John T.W. Yeow, PhD, PEng
Professor, University of Waterloo

jyeow@uwaterloo.ca

MEMS or novel nanomaterial-based Systems and Devices

Canada Research Chair in Micro/Nanodevices
Department of Systems Design Engineering





Current Students:

  PhD Students:

 



Rui Zhou, PhD Candidate

rui.zhou@uwaterloo.ca

Rui's research interest is in the Terahertz (THz) technology. The current focus is on developing THz detection devices, enhancing THz signal processing techniques, and exploring the applications of THz technology in the biomedical field.
 



Guanxuan Lu, PhD Candidate

g29lu@uwaterloo.ca

He is pursuing his doctoral degree in the field of Engineering. His research project is divided into two parts: one is terahertz (THz) antenna for enhancing the detected signal, and the other is terahertz photothermalelectric (PTE) detectors for realizing real-time imaging application. The comprehensive research process involves designing, simulating, fabricating and testing the final devices.
 



Mustafa Yuksel, PhD

myuksel@uwaterloo.ca

Mustafa is a professional holding a PhD in Physics & Nanotechnology and currently employed as a full-time Research and Development Project Manager at Teledyne DALSA. He is managing CMOS Image sensors development and high speed, Machine Vision imaging applications. Mustafa is a part-time PhD student in Systems Design Engineering, supervised by Prof. Yeow. His primary research focus centers around biosensor device development, specifically the creation of an innovative and fully automated electrochemical point-of-care biosensors designed for human samples. Currently, Mustafa is actively involved in enhancing the reaction kinetics of molecular surface assays influenced by mass transport. His research extends to the development of a new technology utilizing vibration and agitation to improve the sensitivity by mass transport approach during the detection process. This involves the implementation of an automated agitation system and a fully automated device.
 



Yifei Yuan, PhD Candidate

y262yuan@uwaterloo.ca

Yifei is focusing her efforts on capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). Her research is divided into two main areas: firstly, the development of pressure sensing for heart rate, pulse, and health monitoring by flexible CMUTs; secondly, the exploration of sound detection through low-frequency CMUTs with polymer membranes which is a promising application in artificial cochleae.
  MASc Students:

 



Lang Wang, MASc

l675wang@uwaterloo.ca

Lang Wang is currently pursuing his graduate studies in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on carbon nanotube field emission.
 



Wentao Gao, MASc

w59gao@uwaterloo.ca

Wentao's current work involves the design of efficient, wide-spectrum photodetectors using advanced materials and nanostructures. In the future, his research will continue to focus on improving the sensitivity and response speed of terahertz detectors and exploring their potential applications in security inspection, communication, and imaging. By optimizing the device structure and material properties, he hopes to promote the widespread use of terahertz technology in practical applications.
 



Lin Huang, MASc

lin.huang@uwaterloo.ca

Lin has conducted research on image enhancement. Her current work focuses on gas sensors and gas classification.



Postdocs:



 

 


Jiaqi Wang, PhD

j767wang@uwaterloo.ca

Jiaqi Wang is working on photothermoelectric infrared detectors based on low-dimensional nano materials, such as CNTs.

 

 


Zhemiao Xie, PhD

z73xie@uwaterloo.ca

Zhemiao Xie is working on low dimensional carbon nanomaterials for various applications in photothermalelectric detectors, supercapacitors and TENGs.




Visiting Students:






Coop Students:






Alumni and Former Students:


 

 


Alex Jiayu Liu, PhD

ja5liu [at] uwaterloo.ca

His research focuses on the design, simulation and fabrication of carbon nanotube field emission (CNT-FE) cathode that mainly studies the characteristics of X-ray source.

 

 


Elahe Cheraghi, PhD

echeraghi [at] uwaterloo.ca
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elahe-cheraghi-b0a4a958/
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elahe-Cheraghi-3

She received both her bachelor and master degree in material science and engineering, and have worked with different kind of materials for various applications so far. Currently, She works on boron nitride (BN) aerogel fabrication for radiation shielding application as her PhD thesis. The main focus in her project is to improve the thermal properties of a very light weight BN aerogel.

 




Siyuan Chen, PhD
csykeith@gmail.com

His research focus on nanomaterials for radiation shielding application.
 

 


Mingyu Zhang, PhD

zhangmingyu [at] hit.edu.cn

Mingyu Zhang is working on simulation, design and fabrication of carbon materials for infrared and terahertz detection.


 


Champika Samarasekera, PhD
csamaras [at] uwaterloo.ca

Champika is working on cell lysis and lysate separation techniques for Lab-on-Chip type devices that utilize a combination of nanostructured surfaces and ultrasound.


 




Yunhan Li, PhD

liyunhan88 [at] hotmail.com

Yunhan is studying a novel multi-pixel X-ray source for fluence field modulated CT based on carbon nanotube field emission technology.

 

 


Zhou Zheng, PhD

z57zheng [at] uwaterloo.ca

Zhou Zheng is working on simulation, design and fabrication of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). He is keen on developing CMUTs for medical imaging applications.


 



Zhenhao Li, PhD

z223li [at] uwaterloo.ca

Zhenhao's research interests are: (i) particle radiation shielding material design; (ii) Gas sensor design

 





Limin Lu, PhD

lu.limin001 [at] gmail.com

Limin's research area: blood dialysis materials for artificial kidneys

 



Yibei Zhao, PhD

y263zhao [at] uwaterloo.ca

He is working on cell sorting and separation for a lab-on-a-chip device that utilizes the phenomenon of dielectrophoresis.

 
Albert I.H. Chen, PhD
ichen [at] uwaterloo.ca

My research is mainly focused on integrating CMUT with Catheters for medical imaging. I am also designing medical imaging device using MEMS Micromirror.







Lawrence Wong, PhD

l5wong [at] uwaterloo.ca

His research interest is "Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers for Non-destructive Testing Application".

 

 


Shuai Na, PhD

nashuow [at] gmail.com

Shuai is studying on Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (CMUT) for air-coupled applications.


 

 


Yaning Cui, MASc

ycui [at] uwaterloo.ca

She is working on design, simulation and fabrication of a Polymer-based Capacitance Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (CMUTs) for Medical Imaging Applications.


 




Shruti Nambiar, PhD

snambiar [at] uwaterloo.ca

She works on nanomaterial-based radiation sensors for biomedical applications. She has also worked on radiation shielding materials using polymer/carbon-nanotubes and polymer/nanoparticle composites.

 




Manu Pallapa, PhD
mgpallap [at] uwaterloo.ca

His research interests are in standard and hybrid MEMS based biomedical sensors and actuators. He is currently working on polymer magnetic MEMS for endoscopic imaging applications. The work involves the fabrication, modelling and testing of single and array polymer magnetic mirrors with contactless actuation and control.
 


Hui Chen, PhD
huichenscut [at] gmail.com

His research interest is focused on nonlinear control of the MEMS devices. His current project is to design the control system for magnetic and electrostatic actuated MEMS micromirror.


 




Fangjun Liu
lfj816 [at] gmail.com

Research Subject: Modeling radiation dependent conductivity of carbon nanotube matrix
 


 


Morteza Ahmadi, PhD
morteza.ahmadi [at] gmail.com

Morteza's research interests are: (i) radiation sensors based on bio/nanomaterials; (ii) an artificial kidney


 

 


Mohamed Aly Saad Aly, PhD

malysaad [at] uwaterloo.ca

My research mainly focus on designing and fabricating lab-on-chip device for cell lysis using antimicrobial porous polymeric monolith (PPM) column fabricated in polymeric microfluidic biochips.


 

 


Mehdi Shahini, PhD

m2shahin [at] uwaterloo.ca

His research is on miniaturization of electro-mechanical systems into lab-on-a-chip devices functioning biological sample preparation. The multidisciplinary projects involve modeling, simulation, design, fabrication and troubleshooting of MEMS-based prototypes. The main focus of the research is on i) Incorporation of Carbon Nanotube (CNT) to enhance cell electroporation and, ii) Development of a cheap and fast methodology for fabrication of electro-microfluidic chips.

 




Yanhui Bai, PhD

His research area includes the modeling and simulation of MEMS actuators and sensors, applications of MEMS devices, as well as various types of MEMS fabrication techniques. Currently, he is designing novel MEMS micro-mirrors for optical coherence tomography (OCT) and confocal systems for biomedical applications such as endoscopes.
 



Mohsen Shahini, PhD

mshahini at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

He is working toward an effective solution for the problem of manipulating micro-sized objects precisely and automatically. He proposes MEMS technology to fabricate the mechanical components of such manipulators which will enhance the dexterity and manoeuvrability of the system. That will also improve the throughput of multi degree of freedom micromanipulation tasks by fitting a number of micro/milli-scaled actuators into one workplace. Multiple of the manipulators can operate together in a conventional robotic-assembly-line fashion to implement more complex manipulation. To minimize the intervention of a human, the manipulation is automated by incorporating a visual-servo feedback mechanism into the controller. Artificial intelligence is efficiently employed to compensate for the poorly-known nonlinear effects of various micro forces, making the system robust against variation in parameters involved in the overall magnitude of the micro forces such as ambient and surface conditions.
 



 


Andrew S. Logan, PhD


He is responsible for the development of MEMS based ultrasound transducers for catheter based imaging. A catheter based ultrasound imaging system will allow for improved diagnosis of vascular occulsions and better monitoring of a patient's treatment. Applying MEMS based technology will facilitate manufacturability and flexibility of the transducer system when compared to traditional technologies.
 



Josh Reid
js2reid [at] uwaterloo.ca

He is a co-op student working under Mehdi Shahini doing research on MEMS and lab on a chip devices, specifically dealing with cell lysis and electroporation.


 

Pablo Enrique
pablo.daniel.100 [at] gmail.com

He conducted experiments involving a hydrophone, oscilloscope, CNC machine, LabVIEW and Matlab to programmatically acquire data from 2D and 3D areas. He also measured and modeled CMUTs with 3D modeling software.


 




Kevin Joseph

kevinjoseph91 [at] gmail.com

 




Frans van Wijngaarden

fransw [at] arago.utwente.nl

 


Yun Wang, PhD
y83wang at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

Her research interest is focused on the design, modeling and fabrication of a capacitive humidity sensor based on capillary condensation. Micro/nano porous structures can highly enhance the condensation and adsorption of vapour due to capillary effect. Therefore a higher change of capacitance can be detected because of the higher dielectric of water. This device has high potential applications on biomedical systems or fuel cells.


 



Weijie Wan, PhD
wwan at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

His research interest is focused on design, modeling, fabricating and testing of lab-on-chip devices that are capable of performing several biochemical analysis functionalities in a single chip such as preparation, separation, proliferation and detection of biological samples. The technology has a huge potential for applications such as point-of-care diagnosis and portable biochemical analysis systems.

 



Sangtak Park, PhD

sangtak at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

He has been working on a novel operating scheme of the micromirror based on MEMS technology. His main research topic is a charge actuation mechanism that can be implemented with low operating voltage, while achieving more deflection than the conventional voltage-controlled method does.
 






So-Ra Chung, M.E.Sc. P.Eng., PhD

RF Energy Harvest Device for advanced MEMS with 3-D construction robotics technology.

 

 
Joyce Xinya Gao, PhD
x8gao at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

Her main research interests include modeling and simulation of Carbon Nanotubes sensors, the properties and applications of CNTs. Her current project is CNTs based Nano device for biomedical applications which include CNTs models setting up and designing a CNTs based radiation dosimetry.
 






Fred Sun, PhD

He is studying the field emission property of CNT. He plans to design a CNT based multi-pixel CT scanner which will be used in cancer study.
 


 
Rong Bai, PhD candidate
rbai at engmail.uwaterloo.ca


   



 




Qingsheng Kang, PhD
qkang at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

He is working on radiation sensors using nanomaterials.
 







Seungwoo Park, PhD
s56park at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

His research interests include micro-/nano-technology based humidity sensing systems for fuel cell applications.
 



Niraj Sinha, PhD

Novel nanomaterial-based X-ray Scanner.



 





Jiazhi Ma, PhD

Her research interest lies in developing novel sensors and devices using nanotechnology for biomedical applications. Current projects include carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers based radiation dosimetry with the objective of designing and building a new generation of radiation dosimeters. Radiation dosimetry is an important application to radiation biology and oncology as proper beam production to avoid unintended exposure to radiation is crucial.
 





Jethro Ma, BASc candidate

jkma at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

He is a Nanotechnology Engineering student responsible for designing and developing hardware and programming software interfaces for nanotechnology based devices. He is currently developing a system to interface with a new generation of carbon nanotube based radiation dosimeters.


 





Sarbast Rasheed, Ph. D.

s.rasheed@ieee.org

Modelling and simulation of MEMS devices.
 




James Ting-Yu Lin, MASc.
jtlin[at]uwaterloo.ca

Research in the electrokinetics of small particles through phenomena such as dielectrophoresis and traveling wave dielectrophoresis. He is currently investigating the effects of novel electrode geometry in biological cell sorting. The overreaching goal of his project is an integrated and portable bioanalysis system.
 




Keith Mo, MASc.
kkmo at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

His research area is primarily focused on developing a fluorescence detection system that can be integrated with lab-on-a-chip to help achieve a truly portable bioanalytical system. He also has side projects involving integrating inertial measurement sensors for applications such as monitoring joint movement.
 




Chau Do, MASc.

Her area of focus is three dimensional microassembly of MEMS structures. This involves designing microgrippers as well as the components that will make up the structure. Once these are fabricated, the grippers will be interfaced with macro equipment and used to assemble the parts.
 






Xiaodan Xu, BASc candidate

x7xu at sciborg.uwaterloo.ca

Her project is software and hardware developments for x-ray devices.
 





Ryan Case, BASc candidate

rjcase at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

MEMS Interface Design
 



Ahmad Ebadi Tezerjani, MASc in Systems Design
Thesis: Micro-Electro-Thermo-Magnetic Actuators for MEMS Applications

aebadite at engmail.uwaterloo.ca

The principles of engineering design and scaling laws in microscale are investigated. The focus in his research is on developing various designs of single and multi-degree-of-freedom microactuators for MEMS applications. In his research, he has developed new designs of linear and rotary microactuators including micromotors. Electrothermal, electromagnetic, and electrothermomagnetic microactuation techniques are developed.

 







Jamie Yantzi, MASc in Systems Design


Biotechnological applications for lab-on-a-chip technologies
 







James Pei M. SHE, PhD candidate


novel nanomaterial-based Sensors and Sensor Networking
 







Samer Abdallah, MASc Candidate

Using Nano and Micro technology to build biomedical devices or what is called lab-on-chip
 






Sangjune Laurence LEE, BASc.

Adaptive Optics and Lab-on-chip Devices
 






Caglar Elbuken, PhD candidate


Magnetic levitation (maglev) robotics and damping control in maglev systems. He is currently studying on the design and implementation of a microlevitation system for micromanipulation and drug delivery applications.
 




Wood Chiang, BASc Candidate (2007)

wochiang at gmail.com

His research area includes biomedical MEMS and control systems for MEMS microassembly.
 







Sidha Wong, BASc Candidate

Greenhouse Robotics
 




Nancy Xu, BASc Candidate


Microgripper design for microassembly processes