Plenary Speakers 

Biography

Dr. Dominic Groulx, Fellow of the CSME, obtained his PhD from the University of Sherbrooke and is the founder of the Lab of Applied Multiphase Thermal Engineering (LAMTE) at Dalhousie University where he has trained over 90 HQPs in the last 15 year and published over 200 journal and conference papers, book chapters and technical reports.

Dr. Groulx is a world leader in the field of solid-liquid phase change heat transfer and latent heat based thermal energy storage/thermal management, giving invited keynote lectures at the top international conferences and research centers. He is also the author of invited book chapters dealing with the design of thermal storage systems and thermal management of electronics.

Dr. Groulx was asked to be inaugural chair of the CSME Heat Transfer Technical Committee and is the current senior Canadian representative on both the Assembly for the International Heat Transfer Conference (AIHTC) and the International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer (ICHMT), representing the Canadian Heat Transfer community.

Abstract

Research on solid-liquid phase change heat transfer, presents in systems using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage and thermal management, started in the 1970s and 1980s.  Some of the knowledge gained over those 2 decades was lost when interest in PCMs and their uses started again in the 2000s.  With 25 years of research experience in the field from Dr. Groulx, let’s look at progress and questions related to the fundamentals of solid-liquid phase change heat transfer from the understanding of close contact melting, the nature of solidification and melting including the role of natural convection, and the approach to numerically model these processes.  The understanding of these fundamentals also plays a crucial role in the design of PCM-based systems for various applications.  How to use and incorporate PCMs in electronics for thermal control?  How to design application specific heat storage/exchangers for latent heat storage?  Presentation and discussion of application specific projects will help answer those questions. 

Biography

Jean-Pierre Hickey is an Associate Professor in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He is drawn to the study of complex, multi-physics fluid problems in aerospace involving a strong coupling between thermodynamics, acoustics, chemical kinetics, and, invariably, turbulence. In early 2024, he was a Visiting Professor in the EM2C lab at CentraleSupelec in Paris.  Before joining Waterloo in 2016, Jean-Pierre was a Research Scientist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Göttingen working in the Spacecraft department and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. from the Royal Military College of Canada with Xiaohua Wu, his M.Sc. from the Darmstadt University of Technology under Martin Oberlack, and his bachelor from Polytechnique Montreal.

Abstract

Space exploration inevitably involves high speeds. These high speeds are encountered in the near vacuum of outer space, but become particularly challenging, from an engineering perspective, in planetary atmospheres. Especially during atmospheric re-entry, the air, moving at many times the speed of sound relative to the space vehicle, causes extreme aerothermal loads that dictate the thermal management system and structural design of the vehicle and constrain the re-entry trajectory.  These high-speed flows are, for the most part, turbulent with strong thermal gradients, shock waves, and complex gas dynamic phenomena; these problems are often combined with additional ablative effects, radiative shock heating, and conjugate heat transfer, to name only a few of the additional challenges.  Predictive aerothermal simulations are an important component to spacecraft design, yet computational fluid dynamic modelling of the turbulence in these flows remains plagued with large uncertainties. These uncertainties are tied to the complexities of the physical modelling, due to the multi-physics and multiscale phenomena involved, and the paucity of high-quality experimental data at relevant conditions. The challenge of modelling turbulence in these high-speed flows is an active research area. This talk will first present the state-of-the-art and current challenges in hypersonic turbulent flows for computational fluid dynamics. Then, we will present some of the avenues that we have explored by our group to advance this field by combining high-fidelity direct numerical simulations to inform lower-order modelling paradigms. Finally, we will present some open scientific questions to guide future research in this field. 

Biography

Mohsen Akbari received his PhD from Simon Fraser University and is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of  Victoria. Dr. Akbari’s exceptional contributions to advanced materials, particularly the development of bioactive fibers for tissue printing and organ weaving, have led to numerous groundbreaking technologies with significant implications for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Dr. Akbari's commitment to knowledge translation is evident through his establishment of three companies, organization of events and symposiums, service on the boards of directors of CSME and other Canadian societies, numerous awards and recognitions, and publication of research findings in high-impact journals.

Abstract

Health equity remains a pressing global challenge, with disparities often stemming from unequal access to advanced medical tools and barriers in understanding and treating diseases. These inequities are further compounded by traditional drug development processes, which are costly, time-intensive, and limit the availability of affordable therapeutics.  

Tissue engineering—encompassing bioprinting and organ-on-a-chip technologies—offers transformative potential to bridge these gaps. By accelerating drug development, enabling personalized implants, and advancing regenerative medicine, these innovations can reduce costs, improve treatment outcomes, and ultimately deliver more accessible and effective healthcare solutions to patients. 

In this plenary lecture, I will highlight recent breakthroughs from my research group, where we leverage microfluidic and bioprinting technologies to develop tissue-mimicking models for drug screening and disease modeling. These advancements align with our broader mission to promote health equity through cutting-edge biomedical engineering innovations. 

Biography

Dr. Ya-Jun Pan obtained her PhD from the National University of Singapore and is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Dalhousie University. She is an internationally renowned researcher in control, mechatronics and robotics and has made significant contributions in robust nonlinear control and cyber physical systems with in-depth applications to tele-robotics, cooperative autonomous systems, intelligent robotics, rehabilitations, and industrial automation.  

Ya-Jun has published over 200 research articles in top journals and conferences with high citations, advancing the field of control and mechatronics and contributing to industrial practices. Her innovative work has been successfully applied to the industrial partner’s commercial platforms as key technologies and made significant impact in helping their business growth.  

Dr. Pan has trained over 100 graduate students and research associates. She has been recognized with fellowships in Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), CSME Mechatronics Medal Award, Research Excellence Award, and Humboldt Research Fellowship. 

Abstract

(CPSs). In many applications such as inspection, search and rescue, co-manipulations in Industrial 5.0, healthcare services, and logistics etc., robotic systems with effective intelligent adaptive control are more efficient and with more operational capability in achieving the tasks. In recent years, the planning and control of autonomous systems in an unknown environment and effective adaptive interaction of robot-robot and human-robot interaction have been the active areas of research. The adaptive cooperation becomes more challenging when the robots vary in terms of hardware, size, and functionalities within dynamic environments.   

In this talk, I will outline the challenges of the navigation and control of intelligent robotics working in unknown and dynamic environments and will present on several recent innovative intelligent adaptive control approaches we have verified through experimental studies. Specifically, results on the vision-based motion planning, intelligent navigation avoiding dynamic obstacles, role-based collaboration, distributed formation control, adaptive robust control for multiple aerial and ground vehicles, adaptive dexterous manipulations interacting with human, and adaptive cooperative manipulation systems will be described. The robot system is to dynamically adapt to the environment through intelligent planning and adaptive control, optimize their task sequences to minimize energy consumption, avoid obstacles and prevent collisions during the mission. While interacting with human, sensor-based learn-from-demonstration and adaptive admittance control grant the system a level of compliance for safe human-robot physical interaction. I will close by sharing some insights of the future era in intelligent robots.