Meet the people of IDEA-Lab:
The IDEA-Lab team is a diverse group composed of highly talented individuals. Our team members hail from across the globe, ranging from eager, unseasoned undergraduate students to renowned visiting professors. The varied academic and professional experience of those who join us is a testament to the quality of our dedication toward innovation in our field of mechanical engineering.
Postdoctoral Fellow Supervised/Visiting Professors
Ms. Elli Gkouti
(2019 – 2024), Post-Doctoral Fellow,
“Elastomers”
Mr. Burak Yenigun
(2019 – 2024), Post-Doctoral Fellow,
“Elastomers”
Doctoral Students Supervised
Mr. Ragab Etiwa
(2023 – Curr), Doctoral in progress, “Mesostructure of Elastomeric Materials”
Mr. Yuriy Uvarov
(2022 – Curr), Doctoral in progress, Topic TBD
Mr. Muhammad Salman Chaudhry
(2019 – Curr), Doctoral in progress,
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(2014 – 2016), MASc,
“On The Characterization of Engineered Elastomers at High Strain Rates”
Mr. Roger Carrick
(2018 – Curr), Doctoral in progress,
” “
Ms. Minha R. Ha
(2016 – Curr), Doctoral in progress,
“Socio-technical integration in design learning; Role of engineer identities and design philosophies in the learning processes”
Awards: Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology
Interest in: Student Mentorship; Sustainability; Bioethics
Master Students Supervised
Mr. Jeffrey Mawusi Drai
(2024 – Curr), Doctoral in progress, Topic TBD
Mhd Youssef Demashkieh
(2023 – Curr), Masters in progress, Topic TBD
(2022 – 2023), Undergraduate in progress,
“Characterization of BioInks for 3D Printing and Bioengineering Applications”
Kateryna Zakharova
(2022 – Curr), Masters in progress, Topic TBD
Undergraduates Supervised
Gaith Salah
(2024 – Curr)
“Developing a multiplatform, controlled rotary system”
Alumni (Graduate & Post-Doctoral)
These individuals made up and brought us what we are now known as! The IDEA-LAB! The best lab!
Victoria Horvath
2024, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“FRESH Printing of Multilayer Composite Cardiac Wall”
Usman Ali
2023, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“Aligned Nanofibers Masks for Improved Filter Efficiency and Pressure Drop”
2020, BEng Mechanical Engineering,
“Mechanical Testing of Elastomers and 3D Printed Products”
Ahmed Alaa
2023, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“Topology Optimization of 3D Printing Paths using Machine Learning”
Mr. Mohamed Abdelhamid
2023, PhD Mechanical Engineering,
“Topology Optimization of High-Fidelity Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems”
2016, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“Effective Mechanical Properties of 3D Structural Metamaterials”
Ms. Daphene Solis
2023, PhD Mechanical Engineering,
“4D Bioprintable Thermo-Responsible Hydrogel for Tissue Engineering”
Mr. Ahmed Al-Attar
2021, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“Manufacturing, Characterization and Modeling of Helical Electrospun Fibers for Cardiac Tissue Engineering”
Mr. Ahmed Bayoumy
2021, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“Topology and Printing Orientation Optimization of Orthotropic Material for Additive Manufacturing”
Ms. Can Zhang
2021, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“Experimental Investigation of the Fatigue Behaviour of Natural Rubber Under Different Loading and Environment Conditions”
Mr. Carlos Rojas
2020, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“Characterization and Impact of Thermal Conductivity of Stainless Steel 316L Employed in Additive Manufacturing”
Mr. Madhukar Somireddy
(2019 – 2020), Post-Doctoral Fellow,
“Multiscale Material Modelling of Additively Manufactured Laminates”
2019, PhD Mechanical Engineering,
“Computational Modelling of Additively Manufactured Composite Parts”
Dr. Volodymyr Zozulya, Visiting Professor
(2017 – 2018), Visiting Professor,
“Characterization of the Elastomers in Tension and Compression at Elevated Temperature Conditions.”
Mr. Diego Augusto de Moraes, Masters
2018, MASc Mechanical Engineering,
“Thermal FE Analysis of Powder Bed Fusion Process: Power Input Evaluation and Parameter Sensitivity”
![](http://www.idea-lab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Saeed-Assarzdeh-Headshot-300x300.png"")
Dr. Saeed Assarzadeh, Post-Doctoral
Saeed Assarzadeh obtained his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from K.N. Toosi University of Technology in 2015. His main research interests are mainly focused on modeling, analysis and optimization of manufacturing processes including both traditional and nontraditional ones using statistical, artificial intelligence, finite element and metaheuristic-based approaches. Saeed joined the IDEA Lab in December 2017 to work on a joint research project with a leading manufacturer of different industrial wheels and casters to identify significant design parameters and develop statistical models for improving and optimizing their products’ performances and efficiencies with respect to various criteria.
Dr. Taisiya Sigaeva, Post-Doctoral
(2015 – 2016), Supervised, “Nonlinear Mechanical Behavior of Elastomer Nanocylinders; Multiaxial Fatigue of Elastomers, Arterial Wall Mechanics. Development of a Thermal Energy Storage engineering case study.”
Present: University of Alberta, Alberta
Dr. Andrew Lambe, Post-Doctoral
(2015 – 2016), Supervised, “Adaptive Mesh Refinement Approach to Structural Topology Optimization”
Present: Postdoctoral Fellow at Polytechnique Montréal
Alumni: Undergraduate
Roozbeh Alishahian
BEng, 2023 Mechanical Engineering,
“Development of Software Tools for Image Analysis for 3D Bioprinting Tracks and High-Speed Tension Tests”
Sofia Graci
BEng, 2023 Mechanical Engineering,
“Development and Preparation of BioInks for 3D Bioprinting”
Zia Ansari
BEng, 2022 Mechanical Engineering,
“Characterization of the Elastomers in Tension and Compression at Elevated Temperature Conditions”
Rayen Alseekh
(2019), Undergraduate in progress,
“Characterization of the Elastomers in Tension and Compression at Elevated Temperature Conditions”
Farouk Wahsh
BEng, 2019 Mechanical Engineering,
“The Effect of High Strain Rate on the Piezo Properties of Elastomers with Carbon Nanotubes”
Akash Oommen
BEng, 2019 Mechanical Engineering,
“Kolsky Bar Tension Compression Apparatus and Testing Methodology”
Chukwubuikem Johnson Omeziri
BEng, 2018 Mechanical Engineering,
“High Strain-Rate Behavior of Mechanoluminescent Material
Dispersed in a Soft Matrix”
Sean Polan
BEng, 2018 Mechanical Engineering,
“Elastomer Specified Bi-axial Fatigue Testing System”
Arslan Javed
BEng, 2018 Mechanical Engineering,
“Equibiaxial Tension Machine and Testing Apparatus”
Alumni: International Trainee
Ms. Sara Kapuscinska
AGH University of Science and Technology
Rybnik, Poland
May 2017 – August 2017
“Analysis and Design of Physical Filter in High Strain Rate Experiments”
Sara Kapuścińska entered her 4th year of Mechatronic Engineering at AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, Poland. She spent the summer at York University as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Alex Czekanski, in the IDEA-Lab. Specifically, Sara conducted experiments using Kolsky bar to determine the most optimal specifications for different pulse shaping techniques and by the end of the summer, hoped to have furthered the research to gain the optimized pulse shaper design in order to generate modified profile with constant rate of deformation of the input pulse that influences stress strain data for a particular type of tested material. This was important for better understanding of the characterisation of materials at high-strain rate and to develop dynamic tests with Kolsky bar system.
Mr. Edouard Gaschet
CESI Saint-Nazaire, Ecole d’Ingénieurs
Nantes, France
May 2017 – August 2017
“Aging Effect in Additive Manufactured Composite Materials”
Edouard Gaschet was an Industrialization Engineering student at the EI.CESI School of Engineering at Saint-Nazaire, in France. He spent the summer working as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Alex Czekanski in the IDEA-Lab. Edouard was working on a research topic in which he manufactured and tested the mechanical properties of elastomers with carbon fiber manufactured by fused deposition modeling technique in 3D printing. He is responsible for designing and testing ABS, PLA, and TPU materials with 20% of carbon fiber. He is also responsible for different tests: compression (on MTS), immersion, air oven, tribology, and hardness. This research is important because it gives the opportunity to discover the field of the research and will offer related skills.
Mr. Cezary Kirczuk
AGH University of Science and Technology
Krakow, Poland
June 2019 – September 2019
“Mechanical and Structure Properties of Boiler Grade Steel”
Cezary Kirczuk was a Heat Engineering student at the AGH University of Science and Technology Krakow, Poland. He spent that summer working as a research trainee supervised by Dr. Alex Czekanski in his IDEA-LAB. Cezary conducted experiments on boiler grade steel containing a high amount of chromium, nickel and molybdenum which was proposed to be a material with good mechanical properties combining high-temperature strength, creep resistance, good thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance. The mechanical properties tested were studied to determine the effect of exposure to high temperature. With this study, Cezary aimed to characterize several boiler steel materials that can be used in energy sector industry applications. Which was important in the ever-growing energy field!