Meet our Team
Director
Professor Aimy Bazylak
Email: aimy (dot) bazylak (at) utoronto (dot) ca
Prof. Aimy Bazylak is the Canada Research Chair in Clean Energy and Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the U of T. In 2011, she was awarded the I.W. Smith Award from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, and she received the Ontario Early Researcher Award in 2012. From 2015-2018, she served as the Director of the U of T Institute for Sustainable Energy. In 2015 she was named an Alexander Von Humboldt Fellow (Germany), and in 2019 she was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 2020, she was named a Helmholtz International Fellow (Germany), was awarded the U of T McLean Award, and was elected to the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. She was also recently elected as a 2022 Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) for excellence in engineering and services to the profession and to society.
Research Associate
Ashkan Irannezhad
Research Associate
Email: ashkan (dot) irannezhad (at) utoronto (dot) ca
Ashkan Irannezhad earned his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from McMaster University in 2023, where his research focused on multiphase flow in porous media. He subsequently joined the Higgins Lab in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University as a postdoctoral fellow, investigating mass transport in electrochemical systems.
In 2025, he joined the Bazylak Group at the University of Toronto as a Research Associate, continuing his work at the interface of mass transport phenomena and electrochemical systems. He also serves as the Research Coordinator for RECYCLEAN, an Ontario-wide initiative on electrochemical recycling technologies, where he leads coordination efforts across 7 academic institutions and 19 industry partners, contributing to the advancement of scalable and sustainable solutions.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Mariah Batool
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: mariah (dot) batool (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Mariah received her PhD in Materials Science from the University of Connecticut in 2024, where she developed digital image and data processing approaches to quantify microstructural features in electrochemical energy systems and establish structure-performance relationships. She joined the Bazylak Group as a Postdoctoral Fellow in May 2026 and currently works within the Alliance for AI-Accelerated Material Discovery (A3MD), developing an automated electrode fabrication and characterization pipeline integrated with AI/ML-guided experimental design and optimization for CO2 electrolyzers.
Alicia Battaglia
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: alicia (dot) battaglia (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Alicia (she/her) graduated with a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 2024, where she developed novel polymers as binders for organic electrodes in metal-ion batteries. In 2025, she joined the Bazylak Group to apply her polymer expertise to a new field. She is currently working on advancing CO2 electrolysis through innovative catalyst and ionomer designs.
Mary Anna Ebbert
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: maryanna (dot) ebbert (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Mary Anna Ebbert graduated with her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2026. At CMU, she worked on enhancing the efficiency of proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers through the application of novel system design approaches and experimental techniques. Mary Anna joined the Bazylak group as a Postdoctoral Fellow in August 2026, and is now applying her electrochemical design skills to advance technologies for clean recycling of critical minerals from spent batteries.
Graduate Students
Jason Chan
PhD Student
Email: jasonk (dot) chan (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Jason Chan graduated from the University of Alberta in 2018 with a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering (Biomedical Option). During his undergraduate studies, Jason studied the biomechanical responses of the lumbar spine, and also the mechanical dislodgement of kidney stones. Jason completed his MASc with the Bazylak Group, where he studied the mechanisms underlying the recellularization of the lung.
Beste Derebaşı
PhD Student
Email: beste (dot) derebasi (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Beste Derebaşı graduated from Middle East Technical University (METU) with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering department in 2020. She completed her M.Sc. degree at the same department at METU in 2023. She also worked as a research assistant at METU during her graduate education. Her M.Sc. thesis focused on the modeling and experimental study of heat pipes, specifically investigating the two-phase flow physics. Based on her interest in green energy and sustainability, Beste joined the Bazylak Group in 2023.
Kyle Dessa
MASc Student
Email: kyle (dot) dessa (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Kyle completed his B.Eng in 2025 in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Sustainable Energy at the University of Guelph. His undergraduate capstone project focused on the development of a waste heat recovery system for residential natural gas generators to reduce household energy usage. Kyle’s interest in clean energy technology led him to join the Bazylak Group, where his research focuses on using scanning transmission X-ray microscopy to characterize PEM fuel cell catalyst coated membranes to improve cell performance and fabrication techniques.
Arianna Economou
PhD Student
Email: arianna (dot) economou (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Arianna Economou graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2024 with a B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering. During her undergraduate studies, Arianna engaged in research on ammonia fuel cell electrode fabrication techniques and OSDA-free interzeolite synthesis. Arianna joined the Bazylak Group as a PhD student in 2024 and is currently investigating mechanisms of water and hydroxide ion transport in AEM water electrolyzers.
Ashley Henry
MASc Student
Email: ashley (dot) henry (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Ashley Henry graduated from the University of Toronto with a BASc. in Chemical Engineering. During her undergraduate studies, Ashley studied cogenerating systems in fast fission nuclear reactors, specifically for supporting thermochemical hydrogen generating facilities. With the Bazylak Group, Ashley is studying catalyst fabrication for PEM fuel cells.
Zayneb Hussain
MASc Student
Email: zayneb (dot) hussain (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Zayneb Hussain graduated from the University of Toronto with a BASc. in Mechanical Engineering. During her undergraduate studies, she investigated CO2 electrolyzers, focusing on the effects of relative humidity on cell performance. She was awarded the MIE Summer Reseach Award prior to her MASc, initiating her research on CO2 capture technologies. At the Bazylak Group, Zayneb is continuing her research in CO2 capture and conversion technologies.
Spencer Lytle
PhD Student
Email: spencer (dot) lytle (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Spencer graduated from Ontario Tech University in 2022 with a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering with an Energy Engineering specialization. His passion for vehicle design and environmental sustainability incited his interest in hydrogen and fuel cell engineering for vehicular applications. Spencer previously conducted research on the production of hydrogen gas via the plasmolysis of water vapor in his undergraduate program funded by NSERC’s USRA in 2019. Prior to starting his MASc in the Bazylak Group, he was awarded NSERC’s USRA a second time for the summer of 2022, where he commenced his clean electrochemical gas-to-power research in the Bazylak Group exploring and designing custom catalyst coated membranes through electrochemical characterizations to ultimately enhance the performance of PEM fuel cells.
Shayan Marand
PhD Student
Email: shayan (dot) talebimarand (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Shayan graduated from McMaster University in 2024 with a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering. His final year capstone project centered on developing smoke and surface-oil visualization techniques to study flow dynamics around aerodynamic bodies in a wind tunnel laboratory. During his undergraduate studies, Shayan was an active member of McMaster’s Formula Electric Racing Club, contributing to the drivetrain team with a focus on modeling gearbox components using Finite Element Methods. Shayan joined the Bazylak Group to conduct numerical modeling of flow within the gas diffusion layers of PEM fuel cells.
Dana Murdoch
MASc Student
Email: dana (dot) murdoch (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Dana Murdoch completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in Materials Science and Engineering. During her undergraduate studies, she performed research on the synthesis, characterization and performance of engineered nanostructured photocatalysts for solar fuels, as well as research on unusual hardening observed in electrodeposited nanocrystalline medium entropy alloys using advanced microscopy techniques. Dana was also the Thermal Lead for Space Systems with the University of Toronto Aerospace Team, focusing on modeling and analyzing thermal simulations for a CubeSat satellite.
Harsharaj Parmar
PhD Candidate
Email: harsharaj (dot) parmar (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Harsharaj graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (India) in 2019 with a B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering. During his undergraduate years he formulated high accuracy Chebyshev spectral codes for fluid flow and heat transfer. In 2021, he received his M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University where he developed energy efficient thermal desalination systems in the Warsinger Water Lab. Presently, he is a PhD candidate in the Bazylak Group and works towards optimizing the multiphase transport phenomena through gas diffusion layers in fuel cells.
Salvatore Ranieri
PhD Student
Email: sal (dot) ranieri (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Salvatore (Sal) Ranieri graduated from Ontario Tech University in 2016 with a B.Eng. and in 2019 with a M.ASc. in Mechanical Engineering. His final year capstone team project focused on high-efficiency hybrid cycle (HEHC) engine analysis, design, and demonstration of a miniature rotary engine. During his master’s program, he developed thermodynamic models to investigate and optimize Stirling cycle engines. Sal has spent the past four years working in the PEM Fuel Cell industry as a system performance and flow field engineer, developing turbocharged fuel cell engine maps and bipolar plates for both graphitic and metallic substrates. Sal joined the Bazylak Group to further pursue his passion for clean energy and is working towards advancing PEM fuel cell components by optimizing the symbiotic multiphase mass transport phenomena between the gas diffusion layers and bipolar plates.
Hongxu Zhan
PhD Student
Email: hongxu (dot) zhan (at) mail (dot) utoronto (dot) ca
Hongxu Zhan graduated from Ningbo University in 2022 with a BEng in Engineering Mechanics (Innovative Class of Brilliant Talents). His undergraduate research focused on the surface wave instabilities of thermocapillary liquid layers using linear stability theory and long-wave analysis. In 2024, he earned an MPhil in Mechanical Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he investigated the kinetics of interfacial polymerization on a microfluidic platform. Hongxu joined the Bazylak Group in 2025 to study and model the compression and deformation of the gas diffusion layers in PEM fuel cells.
Undergraduate Students
Research Associate Alumni
Prof. Mostafa Sharqawy (University of Guelph) (2015)
Najme Kishani Farahni (2025)
Postdoctoral Alumni
Ali Kalantarian (2012)
Hanif Montazeri (2014)
Jon S. Ellis (2014)
Ronnie Yip (2014)
James Hinebaugh (2016)
Prof. Stéphane Chevalier (Arts et Métiers) (2016)
Rupak Banerjee (2017)
David Ouellette (2018)
Prof. Benzhong (Robin) Zhao (McMaster University) (2018)
Prof. ChungHyuk Lee (Toronto Metropolitan University) (2020) (TMU FEEL Lab)
Kieran Fahy (2020)
Prof. Jason Keonhag Lee (University of Victoria) (2021) (EGGs Lab)
Ahmed Hasan (2022)
Pranay Shrestha (2023)
Alexandre Tugirumubano (2024)
Aida Farsi (2025)
Mohammad Soltaniayan (2026)
Graduate Alumni
Zachary Fishman, M.A.Sc. (2010)
Meaghan Miller, M.A.Sc. (2010)
Jingwen Wang, M.A.Sc. (2011)
Jessica Yablecki, M.A.Sc. (2012)
Dillon Fuerth, M.A.Sc. (2012)
Pradyumna Challa, M.A.Sc. (2012)
Katie Pelletier, M.Eng. (2013)
Prof. Marina Freire-Gormaly (York University)(opens in new tab), M.A.Sc. (2013)
Steven Botelho, M.A.Sc. (2014)
Roshanak Banan, Ph.D. (2015)
James Hinebaugh, Ph.D. (2015)
Ali Ebrahimi, Ph.D. (2015)
Mohammadreza Fazeli, M.A.Sc. (2015)
Patrick Antonacci, M.A.Sc. (2015)
Nan Ge, M.A.Sc. (2015)
Michael G. George, M.A.Sc. (2016)
Nico Bevilacqua, M.A.Sc. (2017) University of Ulm
Daniel Muirhead, M.A.Sc. (2017)
Jongmin Lee, Ph.D. (2017)
Faraz Arbabi, Ph.D. (2017)
Pranay Shrestha, M.A.Sc. (2017)
Hang Liu, Ph.D. (2018)
Andrew Wong, M.A.Sc. (2018)
Nan Ge, Ph.D. (2019)
Prof. ChungHyuk Lee (Toronto Metropolitan University)(opens in new tab), Ph.D. (2019) (TMU FEEL Lab(opens in new tab))
Eric Chadwick, M.A.Sc. (2019)
Manojkumar Balakrishnan, M.A.Sc. (2019)
Prof. Jason Keonhag Lee (University of Victoria)(opens in new tab), Ph.D. (2020) (EGGs Lab(opens in new tab))
Pascal Kim, M.A.Sc. (2020)
Kevin Krause, M.A.Sc. (2020)
Hisan Shafaque, M.A.Sc. (2020)
Jason Chan, M.A.Sc. (2021)
Taylr Cawte, M.A.Sc. (2022)
Raymond Guan, M.A.Sc. (2022)
Joshua Paciocco, M.A.Sc. (2022)
Pranay Shrestha, Ph.D. (2023)
Vasant Batta, M.A.Sc. (2025)
Chaeyoung Ham, M.A.Sc. (2025)
Dhruvi Parekh, M.A.Sc. (2025)
Leya Kober, M.A.Sc. (2025)
Spencer Lytle, M.A.Sc. (2025)
Eric Chadwick, Ph.D. (2025)
Harsharaj Parmar, Ph.D. (2026)
Tess Seip, Ph.D. (2026)
Lijun Zhu, Ph.D. (2026)