Pouya Rezai

Bio

Dr. Pouya Rezai is professional engineer (PEng) in ON, a CSME Fellow, and an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering, York University. He is a researcher in the field of microfluidics and Lab-on-Chips (LoC). He obtained his BSc in Mechanical Engineering, MSc in Electrical Engineering (Microsystems Technology), and PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Bio-Microfluidics) in Iran, Sweden, and Canada, respectively. He was an NSERC Visiting Fellow at Public Health Agency of Canada in Guelph, ON for a year before starting his academic career at York University in 2013 as an Assistant Professor. Currently, he is the director of the Advanced Center for Microfluidic Technology and Engineering (ACµTE). He also served as the founding Graduate Program Director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at York University in 2013-2022 and the bulletin Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) in 2017-2022.

Dr. Rezai’s independent research at York University has resulted in substantial external funding, training of highly qualified personnel, filing of patents, and publication of book chapters, articles in top-tier journals, and peer-reviewed papers in prestigious international conferences. The research of Dr. Rezai and his group has been recognized by awards and recognitions including multiple awards (CSME IW Smith, ON ERA) as well as cover articles and interview. He has developed multiple collaborations with scientists and engineers in industry and academia including two ongoing international collaborations with investigators in China and Kuwait.

Dr. Rezai’s research interest is to expand fundamental understanding of interactions between fluids and nano- to micro-scale biological substances in their micro-environment habitats using biomimetic microfluidic devices and to employ this knowledge to devise efficient microsystems for facilitating research and development in human health- and safety-related applications. His group has developed

(i) Micro-electro-mechanical sensors and actuators to exploit composite functional polymers and nano-structures as sensing materials in LoC devices;

(ii) LoC for quantitative investigation of sensory-motor responses of disease model organisms (e.g. D. melanogaster, C. elegans, and D. rerio) to various physical and chemical cues; and

(iii) Microfluidic platforms for multiplexed sorting and detection of microorganisms, microplastics, and pharmaceuticals in fluidic samples.

Dr. Rezai’s research aims to provide advanced technologies for enhancement of the quality of life in medical, food safety and water monitoring applications.