The Team
Principal Investigator
Dr Anne M. Benneker
Anne Benneker is an assistant professor in the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering department of the University of Calgary. After finishing her BSc and MSc of Chemical Engineering with a focus on process engineering from the University of Twente, she obtained her PhD degree on the topic of charge transport at charge-selective interfaces from the University of Twente in the Netherlands in 2018. She joined the University of Calgary as an assistant professor in November of 2018 under the Canada First Research Excellence program, allowing her to establish an experimental research lab that focuses on transport at the microscale through external stimuli. Her research interests are mostly in electrokinetic phenomena and interfacial science, with applications in the areas of water treatment, soil remediation and biomedical engineering. In her free time, she likes to hike, bike and run through Calgary and the surrounding mountains, as well as reading novels and connect with friends.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr Amer Alizadeh
Dr Alizadeh joined the lab as a postdoctoral researcher in March 2021. His research encompasses Electrokinetic transport phenomena in micro/nano channels, Nonlinear electrokinetics in energy and environmental science, Multi-physicochemical transports in porous media and Lattice Boltzmann methods
Current Students
Graduate Students
Mansoureh Rashidi
Mansoureh is currently investigating the manipulation of droplets using electric fields and the effect of different surfactants on the electrophoretic motion of droplets in microfluidic systems. She likes to watch movies and football, and is an active environmentalist.
Benedicta Nwani
Benedicta is working on the active control of viscous fingering via electro-osmosis in a quasi 2D homogeneous porous medium, numerically and experimentally. In her free time, Benedicta likes to cook, hang out with friends and serve her community via volunteering activities.
Akram Alabsi
Akram joined the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department at University of Calgary as a PhD student in 2019. His research focuses on development of materials for CO2 Capture/ Conversion using DAC methods. He enjoys engaging in sports like football, table tennis, squash and loves hiking.
Dino PU
Dino joined the lab in fall 2019 as a graduate student. His research is focused on thermally non-equilibrium transport phenomenon in aqueous system. He is a squash enthusiast.
Amirreza Panahi
Amirreza joined the lab as a PhD student in Fall 2020. His work is focused on the thermophoresis of polymeric liquids and colloids. He enjoys hiking, swimming, watching movies and TV shows.
Matina Nooryani
Matina joined the group as a graduate student in winter 2021 after completing her BSc in Chemical Engineering. Her research focuses on the diffusiophoresis of porous paticles in microfluidic systems. She takes interest in hiking, mountain climbing, vollyball and badminton.
Ali Bakshi Zadeh
Ali joined the lab in Winter 2021, after completing his MSc in Chemical engineeering. His research aims to reduce the salinity of salt-impacted soils with electrokinetic remediation techniques (electromigration and electroosmosis) with closely-spaced electrodes, also known as electrokinetic barrier. He is enthusiastic about hiking, playing the guitar and watching movies and TV shows.
Keith Cleland
Keith is working on improving reverse electrodialysis technology for sustainable energy storage. He loves spending time outside snowboarding, hiking, camping, kayaking and playing hockey. He is also a musician and enjoys performing with his guitar and singing.
Priyanka Sreeram
Priyanka joined the lab in Fall 2021 as a master's student. Her research is focused on transport of viscoelastic fluids porous systems, with a focus on the experimental analysis of such mechanisms in biological matter. Priyanka is also an enthusiastic dancer.
Negar Fahimi
Negar joined the lab in Winter 2022 as a Graduate student. Her research focuses on electrokinetic remediation of salt impacted soils and in-situ decontamination techniques for the same. She loves reading, watching documentaries, socializing and hiking with friends.
Undergraduate Students
Alumni
Dr Mohammad Zargartalebi (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Research Interests : Numerical modelling of flows in porous media, Lattice Boltzmann methods, heat transfer
Current Position : Postdoctoral Scholar at Sinton Lab, University of Toronto
Ali Zargartalebi (MSc)
Research Interests : numerical simulations, microfluidics, transport in porous media
Thesis Title : Numerical and Experimental Analyses of Shear-thinning Viscoelastic Fluid Flow in Confined Geometries
Subham Das (MSc)
Research Interests : numerical simulations, CFD, rheology, complex fluids
Thesis title : Rheological Modelling and Simulations of Dilute Polyelectrolyte Solutions in Complex Geometries
Milad Rezaei (MSc)
Research Interests : Ion transport, Water desalination, electrokinetics
Anjali Patadia (Summer Student )
Research Project : viscous fingering behaviour in a HeleShaw cell.
Amy Houston (Summer Student)
Research Project : Numerical modelling of viscoelastic flow behaviour in porous microfluidic contractions
Cyrine Merhaben (Summer Intern)
Research Project : Active control of viscous fingering using electric fields.
Saman Nadeem (Summer Intern)
Research Project : visualization of shock electrodialysis in a microfluidic chip