Current Members
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Maria Ophelia Jarligo, PhD

Thermal Spray Research Manager

Dr. Jarligo is popularly known by her second name Ophelia. She earned her BS in Ceramic Engineering from the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology in 1995, her MS in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of the Philippines in 2000 and her PhD in Materials Processing from Tohoku University in 2006. Dr. Jarligo has more than twenty-five years of hands-on research experience in the study of properties, processing, and characterization of various materials. Her research focuses on the development and characterization of advanced coating systems employing the principles of surface engineering, solid state synthesis, powder processing and thermal spray technologies. Dr. Jarligo has developed innovative coating systems for thermal barrier protection of land-based and aerospace gas turbines; separation membranes; corrosion and wear protection; solid state batteries; and solid oxide fuel cells. When not doing scientific research, Dr. Jarligo volunteers at a local community church, spends time gardening, swimming, and camping.

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Saman Sayahlatifi, MSc

PhD Student

Saman joined Prof. McDonald's group in September 2020 as a PhD student. His research is dedicated to 3D microstructure-based finite element modeling of cold sprayed ceramic-metal composite coatings subject to wear and fatigue, which helps to better understand the effect of microstructural characteristics on the macro scale behavior of the material. Saman's model builds on experimental data in the group, and will results in a computational tool for design and optimization of coatings. Watching movies and documentaries on astronomical discoveries as well as playing snooker with friends are his favorite pastimes.

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Nashit Jalal

PhD Student

Nashit is a PhD student under the joint supervision of Prof. Andre McDonald and Prof. Wylie Stroberg. His project focuses on the design of next-generation high entropy alloy coatings with desirable mechanical properties using atomistic simulations in combination with physics-based machine learning algorithms. He did his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, India, and M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, India. He also worked as a Project Research Associate at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India. His research experience includes statistical mechanics-based modelling of skeletal muscles, active vertex dynamics simulation of cancer cells, molecular simulations of protein motors, and stochastic modelling. He has a keen interest in multiscale simulation techniques and algorithmic development.

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Aatif Qazi

MSc Student

Aatif joined Prof. McDonald’s group in January 2023. His project involves developing Al-based High Entropy Alloy (HEA) coatings for hydrogen-related applications. He has completed his B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, India. During his undergrad, he worked as one of the 25 elite members of a formula racing team and was tasked with designing, fabricating and testing the air and fuel intake system for a KTM RC390 engine-powered combustion vehicle. He has a keen interest in performing multi-scale simulations on various tools. Apart from studies, he likes playing cricket and watching motorsports as well as spending time with family and friends.

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Anthony Kenyi

Research Assistant

Anthony is currently a Research Assistant working on the team's website. He initially worked as a Elite Program Assistant developing functional and wear-resistant coatings. He has a deep interest in Mechanical Engineering and has worked with the team to gain exposure and experience in the field. His project involved the development and study of cold-sprayed high entropy alloy (HEA) coatings to provide a more detailed understanding of its mechanical properties. His personal interests include basketball, cooking, and body building.

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Peter Menghesha

High School Student

Peter is a current high school student, initially working as an ELITE Program Assistant, with a keen interest in Mechanical Engineering. Through the research he performs in the lab, he plans to acquaint himself with real-world engineering applications and experience. Currently, he is analyzing the effects of joule heating processes on cold-sprayed, electrodeposited, and electroless coatings. This research is done in collaboration with Dr. Panteha Fallah and Sean Ngan. In his downtime, Peter enjoys playing soccer and spending time outdoors.

Alumni
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Chenwei Shao, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Shao is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta now. His main research areas are improving the understanding of the relationship between fatigue properties and microstructures of engineering materials, e.g. metals, metal-matrix composites, functionally graded materials; Design of advanced aluminum-matrix composite; and high-strength & light-weight materials fabrication by additive manufacturing. He is also interested in the new ideas concentrated on the interdisciplinary science between material science, physics, chemistry, and bioengineering. His hobbies are swimming and badminton.

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Panteha Fallah, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Panteha Fallah is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Materials Engineering at McGill University who is supervised by Prof. Stephen Yue and Prof. André McDonald (University of Alberta). Her research is focused on hybrid metallic coatings on carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) using electrochemical processes and cold spray to provide a lightning strike protection coating for the aircraft airframe. In the area of cold spray, she has been investigating the effect of cold spray parameters and the substrate characteristics on the deposition efficiency and properties of the cold sprayed coatings. She has also enabled the fabrication of a high electrically conductive copper coating onto a CFRP. Panteha is not only passionate about research and science, but also she plays piano during her leisure time.

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Adekunle Ogunbadejo, MSc

PhD Candidate

Adekunle Ogunbadejo is a PhD Candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He received a bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering and a master’s degree in Corrosion Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Nigeria where he worked on environmentally friendly ways of inhibiting corrosion of plain carbon and austenitic stainless steels. Also, he assisted in tutoring over 500 undergraduate students in Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering as a Graduate/Teaching Assistant and later as an Assistant Lecturer at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. His present research at the University of Alberta focuses on using mathematical and numerical modelling tools with experimental techniques in the application of thermal spray coatings in structural damage detection protocols. Adekunle loves playing soccer in his spare time.

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Mohammad Parsazadeh, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Mohammad Parsazadeh is a postdoctoral research fellow who joined the team after having completed his PhD in mechanical engineering at Memorial University, Newfoundland. He is looking into developing a mechanism-based model to predict the abrasive wear of metal-matrix composite (MMC) coatings and overlays under sub-critical dynamic cyclic loading. To reach this goal, he is focused on microstructure-based FE simulation of MMC coatings and overlays. He analyzes the mechanisms affecting the wear performance of MMC coatings and explores the effect of microstructure on abrasive wear of MMC coatings. The validated dataset obtained from computational modelling is eventually employed to develop predictive models using data analysis methods, such as machine learning. In his down time, he usually watches documentary and historical movies, hangs out with friends, and enjoys skiing and hiking.

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Wania Jibran, E.I.T., BSc.

Graduate Research Assistant

Wania is conducting research for her Masters thesis on developing repair technologies for aluminum alloys using low-pressure cold spray coatings and friction stir welding. She works with Aluminum-Alumina and Tungsten Carbide coatings to match and improve mechanical performance of materials. Currently she is working on repair methodologies using cold spray for high-strength and unrepairable aluminum alloys. She is a music and theatre enthusiast and enjoys travelling.

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Rakesh B Nair, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Rakesh received his PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Shiv Nadar University, India in 2020. Currently, he is a postdoctoral fellow at Dr. McDonald’s group, focusing on semi-autonomous cold-spraying and thermal spraying of high entropy alloys (HEAs). HEAs are emerging advanced materials in the research communities that has exceptional properties. His research work aims at developing next-generation HEAs with excellent strength-ductility trade-off that provide excellent wear and corrosion resistance for aerospace applications. The research is in close collaboration with Concordia University and University of Toronto. Rakesh is expertise on high entropy alloys, metal matrix composites, surface engineering using friction-stir processing and microwave processing, structural-property relations of various materials and coatings, tribology (wear and corrosion), properties-tribology correlations, and their failure analysis. Rakesh’s interests include, indoor and outdoor sports, fond of travelling and photography, jogging and enjoys cooking.

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Sanhita Pal, MSc

Graduate Student

Sanhita is currently working on the development of magnetic high entropy alloy (HEA) coatings using the cold spray. These ferromagnetic coatings are capable of self-heating by electromagnetic induction and can be used as heat-generating coatings in turbine blades for de-icing. Her research interests extend to Additive Manufacturing and Computational Materials Engineering in addition to Surface Technology. Sanhita is looking forward to working on an amalgamation of these fields in the future. When she is not working, she loves to engage in profound conversations relating to nature, science, mythology and Pokemon. Sanhita is also an avid reader and has a deep interest in human psychology.

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Saddam Hossain, MSc

PhD Student

Saddam received his MSc in Mechanical Engineering from University of Ulsan, Republic of Korea in 2019. During his study in Korea, his research focus was on the fabrication of thin films by kinetic spray technique for photocatalytic application. Saddam joined Dr. McDonald’s group in January 2020 as a PhD student. Currently, he is studying on duplex coatings for wear and corrosion resistance. By fabricating advanced duplex coating systems, he seeks a better solution in order to protect pipeline steels from severe damage due to wear and corrosion. Besides his studies, Saddam loves to spend time with family and friends. doing activities like playing games, watching movies, and exploring nature.

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Shahed Taghian, MSc

PhD Candidate, Graduate Research Assistant

Shahed's research involves development of high-performance metal matrix composite (MMC) thermally sprayed coatings to serve as de-icing systems for wind turbine blades and aircraft wings. He conducts a wide range of experiments and uses heat transfer modelling in order to study the effect of certain ceramic particles on microstructure, electrical properties, and heating performance of coating-based deicing elements. Furthermore, he works on evaluating the erosive wear resistance of thermally sprayed MMC coatings by conducting various solid particle and water droplet impact erosion tests. His most significant passions are blues and classic rock music; especially, musicians such as B.B. King, Albert King, and David Gilmour. He is also very much interested in Persian epic literature, calligraphy, guitar playing, and enjoys biking and playing volleyball.

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Soroush Maleki

MSc Student

Soroush is an MSc student jointly supervised by Dr. Ehsan Hashemi and Dr. Andre McDonald. His master's project involves developing novel state estimation techniques that rely on remote sensing by incorporating visual sensors for mobile and fixed cold spray robotic applications. His research interests include robotics, deep learning, computer vision, and autonomous vehicles. He has also optimized, manufactured, and controlled several automatic systems in his undergraduate studies including a high-precision linear flat voice-coil actuator. His interests outside of academia include electronic sports and computer games, Norse mythology, comic characters, and human psychology.

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Sean Ngan

4th Year Undergraduate Student

Sean is currently a 4th year undergraduate Mechanical Engineering student. He has a strong passion for design and problem solving and loves to apply his skills and knowledge to feel world situations. He enjoys quality time with friends and family, and active activities such as the gym, skateboarding, or skiing. According to Sean, “Overall, I am just trying to learn as much as I can and create something wonderful.”