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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

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Susana Y. Kimura-Hara, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry

Email: s.kimurahara@ucalgary.ca

Dr. Susana Y. Kimura-Hara joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Calgary as an Assistant Professor in July 2017. Additionally, Susana is a Tier 2 chairholder of the CRC in Analytical and Aquatic Chemistry. Prior to joining University of Calgary, Susana was a postdoctoral fellow for two and half years in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina and a postdoctoral research fellow for one year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Susana obtained her M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and B.Eng. in Industrial Engineering from CETYS Universidad in Mexico.

Courses:  CHEM 321         Environmental Chemistry 

                 CHEM 619.22   Water Chemistry

CURRENT GROUP MEMBERS

Dr Tatek Temesgen Terfasa

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Post Doctoral Associate

Dr. Tatek Temesgen is a Postdoctoral Associate at University of Calgary. He completed his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Seoul National University. His educational background is in Chemical Engineering. His specialization and research interests are mainly in water & wastewater, bubble technology, Energy, Environment, and Sustainability. Currently, he is mainly working on design of energy efficient nanobubble (NB) generator and characterization techniques. The NB generator is intended to be tested in different technologies including water/wastewater treatment (aeration, aerobic digestion and O3 disinfection), fuel efficiency and CO2 sequestration fields.

Dr Sunaina

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Post Doctoral Associate

Dr. Sunaina is a Postdoctoral Associate at University of Calgary. She joined the group in October, 2022. She completed her Ph.D. in from Panjab University and Institute of Nano Science and Technology, India. Her current project is focused on “Generation and Characterization of Nanobubbles”. The generated NBs are planned to be used for waste water treatment. She also has research experience on designing of Type II metal oxide-metal chalcogenide heterostructures for photo-detection and photocatalytic applications. She enjoys her free time in playing badminton, drawings or travelling.

Thilina Jayawardana

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Ph.D. Student

Thilina joined Kimura-Hara group in May 2018 as a master's student and transferred to PhD in December 2019. She has a B.Sc. special degree in Applied Biology. She also studied Chemistry and Computer Science during her bachelors. During her undergrads, she specialized in analyzing nutrients in aquatic plants using various analytical techniques.  Currently she is analyzing toxicity of haloacetonitrile, an unregulated class of DBPs, to a non-cancerous human cell line and investigate intra and extra cellular metabolites of haloacetonitrile treated cells. Beside doing research, she loves teaching and volunteering. Since 2020, she is closely working with a student EDI chapter in university Calgary. When she is not at University, she likes to try new recipes and cycling.  

Aya Alsadik

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Ph.D. Student

Aya joined Kimura-Hara group as PhD student in Winter 2023. Aya has done her Bachelor of Chemistry (2017 cohort) at UAE university and master’s in applied chemistry (2020 cohort) at Khalifa University in UAE. She has worked on different environmental research projects that have applications in wastewater treatment. She also worked on other projects of environmental significance in biochemistry and physics. Her research interests include studying the interactions between biological agents and emerging water toxicants that pose threat to the health and environment. In her free time, Aya enjoys some physical activities including hiking and swimming.

Jeas Grejoy Andrews

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M.Sc. Student

Jeas joined the Kimura-Hara lab in September 2020. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India. His current research work in the lab is on developing acoustic and other gas-quantifying techniques for nanobubbles. Besides, his research focuses on developing a scalable nanobubble generator with external electric fields. Apart from his research, he likes to watch movies, listen to music etc.

Jorge Alberto Perez Perez

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M.Sc. Student

Jorge joined the Kimura-Hara group as a MSc student in Winter 2021. He has an undergraduate background in nanotechnology and molecular engineering. His research interest is based in the combination of analytical chemistry, nanotechnology and environmental science to be able to help in the solution of problems such as water scarcity and climate change. He worked during his undergrad studying 2D carbon-based nanomaterials generation based on simple precursors. During his free time likes to learn about movies, music, architecture and art. He's currently learning French and admires Nery Oxman and Taylor Swift.

Kumudu Rathnayake

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M.Sc. Student

Kumudu joined Kimura Hara group in September 2022 as a master's student. She studied at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and has a B.Sc Honors degree in Chemistry. During her undergrads, she synthesized a tea waste-derived activated carbon polyacrylamide composite to remove heavy metals from wastewater. Currently, she is identifying the disinfection byproducts(DBPs) from the bromination and iodination of organic compounds. Drawing is her favorite leisure time activity and has an interest in fashion designing

Sydney Parisien

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Undergraduate Research Student

Sydney is an undergraduate student who is majoring in environmental science with a concentration in chemistry. At the moment she is enrolled in the independent research course ENSC 505, which she is completing in the Kimura-Hara lab. Currently working on graduate student Jorge Pérez’s project to analyze disinfectant by-products, Sydney is using ion chromatography to quantify anions in wastewater at different points of the advanced treatment process. The measurements of bromide, chloride, iodide, nitride, and nitrate are important as they can help determine the speciation of the by-products that form.

Frederick Van den Brande

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Undergraduate Research Student

Visiting researcher from Belgium(Odisee) with an affinity for water. Witnessing waterflora degeneration over the years as a divemaster, Frederick is determend to help out wherever he can to improve the quality of water in general. Currently working on a method development for the quantification of hypoiodious acid.

FORMER GROUP MEMBERS

Research Staff

  • Jill Murakami, PhD. (May 2018-Jan 2021)

  • Kyle Lee, BS. (May 2020- Aug 2021)

Graduate Research Students

  • Md Fahim Hossain (Sep 2019 -Dec 2022)

  • Chad Verwold (Sep 2018 - Aug 2021)

  • Alejandro Ortega-Hernandez (Sep 2017-Dec 2020)

  • Raphael Acayaba (Jan-Jun 2019)

    • Visiting from The University of Campinas, UNICAMP (Brazil)

 

Undergraduate Research Students

  • Jasjeet Gill (June-Dec 2022)

  • Andrea Rodríguez Garza (July-Oct 2022)

    • Visiting from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Mexico)

  • Dhruvin Patel (June-Dec 2021)

  • Chris Tremblay (Sep 2019-Apr 2020)

  • Amy Fahlman (Sep 2019-Apr 2020 and May-Aug 2019)

  • Jorge Alberto Perez (May-Aug 2019)

    • Visiting from The Universidad de las Americas Puebla, UDLAP (Mexico)

  • Miriam Patron (Apr-Jul 2019)

    • Visiting from ​The University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany)

  • Matthew Eeles (May-Jun 2019)

  • Tao Siyuan (Jan-Jun 2019)

    • Visiting from The China University of Petroleum (East China)​

  • Kyle Lee (Jan-Apr 2019)

  • Olga Titica (Jan-Apr 2019)

  • Matthew Biscope (May-Aug 2018)

  • Francesca Retuta (May-Aug 2018)

  • Zongying Hu (Jan-Jun 2018)

    • Visiting from The China University of Petroleum (East China)​

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