Amy Bilton, P.Eng
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
BASc, University of Toronto
Amy Bilton is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She directs the Water and Energy Research Lab (WERL), which focuses on developing innovative water and energy technologies using computer-based design methods. She is also currently Director of the Centre for Global Engineering (CGEN), leading the initiative in addressing issues in healthcare, sanitation, and energy around the world – most notably in developing countries. She completed her PhD and MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and her BASc in Engineering Science (Aerospace) from the University of Toronto. Prior to her time at U of T, Amy has also worked as a Systems Engineer at Pratt and Whitney Canada and Honeywell Aerospace.
Contact: bilton [at] mie [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Post Doctoral Fellows
Rebecca Alcock
Rebecca studied Biomedical Engineering (BS’18, MS’20) and Industrial Engineering (MS’22, PhD’25) at the University of Wisconsin, during which she completed 15 months of research exchange at ETH Zurich through the Fulbright and NCCR Automation programs. Broadly, her research leverages human-centered design, community engagement, and advanced analytics methods (e.g., mathematical optimization and machine learning) to mitigate the human and environmental health effects of anthropogenic change.
Contact: r [dot] alcock [at] utoronto [dot] ca
Mina Mahdian
Mina completed her BASc and MASc in chemical engineering at the University of Tehran and University of Toronto, respectively. Her research focuses on modifying the surface chemistry of sponges for bacterial removal from drinking water.
Contact: mmahdian [at] mie [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
PhD Students
Adriana Diaz Lozano Patino
Adriana is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering. Her research focuses on adoption of decentralized water technologies in low-income communities to enhance water resilience, including collaborative work with the Center for Global Engineering on rainwater harvesting in peri-urban Mexico. She is passionate about integrating engineering and social justice in her PhD. She completed her BASc in Engineering Science (Biomedical Systems Engineering) at the University of Toronto.
Contact: a [dot] diazlozanopatino [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Puwaner Guo
Puwaner Guo is PhD student who recently completed her MASc with the WERL group in the MIE department at the University of Toronto. She completed her BEng in Polymer Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. Her research involved developing oil spill clean-up technologies. She is currently working on surface engineered foams for enhanced emulisified crude oil removal.
Contact: puwaner [dot] guo [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Sami Karsli
Sami Karsli is a joint PhD student at the University of Melbourne and the University of Toronto, specialising in sustainable product design with a focus on product repairability. He holds a BASc in Sales Engineering and Product Management, as well as an MASc in Mechanical Engineering, both from Ruhr Universität Bochum, Germany.
Contact: sami [dot] karsli [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Monisha Naik
Monisha is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges in the context of global development. She is developing inexpensive sensors for improved decision making in decentralized sanitation systems in India in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology’s CTARA group. She completed her MASc in the same department and wrote her thesis on acoustic microassembly in the field of microrobotics. She completed her BASc in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo.
Contact: monisha [dot] naik [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Calvin Rieder
Calvin graduated from the University of Toronto with a BASc in Mechanical Engineering. He completed his MASc, which focused on design optimization of wind-powered systems for aerating aquaculture ponds.
Contact: calvin [dot] rieder [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Noshin Saiyara Karim
Noshin is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on how UV-LED pretreatment can affect biofilm formation in solar-powered reverse osmosis systems for remote, off-grid communities. She is also collaborating with the LAGEPP group at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) to develop a flow cell for in-situ observation of biofilm development using a confocal laser scanning microscope. Noshin graduated from the University of Calgary with a BASc in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mechatronics.
Contact: noshin [dot] karim [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
MASc Students
Usama Bin Ansar
Usama Ansar completed his BASc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto in 2022. He is currently working on the oil spill clean up team on assessing the environmental impact of the design.
Contact: usama [dot] ansar [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Ashna Jain
Ashna is a MASc student working on the field implementation and adoption of irrigation control systems in water scarce agricultural communities. She completed her BASc in Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, and did her undergraduate thesis at WERL, exploring the maintenance of medical devices in low-resource settings. Her interest in sustainable agricultural and energy technology adoption in the Global South stems from various academic and extracurricular projects.
Contact: ashna [dot] jain [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Gianpaolo Povolo
Gianpaolo Povolo is an MASc student studying and designing pressurized irrigation systems to reduce agricultural water consumption, with a focus on applications to global arid areas. Graduating with a BASc in Mechanical Engineering at the Univeristy of Toronto, he has previous experience in human-centered design through industry at Tesla, design teams, and undergraduate capstone thesis work (medical aid device design).
Contact: gianpaolo [dot] povolo [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Sam Swadron
Sam Swadron is an MASc student at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the detection of bacterial contamination in drinking water, seeking to improve the safety of descentralized water systems in remote areas. He is also a member of the Weckman lab, using synthetic biology diagnostics to achieve this goal. Sam recieved his BASc in Mechanicalengineering at the University of Toronto.
Contact: sam [dot] swadron [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
BASc Students
Claire Zhang
Claire Zhang is a fourth year Engineering Science (Robotics Engineering) student at the University of Toronto. In collaboration with the Center for Global Engineering and Isla Urbana, her undergraduate thesis is focused on deploying and assessing effective and sustainable rainwater harvesting systems in Mexico City.
Contact: clairek [dot] zhang [at] mail [dot] utoronto [dot] ca
Lab Alumni
- Nitish Ranjan Sarker, PhD — Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford University
- Pablo Cotera Rivera, PhD
- Nikita Dawe, PhD
- Jordan Bouchard, PhD
- Marina Freire-Gormaly, PhD — Associate Professor, York University
- Pavani Cherukupally, PhD — Critical Minerals and Mining Co-Leader, SLB
- Hossein Hosseinimanesh, PhD — Fire Life Safety/Tunnel Ventilation System Discipline Lead, AECOM
- Sami Yamani Douzi Sorkhabi, PhD — PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Ali Ebrahimi, PhD — Senior Manager, AMD
- Alex Zhou, MASc — Renewable Energy Generation EIT, Portage Power
- Eren Rudy, MASc — Embedded Systems Developer, Engineering Design Lab
- John McGroarty, MASc — Inside Sales Representative, Peel Plastics Products Limited
- Tarriq Purivata, MASc — Data Engineer, Tactable
- Lilly Yu, MASc — Software Development Engineer, Amazon Robotics
- Justin (Youngmok) Ko, MASc — Senior Manager, Enterprise Stress Testing, Scotiabank
- Francis Cruz, MASc — Senior Manager, Climate Risk Modelling, Scotiabank
- Sacha Ruzzante, MASc — PhD Candidate, University of Victoria
- Kamran Mahmudov, MASc — Mechanical Engineer, Hatch
- Rowan Walsh, MASc — Software Engineer, Cytiva
- Shaka Sur, MASc
- Anna Jiang, MASc — Water Resources Engineer, Barr Engineering Co.
- Ahmed Mahmoud, MASc — Principal and Co-Founder, Spero Analytics
- Alexander Audi, MEng
- Austin McLean, MEng — Senior Design Engineer, HH Angus
- Marinus Lurz, MEng — Senior Product Development Engineer, Spin Master
- Anthony Nassif, MEng — Engineering Project Officer, Transport Canada
- Jawad Mirza, MEng — Project Manager, Lycopodium
- Ravier Weekes, MEng — Renewable Energy Projects Engineer, Williams Solar
- Dina Bernstein, BASc — Operations Consultant, Issac Operations
- Adam Koa, BASc — Associate Analyst, Kinectrics
- Sam Yu, BASc — Supply Chain Consultant, MCA Connect
- Yong June Seo, BASc
- Rashmi Brackenbury, BASc — Energy & Optimization Manager, Enwave Energy Corporation
- Han Hu, BASc — MASc Student, Autonomous Systems & Biomechatronics Lab, University of Toronto
- Rabab Haider, BASc — Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
- Danyal Rehman, BASc — Banting Postdoctoral Researcher, Mila
- Roya Rahnejat, BASc — MBA Candidate, Harvard Business School
- Caiden Chih, BASc — Manager, Scheduling and Workforce Optimization, Scarborough Health Network
- Daniel Powell, BASc — Manager, Performance Engineering, Intersect
- Mitch Cahill, BASc — Nuclear Operator, Ontario Power Generation
- Cassandra Rosen, BASc — Planner, IESO
- Maya Zhang, BASc — Mechanical Engineer, FUJIFILM Sonosite Inc.
- Maria Luisa Pasini, BASc — Digitalization Consultant, BNV Tec
- Neel Bavishi, BASc — Associate, Dialog
- Jane Liu, BASc — Model Based Definition Group Leader, Litens Automotive Group