Team

Meet our experts

Prof. Samaneh Shahgaldi

Associate Professor
Canada Research Chair at UQTR
Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Waterloo

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Dr . Aditya Singh

Aditya Singh is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Université du Québec à Trois-Riviérs (UQTR), Canada. He has Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India, and M. Tech. degree from IIT, Kharagpur, India. His PhD research work focused on the performance of Hematite and Bismuth Vanadate based photocatalysts in photoelectrochemical (PEC) reactor for hydrogen production. His research interests include Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, PEC water splitting, Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), Supercapacitor, and Biomass Conversion to value-added chemicals.

Dr. Abhay Gupta

Abhay obtained PhD in Materials Engineering from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) – Bangalore, India. During PhD, he fabricated Tin based alloy electrodeposits for interconnect applications in semiconductor industries. He correlated the crystallographic orientation, morphology and phase constitution of the coatings with their electrochemical stability under corrosive conditions. He is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Quebec at Trois Rivieres, working with Dr. Samaneh Shahgaldi. His current research focusses on the development of porous transport layer and coatings for polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer.

Dr. Ana Maria Borges Honorato

Ana Maria Borges Honorato has a PhD in Macromolecular Sciences and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University (USA). She has over 7 years of hands-on experience in nanomaterial/catalysts synthesis and electrochemistry toward renewable energy reactions , including oxygen reduction reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction and biomass reformation.

Dr. Shahid Zamaan

Shahid completed his bachelor (2014) and Master’s degree (2016) in Inorganic Chemistry from Quaid i Azam University, Pakistan. His master thesis was focused on palladium nanostructures supported on porous carbon-graphene composites as electrocatalysts for the formic acid oxidation reaction. Shahid received his doctor degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China in 2021. He has been working on platinum alloys incorporated into metal organic frameworks derived carbon nanostructures for oxygen electrocatalysis. Later, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China, working on carbon support modifications for oxygen reduction electrocatalysts. Shahid joined Dr. Shahgaldi’s group as postdoctoral fellow in July 2023. His research interests include fabrication of electrocatalysts and support modifications for durable electrocatalysis in PEM fuel cells and electrolyzers.

Dr. Salma Sleiman

Salma Sleiman received her master and doctorate in Science and Energy of Materials from the university of Quebec in Trois Rivieres (UQTR) in Canada. Her doctoral research focused on metal hydrides especially the behavior of hydrogen in High Entropy Alloys. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Researcher at UQTR working with metal hydrides and carbon-based materials for energy storage applications.

Dr. Ikechukwu S. Anyanwu

Ikechukwu Anyanwu received his doctorate in Power Machinery and Engineering from Tianjin University in China. His doctoral research focused on the analysis and 3D modeling of two- phase flow in micro channels as well as the evaluation of pore-scale interfacial water transport within reconstructed Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) microstructures of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Research Intern at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, and his research focuses on the development of the next generation lightweight and compact bipolar plate for PEMFCs. His research interests include the development, optimisation and application of computational and simulation technologies for understanding, designing, and optimizing various electrochemical systems.

Dr. Mathew K Francis

Mathew K Francis is a researcher specializing in energy conversion and storage technologies. He earned his Ph.D. from Anna University, Chennai. His areas of expertise include Li-ion batteries, supercapacitors, hydrogen evolution reactions, and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC).

Dr. Sukanta Chakrabartty

Dr. Sukanta Chakrabartty did his Ph.D. from Indian Institute Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur), India. He is working on the electrocatalysts for PEMWE applications.

Ph.D., Researchers, M.Sc., and Intern students

Dhinesh Kumar Murugaiah

Chemical Engineer, experienced in research and development of electrochemical energy devices with a master’s degree in energy technologies from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Dhinesh is skilled at experimental methods focusing on material synthesis and product development for both battery and fuel cell technologies. Dhinesh is currently working with Cummins for his doctoral studies within energy and materials science on developing “A Novel Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) Design for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer”. Other areas of interest also include data-driven material research and AI for chemometrics.

Sai Praneeth

Sai Praneeth is a material science researcher with experience in the R&D of electrochemical energy devices such as PEM Fuel cells, PEM Water Electrolyser, and supercapacitors. With his background in chemistry and experience in material synthesis from lignocellulosic biomass for energy applications, he designs experiments, synthesizes new materials, and tests them to evaluate their performance in fuel cell and electrolyzer applications at Prof. Shahgaldi's research group at UQTR.

Mohmmad Khalid

Mohmmad Khalid holds bachelor and master’s degrees in chemistry from India. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in science and engineering of lignocellulosic materials at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. His research interest focusses on the development of biomass derived materials with atomic scale manipulation for energy conversion and storage technologies such as fuel cell, metal air batteries, and electrolyzer. His research interest also includes conducting polymers-based electroconductive materials for energy conversion applications.

Nikita Malhotra

Nikita Malhotra is a Ph.D. candidate in the Energy and Materials Science program at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR). She will work as a collaborator researcher at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Mississauga. She did her M.Tech. (Solid State Materials) in June 2022 from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, and also completed her M.Sc. in Physics in 2020 from Guru Nanak Dev University, India. During her M.Tech. she worked on Synthesis and characterization of ZnO- V2O5 Heterojunction for Photoelectrochemical water splitting applications. Her future research work, under the supervision of Dr. Samaneh Shahgaldi, focuses on Developing degradation protocols for the PEM water electrolyzer.

Richard Acheampong

Richard obtained his MSc in Materials Science at Ontario Tech University, where he mastered techniques related to fuel cell membrane electrode assembly (MEA) fabrication and electrochemical testing. His MSc work focused on probing some of the unique properties observed for sulfonated silica ceramic carbon electrodes (SS-CCE) for fuel cell application. He is currently a first year PhD student in Energy and Materials Science at the University of Quebec at Trois Rivieres, working under Dr. Samaneh Shahgaldi. His PhD research focuses on the development of the next generation MEA for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer.

Yasin Mehdizadeh

Yasin Mehdizadeh received his master’s degree in chemical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran, in 2016. His master’s degree focused on CFD simulation of dispersed drops in contact with coalescers for liquid-liquid separation. Since 2017, he has been working at a catalyst manufacturing company in Iran. In this role, he supervised the catalyst test laboratory, where he was responsible for designing, developing, and constructing fully-automated laboratory and pilot-scale catalyst testing units. Additionally, he was involved in synthesizing heterogeneous non-precious metal catalysts and characterization methods. In addition to his career in catalyst manufacturing, Yasin worked as a research assistant, collaborating with other groups in the fields of computational chemistry and machine learning. Currently, Yasin is a Ph.D. student in Prof. Shahgaldi’s group, having joined in August 2023. His research focus is on the development of the next generation of bipolar plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs).

Mohammadhossein Johar

Mohammadhossein Johar received his master's degree in materials science and engineering in field of corrosion and protection of materials at the University of Tehran, Iran. His thesis focused on the Investigation of the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of alpha brass and copper nickel alloys in corrosive Mattsson's solution in presence of Benzotriazole as corrosion inhibitor using slow strain rate test (SSRT) and electrochemical noise (ECN) methods. He is going to work as a Ph.D. student in Professor Samaneh Shahgaldi’s research group on the development of Niobium-based bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells.

Leila Moradizadeh

Leila obtained her BSc in Chemical Engineering at Persian Gulf University (2016) and her MSc degree in Chemical Engineering from Shiraz University (2021) under the supervision of Professor Gholamreza Karimi and Dr. Mohammad Hossein Paydar. She completed her thesis on PEM fuel cells during three years of lab research at ‘Hydrogen Fuel Cell’ and ‘Energy transfer and storage’ Laboratories (2021).

M. Jareer

Battery researcher specializing in the development of advanced anode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs), Jareer holds master's and bachelor's degrees in physics from India. With previous experience working at IIT Kanpur, India, where he focused on the development of cathodes and electrolytes for all solid-state batteries (ASSBs). Currently pursuing a PhD on the topic of the development of novel Si-based anode materials for next-generation LIBs at UQTR in the Shahgaldi research group. His research interests also extend to fabricating composite electrolytes for Na-ion batteries and advanced electrodes for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries.

Kaushiki Pawar

Kaushiki Pawar is a material science researcher with experience in the R&D sector of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyser. She received her Bachelor’s degree with Honours in Chemistry from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning and Master’s degree in Chemical Sciences from Central University of Gujarat, India. Kaushiki is currently working with Cummins for her doctoral studies within energy and materials science on developing “A Novel Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) Design for PEM Water Electrolyzer”.

Arathi Narangali

Arathi holds a postgraduate degree in Chemistry from National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from University of Calicut, Kerala. She began her research career in Hydrogen Fuel technology at the Central Electrochemical Research Institute (Chennai Unit). She holds expertise in the practical synthesis and characterization of electrocatalysts based on Platinum for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Hydrogen Fuel cells.

Hadhemi Nfissi

Hadhemi Nfissi is a Ph.D. candidate in the Energy and Materials Science program at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR). She earned her M.Sc. in Nanophysics and Nanotechnology in 2022 from the University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia. Her research at that time delved into the Effects of Ionizing Radiation on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of TiO2 nanoparticles, for Photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Sukhvant Singh

Sukhvant Singh has MSc in Chemistry from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India in 2022. After his Masters, He joined the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a Project Assistant, and joined as a Research student at Hanyang University, South Korea. In his PhD he is focusing on PTL modification and surface enhancement for the application of PEM Water Electrolyzers.

Anurag

Anurag obtained his master’s degree from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, India, and bachelor’s degree from IIT Roorkee, India, in the field of Materials Science and Engineering. His current research focusses on the development of next generation of porous transport layers’ coatings for the application in PEM water electrolyzer.

Salman Ahmad

Salman Ahmad obtained his master’s degree in “Nanoscience and Nanoengineering” from Sakarya University, Turkey. At Sakarya University Research, Development and Application Center (SARGEM), he conducted his research on fabricating anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Subsequently, he served as an “Erasmus Fellow” at the Institute of Ceramics and Glass in Madrid, Spain, focusing on the preparation of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). Currently, he is a doctoral student in the Energy and Materials Sciences program at the University of Quebec at Trois Rivieres (UQTR), under the supervision of Professor Samaneh Shahgaldi. His doctoral research centers on the development of novel biomass-derived anode materials for battery applications.

Amirmohammad Khosravi Ghasemi

Amirmohammad Khosravi Ghasemi is a Ph.D. candidate in the Energy and Materials Science program at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR). He is working as a researcher at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in Vancouver. He was a skilled electrochemistry specialist with a strong background in conducting research and development for various electrochemical energy devices

Sanaullah Qamar

Sanaullah Qamar is currently a doctorate student and working on PEM Fuel Cells and Electrolysis modeling. He graduated in Chemical Engineering from National Univeristy of Science and Technology, Isalamad, Pakistan. During his masters at Korea Institute of Energy Research, he did his research on Solid Oxide Electrolysis and Fuel Cells Technology and in particular perovskite oxide materials . After his masters, he was part of companies doing research and produciton of large area stacks for SOFCs, Lithium ion batteries and Sodium Air Batteries in South korea. His current research interest includes fuel cells, flow batteries, and low temperature and high temperature electrolysis.

Muhammad Azhar Iqbal

Muhammad Azhar Iqbal has MSc in Energy System Engineering from the prestigious National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan. His research interests encompass optimizing coatings and investigating degradation and failure mechanisms due to environmental factors. His work experience includes roles as a Research Associate at Advanced Energy Materials and System Lab, NUST, a Lab Engineer at Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology and an Inspection Engineer at National Center for Failure Analysis, Institute of Space Technology, Pakistan. Currently, he is a PhD student of Energy and Materials Science at IRH, UQTR. He is working on the development of Ultra-Low precious metal coatings for PEM Water Electrolyzers.

Muhammad Rahees Puthalath.

Rahees holds a MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the National Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Madras, Tamil Nadu. He completed his bachelor's degree in Chemistry at the University of Kannur, Kerala. With a strong interest in material science, his expertise includes Electrochemistry and Nanotechnology. He previously worked at Rathinam Research Center in collaboration with IIT Bombay, focusing on Pd-diffused transition metal-based chalcogenide heterostructures for electro-catalytic water splitting. He has experience in the synthesis and characterization of materials for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. under Professor Samaneh Shahgaldi, researching the development of catalyst support materials for PEM water electrolyzers and Fuel cell.

H. Muzammil Irshad

H. Muzammil Irshad obtained master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2016). He worked as a research assistant at Centre of Research Excellence in Nanotechnology, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia. He served as a lecturer (2018-2023) at faculty of materials and chemical engineering, GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Pakistan. Currently he is enrolled as a Ph.D. scholar at University of Quebec, Trois Rivieres (UQTR).

JohnGodswill Eziuka

JohnGodswill Eziuka is a petroleum engineering bachelor's degree holder and a master's degree holder in corrosion technology at the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria. He is currently working as a PhD student in Energy and materials sciences focusing on synthesis of novel material for MPL fabrication on PEM water electrolyzer.

Zeeshan Ahmad

Zeeshan Ahmad received his MSc in Inorganic Chemistry from the Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan. His master project was on Palladium nanocatalysts supported on Nitrogen-doped highly graphitic carbon for direct alcohol fuel cell applications (DAFCs). Currently, he is a PhD student in SHAHGALDI research group at UQTR. His doctoral research interest focuses on the fabrication of ruthenium based electrocatalysts for PEM water electrolyzers.

Lab Alumni

Dr. Mohammad Taghi Amiri

I received my Ph.D. degree in Materials Engineering from the University of Alberta in 2021. During my Ph.D. program, I worked mainly on solid oxide electrochemical cells. Initially, I focused on developing new fabrication methods based on direct microwave sintering. Then, I focused on utilizing fuel cells as a dry reformer to produce syngas and electricity. Also, I worked on high- temperature reversible stacks that could chemically store excess energy during off-peak and produce electricity when needed. I have completed my B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Physics from the Isfahan University of Technology. During that time, I worked on nanomaterials fabrication and characterization. It also involved thin-film fabrication and electrochemical characterization.

Dr. Biswajit De

I completed my PhD from IIT Delhi in 2022. My research interests are electrolyzer, fuel cells, microfluidics, nano/microfabrication, and thin films. With Shahgaldi Research Group, I worked on membrane degradation for PEM water electrolyzers

German Jose Alvarez Carrero

German Alvarez is currently in his final year of a BSc Chemistry Degree in the University of Antioquia, Colombia. His research focuses on the development of Single-Atom-Catalyst carbonaceous materials used as the cathode of metal-air batteries. He carried out an internship under Dr. Samaneh Shahgaldi’s supervision focused on the effects of multiple components such as additives in the inks used for the fabrication of MEAs with the CCM architecture. His research interests also include polymer chemistry, electrospinning and electrocatalysis.

Dr. Hossein Kalhori

Dr. Hossein Kalhori is a thin film specialist with a strong foundation in the physics of nanomaterials. He earned his PhD in Energy and Materials Sciences from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique in Montreal. Driven by a passion for pioneering solutions, he specializes in thin film synthesis and developement, employing a diverse range of physical and chemical techniques, including sputtering, pulsed laser deposition, photolithography, thermal evaporation, spray pyrolysis, and electrodeposition. He has embarked on a new chapter in his career as a Postdoctoral Fellow, collaborating with the research group led by Prof. Shahgaldi at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières.

Our laboratory is involved in research primarily focused on energy conversion and storage, valorization of biomaterials, and developing advanced materials for different applications.We are committed to improving clean energy technologies and making them more affordable.

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