitation and reciprocating agitation processing, extrusion and HTST/UHT processing; and non-thermal processing technologies like pulsed light, high-pressure processing, microwave-vacuum dehydration, ultrasonication, cold plasma etc. are some of the technologies that Anubhav and his team specializes on.

Scott’s research program focuses on creating advanced renewable materials through cutting-edge science that will catalyze a green economy.  These sustainable products sourced from nature are stronger, lighter, and more energy efficient than their petroleum analogs.  He uses materials such as high performance fibres, transparent films and coatings, and nanocomposites in applications for automobile, aerospace, building, and the emerging additive manufacturing industries.

Research interests include: Forest Operations Wildfire Operations Biomass supply systems Feedstock quality improvements Technology transfer of harvesting technologies in different operational environments Small scale harvesting systems Small scale bioenergy solutions Awards Recognition Award – Canadian Forest Service 2017

Prof. Rojas is the 2018 Recipient of the Anselme Payen Award and is an elected Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.  He leads the UBC BioProducts Institute. Nanomaterials, colloids and surfaces form the basis of Prof. Rojas’ cross-disciplinary approach to understanding the fundamental principles involved in the design, manufacture and performance of biobased systems.

Jack’s research specializes on turning forest residues into liquid fuels and chemicals, in what is called the biorefining concept. He expects that new technologies will allow many chemicals and fuels that are currently products of oil refining to be produced more sustainably and, more economically, from biomass sources such as forestry residues or forestry energy crops such as fast rotation poplar.

Research in Samuels' lab integrates plant biochemistry with plant cell biology to discover how cellulose and lignin are made during wood formation. The formation of wood in the annual growth rings of trees is the most vivid example of how plant cells use carbon captured during photosynthesis to produce biomass that is rich in cellulose and lignin. Our approach is to integrate advanced microscopy techniques with molecular biology and biochemistry to discover the cellular mechanisms of biomass production.

Laurel’s research interests bridge the areas of organometallic and organic chemistry.  She has developed a new class of early transition metal complexes for use in selective carbon-nitrogen and carbon-carbon bond forming reactions of industrial relevance.  Applications in generated value-added products, such as pharmaceuticals and functional materials, from biomass derived starting materials is an emerging area of research focus.  These new catalytic systems build toward the minimization of waste and maximization of energy efficiency by using metals of low toxicity for sustainable approache

Four research areas occupy Peyman's research and collaboration: Low-cost flexible solar cells and storage devices—develop novel nanomaterials and nanocomposites for low-cost and scalable solar energy generation and electricity storage; Wearable health monitoring sensors and systems—novel nanofiber materials can be used to increase accuracy and decrease power consumption and improve comfort of future wearable sensors; Novel display technologies; and Growth and modelling of nanowires and nanostructures complete the quartet of his research focus.

Sumi's research focuses on the design and development of new technologies for mixing soil targeted to improve ground conditions. Optimizing the application of environmentally safe soil stabilizers will significantly enhance the strength and performance of problematic soft soils. Sumi also investigates thermal-hydraulic-mechanical behaviour of engineered barrier materials to improve their role in containment systems for highly toxic waste.

The aim of our research is to better understand the relationships between heterogeneous catalyst properties, reaction kinetics and reaction mechanisms, so as to assist in the design and development of improved catalysts and catalytic processes. We focus on issues related to the Canadian energy scene. Current research activities include an investigation of hydrogen production by catalytic methane decomposition, synthesis gas conversion to alcohols and hydrocarbons, residue and bio-oil hydroconversion (upgrading) as well as hydrogen storage using heteroaromatic liquids.

Shahab’s core research is in feedstock engineering focusing on harvesting, drying, fractionating, and densification of cellulosic biomass. The work has evolved in two fronts: (1) experimenting with innovative biomass preprocesses to acquire engineering data for design and optimum operation of individual unit operations; and (2) developing engineering models for simulation of unit operations for optimizing the entire supply chains. 

Biomass utilization, its optimization and management in supply chains have been the focus of Taraneh's research the past seven years.

The aims of Suzana's research programme are twofold: Increase the applicability of solid state NMR by improving current methods and developing new solid state NMR techniques for the structure determination of membrane peptides and proteins, and Study biologically and pharmaceutically important proteins in their native environment (e.g. antimicrobial peptides and viral membrane proteins) or in aggregated states (fusion peptides) using solid state NMR and complementary biophysical techniques.

After a career in engineering design and strategic consulting, Paul joined the Chemical Engineering Department at Polytechnique in 2000 to become Chairholder of the first NSERC Chair in Design Engineering. In 2010 Paul co-founded, and is today Principal Consultant of EnVertis Consulting, a global boutique consultancy that assists companies with their business transformation in the bioeconomy.

Michael Tam moved from Singapore to Canada to join the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo in 2007 as a tenured full professor. Tam's research interest focuses on the microscopic and macroscopic properties of self-assembly systems such as surfactants, block copolymers, and associative polymers. The scope of his research includes polymer synthesis using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), physical characterization using light scattering (static and dynamic), rheometry, and calorimetry (ITC and DSC).

Heather's research focus is explore and harness fundamental knowledge of biomass fractionation and conversion for maximum economic and environmental benefit. Some specific research interests are i) Fundamentals of biomass deconstruction to separate carbohydrates from lignin, ii) Recovery and purification of extractives and iii) Heterogeneous catalysis for chemical production.  Dr. Trajano searches for biorefining opportunities that complement existing forestry operations by utilizing waste streams and by-products.

Dr. Qingshi Tu’s research combines industrial ecology principles with computational modeling to promote the sustainable development of bioeconomy.

Hamish’s research focuses on sustainable supply chain governance, eco-labeling and sustainability certifications, and the impacts of online activism on business behaviour. As a political scientist by training, he is interested in the rise of private governance and the growing role of businesses and markets in addressing environmental challenges. Prior to joining UBC, Hamish held research positions at McGill University and Yale University.

Siyun's research goal is to contribute to novel food safety technologies that will help reduce national and global burden of foodborne illnesses. Recent advances in high-throughput OMICs and big data have led to considerable breakthroughs in microbial food safety research, and the impact of her work continues to be enhanced by the application of such technologies. Siyun uses comparative transcriptomics and genomics approaches to identify and characterize novel genetic factors associated with the persistence of foodborne pathogens in food supply systems.

Stephen focuses primarily upon enzymes that catalyse glycoside formation and hydrolysis, since these play crucial roles in all areas of biology. Applications of his research range from the development of new catalysts for industrial processes to the design, synthesis and testing of new therapeutics.  Particular emphasis is on investigating the detailed mechanisms of enzymes that carry out glycoside hydrolysis, and indeed contributed heavily to the understanding of cellulase catalysis.

Vikram’s research harnesses metabolic and enzyme engineering to investigate, tailor and express biosynthetic enzymes that can convert biomass-derived feedstocks into better fuels and pharmaceuticals under benign conditions without using hazardous reagents and solvents.

Tianxi's research focuses on the development of innovative analytical technologies and advanced materials to improve the safety, sustainability, and resilience of agricultural and food systems. The Yang Lab applies interdisciplinary approaches from Food Science, Analytical Chemistry, Material Science, and Nanotechnology to address current and emerging challenges in sustainable food production and the agri-food industry.

Overall research focus is on rural energy in developing countries, climate change, and the tradeoffs inherent in solving global environmental problems through local development projects. He practises an interdisciplinary approach that combines technical and social analysis to address important policy-relevant questions at the interface of technology, environment and development.

Beyond traditional wastewater treatment design approaches, Ryan’s goal is to integrate genomic information on the metabolic capacity and structure of microbial communities into treatment process modelling, design, and control. His research utilizes advanced molecular sequencing tools, such as metagenomics, to recover the genomes of non-cultivable microbes for the identification of new metabolic pathways. Ultimately, he seeks to integrate microbial community genomic data into new mechanistic models to predict pollutant transformation in a variety of natural and engineered systems.