Grad students
Sepehr Saber
Sepehr completed his B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. The focus of his M.A.Sc. research was to experimentally investigate the origin of phase transition from the point of view of adsorption. His research was part of the European Space Agency's effort into understanding condensation in microgravity.
Sepehr joined the SintonLab in 2019 as a PhD student. His current focus is on applying innovative machine learning tools for the rapid discovery of novel industrial fluids.
Rui Kai (Ray) Miao
Ray completed his BASc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Mechanical Engineering. As an undergraduate research assistant, he worked in the Natural Gas Fuel System Laboratory to develop thermal management techniques to allow more natural gas to be injected during a compressed natural gas fast fill process. Ray joined the Sinton Lab in 2019 to develop effective electrocatalytic conversion technologies, converting CO2 to useful products.
Celine Xiao
Celine completed her BASc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta (2020). During her undergrad, she worked as a co-op student on a methane reduction project which aimed to reduce methane emissions in multiple natural gas compression facilities. In the summer of 2020, she received a research grant from the University of Calgary to investigate the energy efficiency of the MacKimmie Tower, a net-zero carbon building.
In Fall 2020, she joined the Sinton Lab as a MASc student and will be working with the Catalysis group on carbon dioxide reduction through electrocatalysis.
Panos Papangelakis
Panos completed his B.Eng in Chemical Engineering at McMaster University in 2020. During his undergrad he completed a thesis project investigating heavy metal contamination and treatment of drinking water in Indigenous Reserves in Southern Ontario. He also worked on a joint industrial research project with the University of Queensland developing an energy model for renewable power generation in the mining industry.
Panos joined the Sinton Lab in September 2020 in the Catalysis group. He is working on CO2 reduction through electrocatalysis.
Shijie Liu
Shijie joined the Sinton Lab as an undergraduate research student in 2019. His research focuses on electrochemical systems for stable and efficient CO2 conversion. He performs COMSOL simulations to better understand chemical behavior and conducts membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) CO2 electrolyzer experiments to quantify the stability and production of C1 and C2 products.
Fatemeh Arabyarmohammadi
Fatemeh Arabyarmohammadi earned a BASc in Chemical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology (SUT) in 2019. Fatemeh then began a Master’s in Chemical Engineering-Biotechnology and received a MSc degree from SUT too. For the MSc thesis, Fatemeh worked on the theoretical investigation of coupled Microbial Electrochemical Cells in micro-sized systems and the assessment of biohydrogen generation.
Fatemeh joined the Sinton Lab in January 2022 as a Ph.D. student with a focus on Renewable Fuels / CO2 electrocatalysis.
Siyu Sun
Siyu completed her BASc in Engineering Science, Energy Systems, at the University of Toronto (2022). She joined the Sinton Lab as an undergraduate research student in summer 2021, and her undergraduate thesis focused on renewable hydrogen production using geothermal energy. As a MASc student, Siyu will be working on carbon dioxide reduction through electrocatalysis.
Jinhong Wu
Jinhong completed her BASc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto (2022). In 2021, she worked as a summer research student at the National University of Singapore to develop urban energy systems using machine learning and data-driven optimization. Her undergraduate thesis project investigated Explainable AI for Variational Autoencoder model used to generate synthetic data. Jinhong joined the Sinton Lab as a MASc student in Fall 2022. She will be working with the Catalysis group on carbon dioxide reduction through electrocatalysis.
Chengqian Wu
Chengqian holds a MASc from Queen’s University and a bachelor’s degree from Central South University, China. He developed his interests in catalysis during his master’s laying the foundation of a novel catalytic oxidation process for arsenic immobilization and devising an experimental setup for continuous mini-pilot scale testing of the technology. His research experience also includes investigation into the solvent-induced effects in acid-catalyzed C-O bond activation for synthesizing sustainable ether fuels.
Driven by a passion for doing interdisciplinary research in sustainable energy, Chengqian became part of the catalysis group of Sinton Lab in 2022, leveraging his expertise in heterogeneous catalysis and electrochemistry to develop electrocatalytic systems coupling novel anodic upgrading processes with reduction of CO and/or CO2. While outside the lab, he enjoys spending time with his pets and taking drone shots over the beautiful Don valley area.
Hanie Rezaie
Hanie holds both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran. During her studies, she focused on developing a novel thermal management system for electric vehicle (EV). After graduation, she worked as a mechanical engineer in the industry for two years, focused on batteries and EVs.
Hanie joined the Industrial Fluids group at Sinton Lab in 2023 as a MASc student, with the aim of broadening her knowledge in the interdisciplinary field of Energy and fluid mechanics. She is focusing on modifying and optimizing measurement methods to quickly and accurately assess fluid properties for EV coolants.
Mackenzie Gole
Mackenzie completed his BASc in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto in 2023. His research background is in thermal catalysis, where he investigated the partial oxidation of methanol to dimethoxymethane on vanadia-based catalysts for applications in sustainable diesel synthesis. Pursuing his interest in energy and renewable fuels, Mackenzie joined the Sinton Lab as a MASc student in 2023 as part of the electrocatalysis group to produce high-value products from carbon dioxide.
Raylene Mitchell
Raylene Mitchell graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) degree from Memorial University in 2021 where many work opportunities and internships revolved around renewable technologies. She is passionate about technological solutions for northern regions in Canada. As an IBET Fellow, Raylene is also committed to interdisciplinary innovation.
In Fall 2023, Raylene joined the Sinton Lab at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor David Sinton. Raylene’s commitment to addressing the unique challenges of northern communities is at the forefront of her research goals.
Riddhi Makwana
Riddhi Makwana graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from American University of Sharjah in 2020. Her capstone project focused on the design of a lightweight cable aerial manipulator with a CoG compensation mechanism for inspection purposes.
Riddhi’s academic interests lie in the field of thermofluids and in Fall 2023, she joined the Sinton Lab at the University of Toronto as a MASc student. She is part of the Industrial Fluids subgroup, and her research is centered on high-throughput microfluidic testing and computation.
Peter Cui
Peter Yuze Cui graduated with high honors, attaining his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto in June 2023. His diverse research pursuits during his undergraduate studies encompassed a wide range of topics, including the design of ergonomic installations to alleviate work-related musculoskeletal injuries for ultrasound sonographers and the application of laser and infrared thermal cameras for imaging fatigue cracks. In September 2023, he embarked on his doctoral studies as a direct-entry PhD student at the SintonLab. Within the ethylene / C3 subgroup, Peter is committed to advancing the development of state-of-the-art catalysts with a focus on achieving superior conversion efficiencies for advanced chemical fuels.
Puhua Sun
Puhua holds his MASc from the State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing at the China University of Petroleum, along with a bachelor's degree from the same institution. His fascination with catalysis blossomed during his master's studies, focusing on catalytic transferring hydrogenolysis of bio-based reactants and modification of porous catalytic materials. His research experience also includes investigating the kinetics of C-C and C-H bond activation for upgrading light alkanes, process simulation, and life cycle assessment to promote sustainable energy solutions.
Motivated by his passion for innovative research in catalysis and sustainable energy, Puhua joined Sinton Lab in 2024. Here, he leverages his expertise in heterogeneous catalysis and electrochemistry to develop The Electrically-Powered Synthesis of Ethylene and Scaling for Ethylene electrolyzers and eDAC.
Haoyang Deng
Haoyang joined Sinton Lab as an Undergraduate Thesis research student in 2023 summer. He completed his BASc in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto (2024) and then joined the industrial fluids ground as a MASc student. Haoyang specializes in Solid mechanical and Mechatronics system design. His role encompasses automating and integrating our current experimental setups tailored for thermal fluid screening and integrating efficient data management capabilities thereafter. Additionally, he will fortify the setup's adaptability to diverse materials while contributing to the collection of experimental data for different materials and their mixtures.