[April 15, 2024] Dan Zhao's paper on evaluating gigaton scale geological CO2 storage in the Alberta oil sands is published in the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (Read the paper). We introduce a comprehensive framework for designing a large-scale CCS system, which considers the availability of emission sources, efficiency of pipeline route, storage capacity and injectivity, CO2 migration and trapping, cost, and policy and financial incentives.

[January 9, 2024] Michelle successfully defended her Master’s thesis, titled “Closed-loop greenhouse agriculture systems”. Congratulations, Michelle!!

[December 29, 2023] Robin Zhao delivered an invited talk at the School of Mechanical Engineering in Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

[December 19, 2023] Mohamed El-Morsy's paper on digital rock permeability upscaling using physics-informed neural network is published in Water Resources Research (Read the paper). We demonstrate that the combination of this upscaling framework with a convolutional neural network is capable of predicting the permeability of digital rocks at the core-scale with an excellent accuracy. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Wael El-Dakhakhni at McMaster.

[August 23, 2023] Mohamed Elmorsy successfully defended his PhD dissertation, titled “Predicting Digital Porous Media Properties Using Machine Learning Methods”. Congratulations, Dr. Elmorsy!!

[August 13, 2023] Negar Shahsavar's paper on fingering instability during mixing‐driven precipitation flow, published in Transport in Porous Media (Read the paper). In this work, we show that precipitation-induced fingering has a strong feedback on fluid–fluid mixing and the subsequent precipitation rate. It is a collaboration with researchers from Caltech.

[July 19, 2023] Ashkan Irannezhad's paper on characteristics of fluid-fluid displacement in model mixed-wet porous media, published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Read the paper). This work systematically investigates the impact of mixed-wettability on the invasion pattern and pressures of two-phase flow in simple porous media. It is a collaboration with researchers from MIT.

[June 14, 2023] Ashkan Irannezhad successfully defended his PhD dissertation, titled “Multiphase Flow in Mixed-wet Porous Media”. Congratulations, Dr. Irannezhad!!

[April 20, 2023] Our work on strong imbibition in microfluidics was included in the Album of Porous Media, which is the first book dedicated to compiling state-of-the-art visualization in porous materials (pdf).

[March 31, 2023] Michelle Ragany's paper on Closed-loop agriculture systems meta-research using text mining is published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (Read the paper). This work is in collaboration with Dr. Wael El-Dakhakhni at McMaster.

[March 9, 2023] Yu Hao (Dan) Zhao successfully defended his Master’s thesis, titled A holistic framework for evaluating gigatonne scale geological CO2 storage in the Alberta oil sands: physics, policy, and economics. Congratulations, Master Dan!!

[February 10, 2023] Mahtab Masouminia's paper on characterizing the chemical and physical mechanisms behind UV-ozone induced wettability alteration in thiolene-based polymers, published in Langmuir (Read the paper). This work also introduces novel fabrication systems that could enable experiments that further probe the impact of wettability on multiphase flow in porous media. It is a collaboration with Kari Dalnoki-Veress and Charles de Lannoy from McMaster.

[January 11, 2023] Ashkan Irannezhad's paper on fluid-fluid displacement in mixed-wet porous media, published in Physical Review Fluids (Read the paper). This work demonstrates the complex nature of wettability control on multiphase flow in porous media, which could lead to surprising results as shown in the image here. It is a collaboration with researchers from MIT.

[September 22, 2022] Mohamed El-Morsy's paper on porous media classification using multivariate statistical methods is published in Proceedings of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Annual Conference 2021 (Read the paper). This work is in collaboration with Dr. Wael El-Dakhakhni at McMaster.

[June 1, 2022] PhD student Michelle Ragany wins the prestigious Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Congratulations!!

[May 1, 2022] PhD student Mohammad Salehpour joins the group. Mohammad olds a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from University of Garmsar (2017), followed by a Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from Shiraz University (2020). Welcome!!

[April 21, 2022] Robin Zhao delivered an invited talk at the Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar at the California Institute of Technology.

[March 17, 2022] Mohamed El-Morsy's paper on permeability prediction using convolutional neural network is published in Water Resources Research (Read the paper). We demonstrate that the model is generalizable, and it is capable of predicting the permeability of previously unseen samples with an excellent accuracy. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Wael El-Dakhakhni at McMaster.

[March 11, 2022] Bauyrzhan Primkulov's paper on self-organized criticality in strong imbibition, published in Communication Physics (Read the paper). This work demonstrates universality of multiphase flow in porous media, and it is a collaboration with researchers from MIT and Oxford.

[January 3, 2022] PhD student Michelle Ragany joins the group. Michelle did her undergraduate studies at the University of Guelph and her master’s work at McMaster University. Michelle will be co-supervised with Dr. Wael El-Dakhakhni. Welcome!!

[September 18, 2021] Our paper on optimizing electrolysis via surface treatment is published in Cell Reports Physical Science (Read the paper). This work demonstrates that wettability treatment of the porous transport layer can improve the efficiency of PEM electrolyzers by >11%, further enabling a green hydrogen future. It is a collaboration with researchers from University of Toronto and NIST.

[August 2, 2021] Bauyrzhan Primkulov's paper on wettability and Lenormand’s diagram, published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Read the paper). This work extends the classic Lenormand’s diagram describing fluid-fluid displacement in porous media to include wettability effects. It is a collaboration with researchers from MIT, Yale, Oxford and Caltech.

[June 25, 2021] Our lab has been awarded the NSERC joint Canada-Germany projects on hydrogen technologies. We will be collaborating with colleagues at Leibniz Universität Hannover to study mass transport in proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers for efficient hydrogen production. * News Coverage: McMaster News, NSERC

[January 15, 2021] PhD students Mahtab Masouminia, Negar Shahsavar, and Mohamed El-Morsy successfully passed their doctoral comprehensive exam (Part B). Congratulations!!

[September 15, 2020] PhD student Ashkan Irannezhad successfully passed his doctoral comprehensive exam (Part B). Congratulations!!

[September 10, 2020] Our lab has been awarded a grant by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to study the effectiveness of masks in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of McMaster’s Centre of Excellence in Protective Equipment and Materials (CEPEM), we hope to apply our expertise in fluid dynamics and porous media to contribute to next generation PPEs. * News Coverage: McMaster News, Ontario Newsroom

[September 8, 2020] Master’s student Dan Zhao joins the group. Dan did his undergraduate studies in civil engineering at McMaster University. Welcome!!

[June 16, 2020] PhD students Mahtab Masouminia, Negar Shahsavar, and Mohamed El-Morsy successfully passed their doctoral comprehensive exam (Part A). Congratulations!!

[May 22, 2020] ChungHyuk Lee's paper on gas formation in CO2 electrolyzers is published in iScience (Read the paper). This work applies to converting carbon dioxide to useful chemicals using renewable energy and it is a collaboration with the Thermofluids for energy and advanced materials lab at the University of Toronto.

[April 8, 2020] Undergraduate thesis student Ruby Yee successfully (and virtually) defended her senior capstone project in the Integrated Science program. Congratulations!! We are so proud of the fantastic work you have done despite the unprecedented challenges this year!

[January 16, 2020] PhD student Ashkan Irannezhad successfully passed his doctoral comprehensive exam (Part A). Congratulations!!

[September 3, 2019] PhD student Mohamed El-Morsy joins the group. Mohamed did his undergraduate and graduate studies in structural engineering at Cairo University. Mohamed will be co-supervised with Dr. Wael El-Dakhakhni. Welcome!!

[September 3, 2019] PhD student Negar Shahsavar joins the group. Negar did her undergraduate and graduate studies in petroleum engineering at Sharif University of Technology and Shiraz University, respectively. Welcome!!

[August 2, 2019] Bauyrzhan Primkulov's paper on signatures of fluid-fluid displacement in porous media: wettability, patterns, and pressures, published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Read the paper). This work demonstrates a novel dynamic pore network model that faithfully captures the impact of wettability on multiphase flow in porous media. It is a collaboration with researchers from MIT, Princeton, Oxford and UC Berkeley.

[August 1, 2019] PhD student Mahtab Masouminia joins the group. Mahtab did her undergraduate and graduate studies in mechanical engineering at the University of Tehran and Amirkabir University of Technology, respectively. Welcome!!

[June 21, 2019] Our paper on a comprehensive comparison of pore-scale models for multiphase flow in porous media is published in PNAS (Read the paper). This work is the result of an international collaboration between researchers from 20 institutions across the world.

[May 12, 2019] Undergraduate student Katelyn Wylie joins the group for the summer. Katelyn is in the Civil Engineering and Society program and she is passionate about solving the problem of climate change. Welcome!!

[May 10, 2019] ChungHyuk Lee's paper on compressible gas invasion is published in Physical Review Applied (Read the paper). This work applies to renewable energy storage via PEM electrolysis and it is a collaboration with the Thermofluids for energy and advanced materials lab at the University of Toronto.

[May 1, 2019] PhD student Ashkan Irannezhad joins the group. Ashkan did his undergraduate and graduate studies in mechanical engineering at the University of Tehran and Amirkabir University of Technology, respectively. Welcome!!

[December 24, 2018] Robin Zhao delivered an invited talk at the State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science in Wuhan University.

[October 24, 2018] Harris Rabbani's paper on pore geometry control of apparent wetting in porous media is published in Scientific Reports (Read the paper). This work is a collaboration with Nima Shokri from the University of Manchester and Ruben Juanes from MIT.

[October 11, 2018] Bauyrzhan Primkulov's paper on quasi-static fluid-fluid displacement in porous media: invasion-percolation through a wetting transition, is published in Physical Review Fluids (Read the paper). This work is a collaboration between researchers from the University of Alberta, University of Oxford, and MIT.

[September 26, 2018] Pranay Shrestha's paper on hydrophilic microporous layer coatings for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is published in Journal of Power Sources (Read the paper). This work is a collaboration with the Thermofluids for energy and advanced materials lab at the University of Toronto.

[September 4, 2018] Robin Zhao joins the Department of Civil Engineering at McMaster University.