The high throughput combinatorial testing for pharmaceutical applications requires fast methods for manipulating droplets in microfluidic systems. In this project, a microwave platform will be designed and employed for fast droplet heating, identification and detection. The use of extremely confined microwave energy makes heating, detecting, and identifying droplets possible. With the new platform it will […]

Since the advent of rail transportation, the integrity of the rail and track conditions play a significant role in ensuring that trains are able to move people safely. Although this work has been hazardous since rail transportation was created, there have been few successful attempts at improving location awareness of approaching trains and the location […]

With the fast growth in the Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) market, there is also growing need for miniaturized power sources. MEMS devices are beginning to make significant contributions in new subjects, including Lab-on-Chips (LOC) and other micro-fluidic devices, wireless communications, sensors, and optics. In all these technologies, electric power is a vital issue for the further […]

Determining the properties of materials has always been one of the primary goals of research in materials science. Computational models for materials’ property determination are hindered by their high computational cost; it can take weeks (even years) to develop and evaluate a computational model for a single property of a single material. The current approach […]

During the past two decades, the primal-dual scheme has been a major tool for the design of algorithms with very good approximation factors for NP-hard problems. This method is based on the duality theorems of Linear Programming (LP): Strong duality ensures that satisfaction of complementary slackness conditions implies optimality of a (fractional) solution. “Good” relaxation […]

The conventional continuum-based physical relations that describe heat and fluid flow in bulk materials, such as the Navier-Stokes and Fourier equations, break down at sub-continuum scales. The failure of these relations, along with the current trend of miniaturization in man-made devices and wide spread use of nano-structured systems, urge for development of new computational techniques […]

Preparing materials on the nanoscale is essential for current and future devices. However this presents many technical and scientific challenges. Nonetheless, nanocrystals also offer unique opportunities for novel, energy efficient devices. This project aims to understand subtle changes in material properties on the nanoscale via optical spectroscopy. Specifically our group routinely prepares high temperature superconductors […]

    There have been tremendous advances over the past few decades relating to the synthesis and characterization of nanostructures.  People have fabricated various types of nano-scale particles, rods, tubes, shells, core-shells, etc and ofcourse synthesis of nano-scale molecules has been a goal of organic and inorganic chemistry for a long time. Advances in synthesis and […]

Solar energy has long been recognized as one of the most abundant forms of clean energy. Countless research efforts around the globe are contributing to the steady decline in the cost of photovoltaic power, with the promise of reaching grid parity in the near future. This is a complex target, as the price of conventional […]

The Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Related-Virus retrovirus (XMRV) is a gammaretrovirus of mouse origin that can infect humans and a broad range of animals. The virus was first identified in a subset and prostate cancer tumors and more recently in patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Studies estimate that between 3% and 10% of the […]

Over the last ten years, the needs of industry have made data mining one of the most important facets of Information Technology (IT). In simple terms, data mining is the automatic process of extracting interrelationships and patterns of interest from data. Today, companies around the world rely on data mining not only to discover knowledge […]

Water resources worldwide have recently appeared as vulnerable to climate change that may both reduce water supply and increase water demand, leading to frequent and/or severe water shortages. Water resources in Canada are also at risk posed by climate change. Sustainable water resources management plays a vital role in reducing the vulnerability of the water […]