Engineering Physics

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The Department of Engineering Physics offers programs of study leading to the M.A.Sc., M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Physics. Areas of specialization include Photonics Engineering, Nano- and Micro-device Engineering, Nuclear and Energy Systems Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering.

Enquiries: 905 525-9140 Ext. 24545
E-mail: engphys@mcmaster.ca
Website: http://engphys.mcmaster.ca/graduate-studies/

Faculty / Fall 2017

Chair

Ray R. LaPierre

Professors

Adjunct Professors

Pavel Cheben/M.Sc. (Slovak Technical University), Ph.D. (Complutense University of Madrid)
David P. Jackson/B.Sc., M.A., M.A.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto), L.E.L.
Woo Young Kim/B.S., M.E. (Purdue)
Laurence Leung/B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., Ph.D. (Ottawa)
Nikola K. Popov/B.Eng. (Kiril and Metodij), M.Sc. (Belgrade), Ph.D. (Zagreb)
Benjamin Rouben/B.Sc. (McGill), Ph.D. (M.I.T.)
Victor G. Snell/B.Sc. (Manitoba), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Toronto)
Zhiyi Zhang/B.Sc.E., M.Sc.E. (National University of Defence Technology), Ph.D. (Zhongshan)

Associate Professor

L. Soleymani, B.Eng. (McGill), M.Sc. (Southern California), Ph.D. (Toronto)

Adjunct Associate Professor

Alejandro Diaz Ortiz/B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí)

Assistant Professors

Jonathan Bradley,B.Eng. (McMaster), M.A.Sc. (McMaster), Ph.D. (University of Twente)
Ayse Turak, B.Sc. (Queen’s), Ph.D. (Toronto)

Adjunct Associate Professor

Simon Day/B.Sc. (St. Mary’s), M.Eng., Ph.D. (McMaster)

Associate Members

M. Jamal Deen/(Electrical and Computer Engineering) B.Sc. (Guyana), M.Sc., Ph.D. (Case Western Reserve)
Joseph E. Hayward/(Radiology) B.Eng., M.Eng., Ph.D. (McMaster)
Marilyn F. Lightstone/(Mechanical Engineering) B.Sc. (Queen’s), M.A.Sc., Ph.D. (Waterloo), P.Eng.
Ishwar K. Puri/(Mechanical Engineering) B.Sc. (Delhi), M.S., Ph.D. (California-San Diego)
Kalaichelvi Saravanamuttu/(Chemistry) B.Sc., Ph.D. (McGill)   

Research in Engineering Physics

Research in the Department of Engineering Physics emphasizes new engineering disciplines that have emerged in recent years. In these high technology areas the link between engineering applications and basic science is particularly important. The research activities stress the fundamental physics that relates to the new technologies, as well as its application to practical engineering problems.

The department conducts research in four designated fields:

Photonics Engineering
Nano- and Micro-Device Engineering
Nuclear Engineering and Energy Systems Engineering
Biomedical Engineering

Photonics research activities comprise a broad range of efforts in optoelectronic devices, materials processing, and laser physics and applications. Specific topics include, for example, semiconductor lasers, photo detectors, biosensor development, ultrafast phenomena and processes, display devices, planar light wave structures, nonlinear photonic devices, and optical fiber technologies. Traditionally the department has been strongly focused on III-V semiconductors, but more recently have broadened the scope to research in silicon photonics. Overall the efforts in photonics interface closely with the work in nano- and micro- devices, and in addition link with new directions in energy systems.

Nano- and Micro-Device Engineering is based on a number of materials fabrication technologies, including molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), thin film deposition, plasma processing, and laser machining. The research is aimed at the development of devices for deployment in a number of industrial and medical sectors. The study of fundamental systems is often conducted in parallel with the engineering of targeted devices. Examples of research topics in this area include MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems), high temperature superconductors, microfluidics, defect spectroscopy, low dimensional quantum structures, and biological systems.

Nuclear Engineering and Energy Systems cover a wide range of areas related to long term sustainable energy including nuclear power and alternative energy sources. The specific research areas include nuclear reactor physics, plant thermalhydraulics, critical heat flux, post-dryout heat transfer and rewetting mechanisms, reactor simulations and probabilistic methods, safety system performance, nuclear instrumentation, generation IV reactor designs, fusion technology, and photovoltaics. In addition to the facilities within Engineering Physics, there are opportunities for collaboration with other McMaster Engineering Departments in the areas of wind energy, fuel cells, and pollution control technologies. The NSERC/UNENE Chair and Associate Chair in Nuclear Safety Analysis are also located at McMaster University.

Biomedical Engineering reflects our department’s specializations on biophotonics and biosensors. Biophotonics is the development of photonics technologies, particularly imaging, to the applications in life sciences and medicine. For example, advanced optical microscopy technologies can be developed for drug discovery, precision medicine, and in situ diagnosis applications; miniaturized optical spectroscopy and imaging sensors can be integrated into wearable devices monitoring pulse rate and blood oxygenation. In addition to photonics, we are using electronics to detect the presence and quantity of specific analytes present at biofunctional surfaces. Integrating electronic circuits with biorecognition layers enables biologically-relevant analytes to be analyzed for the purpose of managing diseases and monitoring health. Furthermore, researchers in our department are actively involved in using methods based on electromagnetics to process biologically-relevant samples, for example extracting and enriching nucleic acids and proteins present in biological fluidics.

Research Facilities

The department benefits strongly from various McMaster institutes, schools, and facilities including the Centre for Emerging Device Technologies (CEDT), the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research (BIMR), McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering, the McMaster Institute for Applied Radiation Sciences, and the McMaster Institute for Energy Studies. The technical capabilities available to our graduate students include, for example, “clean rooms” with industry standard capabilities, molecular beam epitaxy, chemical vapour deposition, nuclear radiation detectors, positron lifetime and Doppler-broadening systems, compact and high power lasers, and a wide host of analytical capabilities and data acquisition equipment. The McMaster Nuclear Reactor (5 MW) is located on campus and is the largest academic research reactor in Canada. This provides access to neutron and gamma beam ports, neutron irradiation and neutron activation analysis facilities, neutron radiography, and neutron flux mapping. In addition, there are also facilities for Critical Heat Flux and post-CHF heat transfer experiments, computation fluid dynamics modeling facilities, as well as a variety of numerical computing clusters. For full description of research facilities, please see individual web sites.

University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering (UNENE)

The University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering (UNENE), created through the partnership of four leading Ontario universities, namely, McMaster University, Queen’s University, University of Waterloo, and University of Western Ontario, presents a unique, innovative learning experience through a Master’s Degree Program in Nuclear Engineering with emphasis on nuclear power reactor technology. UNENE is an alliance of universities, nuclear power utilities, research and regulatory agencies for the support and development of nuclear education, research and development capability in Canadian universities.

The UNENE program is designed to provide practicing engineers the enhanced knowledge, tools, technology as well as business and management skills, necessary to keep them at the forefront of their profession. The UNENE Master’s Degree program has the enthusiastic endorsement of industrial partners OPG, AECL, Bruce Power, CNSC, CNS, NSS and COG.

McMaster University Faculty members within the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Business contribute to the extensive selection of UNENE course offerings.

UNENE requires an Honours or Four-Year degree in engineering, science or mathematics and a B- average or better. UNENE also considers any relevant work or research history. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee acceptance.

Individuals who choose to apply for admission to McMaster University will, once their application is approved, be registered within the Department of Engineering Physics on a part-time basis. The Master’s Degree awarded by McMaster will be a M.Eng. with a Nuclear Engineering designation.

Enquiries: 905 525-9140 ext. 20168
Fax: 905 527-8409
Email: unene@mcmaster.ca
Websites: http://www.unene.ca
http://engphys.mcmaster.ca/graduate-studies/degrees/

Programs

• Engineering Physics (Industrial Internship), M. Eng.
• Engineering Physics, M.A.Sc.
• Nuclear Engineering UNENE

• Engineering Physics, Ph.D

• Nuclear Technology Graduate Diploma

• Engineering Physics Courses
• University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering (UNENE) Courses

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