Positions:                       Three Graduate Student Positions at M.A.Sc, PhD, and/or Direct PhD Levels

Supervisor:                    Dr. Pouya Rezai, Associate Professor

Department:                 Mechanical Engineering

School:                           Lassonde School of Engineering

Institution:                    York University

Areas of Research:      Microfluidics, Point-of-Care Diagnostics, Point-of-Need Detection, Microsensors, Biosensors, Disease and Drug Screening, Health and Safety

 This is a call for the current undergraduate and M.A.Sc students from various disciplines interested in continuing their academic career in a dynamic and research-intensive lab, focused on developing microsensors for detecting pollutants and pathogens in air, water, and food. Come work with us on global challenges related to Climate change, Health, Food and Water, four of United Nation’s 22 Global Issues (https://www.un.org/en/global-issues).

 Hosting Lab: The Advanced Center for Microfluidics Technology and Engineering (ACµTE) is seeking highly motivated and hardworking students for multiple research positions that are driven and supported by the industry (e.g., Sixth Wave Inc., BluMetric Inc., Poppy Inc.) and the Government (e.g., Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, Environment Canada). We investigate multi-phase fluids in micro-scale environments at the fundamental level. We then apply the gained knowledge to innovate sensors and apply them to detect pollutants like microplastics and heavy metals, and pathogens like bacteria and viruses in various fluids, from air to water to food. These are called Point-of-Need technologies to enable rapid, low-cost, and sensitive detection and surveillance of environment for health and safety applications.

Positions: Available positions include the following, but students are more than welcome to bring and nurture their own ideas that are aligned with the general research directions above.

• Developing portable air collection and virus enrichment and detection systems for deployment to public places for air sampling and monitoring.
• Developing high throughput liquid collection, bacterial enrichment, and detection micro-devices for microbial monitoring of environment and food, e.g., lake water, beer, milk.
• Development of collagen-based cell co-culture scaffolds with micro-arteries that mimic human tissues for disease studies and high throughput drug screening.

Financial Matters: The positions are fully paid based on the Faculty of Graduate Studies funding models. Students will receive research assistantship financial support and perform teaching assistantship at the department. They will also receive fellowship from the university. The payments above are enough to pay off the tuition fee and also receive a monthly stipend for living expenses.

Base Knowledge Needed: Students currently in their final year of studies are encouraged to apply. Interested candidates are preferred to have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in mechanical engineering but candidates from other engineering disciplines (like materials, chemical, electrical) and science (like chemistry, biology, biophysics) will also be considered. Past laboratory-based research experience or analytical/numerical skills will be considered as assets. Knowledge of fluid mechanics is highly preferred in positions 1 and 2 above while position 3 can benefit from understanding of hydrogels, natural polymers, and/or cell biology. Opportunities to learn these topics at the graduate level will be provided to successful applicants.

International applicants must meet the English proficiency requirements while institutional and departmental requirements for admission to York University must be met by all candidates.

https://mech.lassonde.yorku.ca/graduate/future-students/admission-requirement/

Starting date: Students can start at any time and the latest in September 2022.

Deadline to apply: Till positions fill

How to apply: Send your CV, transcripts, and contact information for three references to Dr. Pouya Rezai (prezai@yorku.ca) to get the process started. An interview (in-person or online) will be arranged with the most promising applicants.

Questions can be directed to Dr. Pouya Rezai at prezai@yorku.ca