Xuan Weng

Research Engineer (03/2014 ~ Current) 

Xuan Weng completed her PhD from the Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering department of the University of Waterloo in January 2014, and M.Sc. in the College of Bioengineering at Chongqing University, China. Xuan has developed a microfluidic system for pathogen detection based on DNA hybridization for her PhD thesis. She also developed a miniaturized system for rapid and quantitative detection of Cocaine metabolites, and a PDMS microchip based sensor for rapid detection of formaldehydes in food. She enjoys music, cooking and playing badminton. 

Syed Ahmed  

Post-Doctoral Scientist (08/2016 ~ Current) 

Syed Ahmed graduated with the joint (dual) PhD degree from Shizuoka University of Japan and the Pusan National University of Korea in 2015. His Ph.D dissertation introduced preparation of fluorescent hybrid nanostructure combined with plasmonic-fluorescent and magneto-fluorescent and further expanded the physical study of plasmon–semiconductor hybrid nanostructure to develop a highly sensitive detection of influenza virus based on exciton-plasmon interaction. He has also developed sensitive influenza virus detection system using nanomaterials as artificial enzymes. In his spare time, he enjoys shopping and eating out with family.

Satish Kumar 

Post-Doctoral Scientist (09/2016 ~ Current) 

Satish Kumar Tuteja graduated with his PhD degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology department of CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology of India in June 2016. His PhD thesis was on the development of nanostructures based ultra-sensitive electrochemical biomedical and environmental biosensors. His research interests are in biosensor and diagnostic lab on a chip sensor development; surface functionalization and biointerface development; antibody and aptamer engineering for sensing and diagnostics and nano device fabrication.

Rohit Chand

Post-Doctoral Scientist (01/2017 ~ Current)

Rohit Chand obtained his Ph.D in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea in 2015 and M.Sc. from KIIT University, India. During his Ph.D., he developed electrochemical and microfluidic biosensors for the detection of cancer biomarkers. Before joining BioNano Lab, Rohit also worked as a post-doctoral fellow and research professor at Sungkyunkwan University. His research work involves micro-fabrication, surface functionalization, biosensors, and lab-on-a-chip development. He likes traveling, hiking, and watching movies.

Vasanth Krishnamoorthy 

Post-Doctoral Research Scientist (09/2017 ~ Current) 

Vasanth Ragavan was working as an assistant Professor in Food technology and Nanotechnology at Amity University Rajasthan, India. He received PhD in Engineering Sciences from Food Engineering Department, CSIR - CFTRI, Mysore, and AcSIR, New Delhi. Earlier, he did Master’s in Food technology from ACT campus, Anna University, Chennai. His research interests include synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials to improve the performance of analytical methods for the detection of food contaminants. In free time, he does gardening, cooking and reads history books. He was a bowling all-rounder in CFTRI cricket team and occasionally plays professional matches.

Abdulmonem Murayyan

PhD Student (09/2016 ~ Current)

Abdul completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biological engineering from the University of Guelph. His research project focuses on the investigation of the polymicrobial bacterial biofilms in cystic fibrosis lungs. Currently, he is working on studying the antiproliferative capacity of bioactive compounds found in Ontario grown onion varieties on cancer cell lines. During his free time, Abdul enjoys fishing, soccer, photography, and aikido.  

Xuanjing Jiang

PhD Student (07/2016 ~ )

Xuanjing received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in food science and engineering department of the College of Food Science of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University of China. Her research interest is in post harvest biology and technology of fruit and vegetables, focusing on enhancing the quality of fresh agricultural products. She has been awarded a scholarship from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University and is currently working on a project concerning food safety using nanotechnology tools at the University of Guelph as a visiting research associate. During her free time, Xuanjing enjoys watching movies, listening to music and playing badminton.

Alzahrani, Abdulhakeem (Kimo)

PhD Student (01/2015 ~ Current)

Kimo is currently a Phd student in the Food Science program at the University of Guelph. His research project is focused on the role of the persister state on the survival of non-O157 Shiga Toxin Escherichia coli during fresh produce production and post-harvest processing. The persister cells of non-O157 has been isolated along with identification of influencing factors (cultivation mediums, temperature, manure exudates, root exudates and inducers such as indole and Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) on the survival of persister using the classic approach of antibiotic selection. Currently,  he is investigating the role of metabolic triggers to induce or reverse dormancy in STEC at a single cell level using microfluidic platforms at the BioNano Lab.  Kimo received his MS.c in the Food Science program at the University of Guelph in 2014, and B.Sc. in Food Science and Human Nutrition at the King Saud University, Saudi Arabia in 2009. In my free time, he likes to play volleyball, cook, and go out with his family and friends.

Rick Bosma 

MSc Student (09/2017 ~ Current) 

Rick is a MASc student in the Biological Engineering program at the University of Guelph.  He received his Bachelor of Engineering from Lakehead University and earned his P.Eng License in 2008.  Rick has worked as an engineer in the dairy industry since 2009 and is currently investigating methods of detecting antibiotics in milk.  When away from his research, Rick enjoys motor racing and building scale models.

Patrick Egan 

MSc Student (09/2017 ~ Current)

Patrick is a MASc student in the Biological Engineering program at the University of Guelph. While also receiving his Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Guelph in Biomedical Engineering, he showed specific interest in Bio-instrumentation. Patrick’s current research interest is geared towards the development of biosensors for pathogen detection. In his spare time Patrick enjoys watching movies, listening to music, and spending time with friends and family.

Saipriya Ramalingam

PhD Student (09/2017 ~ Current) 

Saipriya Ramalingam is currently a full time PhD student at the BioNano Lab. She has a year of research assistantship at the Nanotechnology Research Centre , SRM University. Prior to that, she was a research student as the Nanomaterial and Systems lab at Jeju National University, South Korea. She had completed her Masters in Nanoscience and Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering in India. Her research interests include drug delivery, nanotherapeutics and the incorporation of novel nanomaterials for biosensing applications. She carries rich understanding in synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials and its application in electrochemistry. Saipriya’s current research revolves around the fabrication of point- of care devices for disease detection.

Josephine Yee

MSc Student (09/2017 ~ Current) 

Josephine is a MASc student in the Biological Engineering program at the University of Guelph. She received her Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering also at the University of Guelph. Her research interest is on developing biosensors for biomedical applications. Outside of her studies, Josephine enjoys playing video games, doing crafts and inline skating. Her thesis project involves development of wearable sensors for real-time disease detection. 

John Buozis

Masters Student (09/2016 ~ Current) 

John is a MASc student in the Biological Engineering program at the University of Guelph. He received his Bachelor of Engineering, also at the University of Guelph, in the field of biological engineering. John's work involves developing biosensors using microfluidics and nanotechnology for biomedical applications, and more specifically on the development of biosensors for the detection of avian influenza. Outside of his studies, John enjoys spending time with friends, playing and listening to music, and playing the odd video game.  

Nick Vanstone

MSc Student (09/2016 ~ Current)

Nick is a MASc student in the Biological Engineering program at the University of Guelph. He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Queen’s University and specialized in applied mathematics and mechanical engineering. Nick’s work involves using infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics to develop quick and inexpensive laboratory testing methods for the agriculture and food industries. More specifically, he hopes to develop methods that will be able to detect adulteration in food products as well as quantify the presence of specific components in foods. Outside of research, he plays various sports including volleyball and running and he also enjoys photography.

Amit Tah

MSc Student (05/2017 ~ Current)

Amit is a MASc student in the Biological Engineering program at the University of Guelph. He received his Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Guelph in 2015. Upon graduation, Amit worked at Christie Digital Systems. Amit's project concerns development of paper based nano-biosensing platforms for food safety applications.

Chelsey Tremblay

MSc Student (01/2017 ~ Current)

Chelsey is a MSc student in food microbiology at the University of Guelph. She received her Bachelor’s degree in microbiology, also from the University of Guelph, in February of 2017. Her work as an undergraduate student involved studying the survival of Listeria spp. introduced onto and into candy apples following ozone and peroxide treatment, in hopes of improving industry critical control plans. Chelsey’s current work involves studying the persister state of non-0157 Escherichia coli in regards to lettuce production and food safety using both traditional culturing methods and microfluidic systems. Outside of the laboratory Chelsey can often be found listening to fantasy podcasts, playing board games, baking, or partaking in a zumba class.

Simranjit Sahni

Master's Student (09/2014 ~ Current)

Simranjit completed his Bachelor's of Engineering from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, India in the field of Electrical and Computer Engineering. As a graduate student, Simranjit is working on developing biosensors and instrumentation solutions for biomedical applications. In his spare time, he enjoys playing table tennis, poker, watching soccer and indulge in playing console games. 

Jack Mogus

High School Project Student (10/2016 ~ Current) 

Jack is a grade 11 student at Garth Webb Secondary School with a passion for STEM. He has participated in science fairs since grade 7 and has competed at the national level for three years in a row. At the BioNano Lab, Jack's work involves researching and developing novel nano composite materials through investigating their properties and applying it to various new and innovative applications. Jack's current science fair project is a study on reinventing the medical glove using biotechnology and nano composites. In his spare time he enjoys doing Taekwondo, listening to music, volunteering, and advocating for First Nations rights through his own organization, Change by YOUth.

Alan (Yi Lan) Wang

NSERC URA Student (05/2017 ~ Current)

Alan is a 4^th year biomedical engineering student at the University of Guelph. Yi Lan’s work at the Bionano lab involves developing portable biosensors with the intent of detecting Johne's disease in cows. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to music, playing video games, and socializing with friends.