Waterloo graduate Kiyoumars Zarshenas (PhD ’23) has been named a winner of the Science Exposed 2024 Jury Prize sponsored by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) with a striking image captured with a scanning electron microscope.
The Science Exposed contest highlights photos of Canadian research to foster interest and curiosity in the sciences. Each year, 20 images are selected as finalists for the English contest and showcased by various means, including exhibitions.
Zarshenas’s winning image offers a glimpse into the heart of his innovation: a structured membrane with intricate layers resembling the white sponges you might find in the ocean. What makes it special is that the support layer at the bottom has lots of tiny holes, while the top layer is a finely tuned nanoscale dense layer made of nanomaterials — far too small to see with the naked eye.
Zarshenas used liquid nitrogen to freeze the membrane and then fractured it to take an image of the cross-section. Inspired by nature, he processed the image to highlight its structure.
“Membranes are commonly used to filter out unwanted elements,” Zarshenas says. “In our bodies, our kidneys are like membranes that filter our blood and remove waste; by looking at that example, people can better understand membranes as filters and why they’re important.”
The membrane that inspired the image was the subject of his postdoctoral research at Waterloo, which focused on developing membranes for environmental and energy applications. Zarshenas previously won the Science Action competition sponsored by NSERC and the Fonds de Recherche du Quebec for a video describing his PhD research on membranes designed for water filtration and mineral recovery.
“Industry needs to capture people’s interests, hiring marketing firms to create media to sell their products. During my time at Waterloo, I was encouraged to develop side skills that could be useful for future employment. In my case, I developed my presentation skills and artistic side through these competitions.”
Zarshenas decided to pursue a PhD in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Waterloo because of the state-of-the-art lab facilities and the opportunities to improve his research skills.
After completing his PhD, Zarshenas worked as a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Michael Pope’s 2D Materials and Electrochemical Devices Lab.
He’s now a scientist in the laboratory of advanced separation (LAS) at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) a European research and innovation laboratory working on membrane scale-up for carbon capture and gas separation applications.
Zarshenas does not consider himself a serious photographer, although he is an expert in electron microscopy imaging, skills he used for his award-winning image. In his mind, art and science are connected. He thinks this perspective will serve him well when presenting his work in academia or industry.
“I'm always trying to connect with people and bring attention to science. Images and video are the tools that enable me to make science relatable. For example, my expertise is in filtration using membranes and I can capture people's imagination with that image to share what is at the core of filtration. That’s my inspiration, using visuals and words to describe my research,” Zarshenas says.” Winning the award makes me happy because I feel that people connected to my image and research.”
By capturing the intricacies of his work through the lens of an artist, Zarshenas inspires others to appreciate the hidden beauty in science and the vital role it plays in tackling environmental challenges.
