Profiles

Sushanta K. Mitra received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Waterloo and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from University of Victoria.

Tianyu obtained his bachelor’s degree (B.E.) in Energy and Power Engineering from China University of Petroleum (Tsingtao) in 2018, and Ph.D. degree in Engineering Thermophysics from the School of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, China in 2024, under the supervision of Prof. Liwu Fan. During his Ph.D., he had worked on multidisciplinary research of condensation heat transfer enhancement and regulation of droplet dynamics using specific multiscale superhydrophobic surfaces. Tianyu is currently involved in research related to liquid-liquid encapsulation for emerging energy storage/conversion devices and thermal management of data center.

Fan Zhao obtained her BSc degree in Chemical engineering,  Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, China, in 2015 and MSc degree in Forestry Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, China, in 2017. After working four years, she was admitted to a joint PhD program between the University of Waterloo and Soochow University. She obtained her PhD degree in Chemical Engineering(Nanotechnology), University of Waterloo, in 2025, under supervisors of Prof. Boxin Zhao (University of Waterloo), Prof. Sushanta Mitra(University of Waterloo) and Prof. Jianlin Yao (Soochow University). During her Ph.D., she had worked on interfacial behaviours of polymer and metal coated polymer thin films under contact and solvent Stimuli. She is currently involved in research related to microplastics capture from aquatic environments.

Akash Chowdhury graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur in 2020 with a B.Tech. (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering. He did his Bachelor's thesis under Dr. Anandaroop Bhattacharya on Molten Metal impinging on substrates. He joined the group as a PhD student in the Fall 2023 under the supervision of Dr. Sushanta Mitra and will be working on Liquid-Liquid Encapsulation related to interfacial science. He has also been awarded with the WIN Nanofellowship.

Arnav obtained his Master's (by Research) in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, in 2025. He received his Bachelor’s (B.E.) in Mechanical Engineering from Jadavpur University, India, in 2020. During his undergraduate and master’s research, he worked on combustion, emissions control, and wettability engineering. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in the Micro Nano-scale Transport (MNT) Laboratory at the University of Waterloo, Canada, under the supervision of Professor Sushanta Mitra. His doctoral research focuses on use of liquid-liquid encapsulation for data centre cooling and corrosion technology.

Thiraset completed his bachelor’s degree in Nano Engineering at the International School of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), in 2025. He also completed a master’s degree in Innovative Engineering for Sustainability at the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand) under the supervision of Prof. Charusluk Viphavakit in 2026. His research interests include the synthesis of nanomaterials, materials science, and optical fibre technologies for sustainable applications. He joined Prof. Sushanta Mitra's research group at University of Waterloo (Canada) in 2026 to pursue his Ph.D. and expand his knowledge in depth in the encapsulation technique for biomedical applications. 

Shengfeng Xue received his bachelor’s degree in Polymer Science and Technology from Hubei University of Technology in 2015 and his master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Wuhan University of Technology in 2019. He was working on developing novel catalysts for fuel cells and water electrolyzers. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Prof. Xianguo Li (UW), Prof. Sushanta Mitra (UW), and Prof. Samaneh Shahgaldi (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières).

Ankit Received his B.Tech Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the West Bengal University of Technology, West Bengal, India. He joined the National Institute of Technology, Silchar, as M. Tech. Scholar in Thermal Engineering in 2018. For his Master’s, he worked on a broad area of Transport in Porous Media. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Microfluidics and Heat Transfer as a part of the ‘Electronic Thermal Management group’ under Dr. Ananadaroop Bhattacharya at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.

Manas Thakur graduated from the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology -Deemed to be University (KIIT-DU), Bhubaneswar, India in 2019 with a B.Tech. in Electronics & Electrical Engineering. He worked as an Associate System Engineer at TATA Consultancy Services LTD. for 1 year. He completed his M.Tech in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in 2022 with a university gold medal from Jadavpur University. He has done his master's thesis on “Study of Nitrogen-doped Reduced graphene oxide for its potential application as supercapacitor and photodetector” under the supervision of Dr. Sourav Sarkar. He joined as PhD fellow in 2023 at the School of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Jadavpur University, under the guidance of Dr. Sourav Sarkar and Dr. Sushanta Kumar Mitra, and is presently working on 2D materials-based biosensors and memory devices.

Soumili Kar completed her M.Tech. in NanoScience & Technology from Jadavpur University in 2024. She has completed her M.Tech Thesis on “Investigation of ZnSe/ZnO Nanocomposite constructed as an electro-catalyst and photo-catalyst for Enhanced Supercapacitor and photo catalytic dye degradation application” under the supervision of Prof. Sourav Sarkar.

Prior to this, she obtained her B.Sc. Degree in Physics from Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath College and her M.Sc. Degree in Electronics Science from Acharya Prafulla Chandra College, affiliated with West Bengal State University, India, in 2020 and 2022, respectively. She has done her M.Sc. thesis on “A study on the effects of Gate Gate Architecture on statistical device Variability - A comparative study on the Silicon & GaN Channel device”.

She is currently pursuing her PhD in the School of Materials Science & Nanotechnology at Jadavpur University, under the guidance of Prof. Sourav Sarkar and Prof. Sushanta Kumar Mitra, and is presently working in the area of nanomaterials-based construction of supercapacitors and neuromorphic devices.

Xinge Yang obtained his B.Eng. degree in Energy and Power Engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2021. He is a PhD student at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University under the supervision of Prof. Ruzhu Wang. He is undergoing joint training at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Prof. Sushanta Mitra. His current research focuses on atmospheric water harvesting and removing water contaminants using hydrogels. 

Myles is pursuing his B.ASc. in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo, where he is in his second year. Under the supervision of Professor Sushanta Mitra, he joined the MNT Lab in the Fall of 2026 as an Undergraduate Research Assistant. He is working with PhD student Akash Chowdhury in conducting experiments related to liquid-liquid encapsulation to explore various applications, including the fabrication of materials.