How is nanotechnology affecting your wine, gut and climate?

M Reza Kholghy
M Reza Kholghy is an Assistant Professor and a Canada Research Chair in Particle Technology and Combustion Engineering. Dr. Kholghy is the director of Energy and Particle Technology Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University since 2019. He received his bachelor of science in aerospace engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran (2010) with a focus on jet engine propulsion. He then received his MSc (2012) and PhD (2016) from the University of Toronto, Canada focusing on combustion chemistry and nanoparticle aerosol dynamics and taught Fundamentals of Computer Programming and Fundamentals of Combustion.  After his PhD, he was a research associate and lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) teaching Mass Transfer and Micro-Nano-Particle Technology and developed multi-scale design tools for nanoparticle synthesis with flames.

His research focuses on novel energy storage technologies using energetic particles, multi-scale design of nanoparticle synthesis processes in gas phase as well as particulate emissions from combustion and their impact on climate change. He has made significant and novel contributions that improve our understanding of critical processes involved in carbonaceous nanoparticle formation during combustion. These contributions have helped mitigate emissions of particulate matter from combustion devices and paved the way for developing efficient processes for the synthesis of valuable nanoparticles.

His presentation will discuss how the FSP is used as a soot generator for testing renewable jet fuels and their impact on the climate crisis. Montreal is third-largest aerospace hub in the world. During the last climate strike, the largest protest in history, Montreal also had the largest turnout of any city anywhere in the world.  

Sotiris E. Pratsinis
Professor Sotiris E. Pratsinis teaches Mass Transfer and Micro-Nano-Particle Technology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich). He has graduated 43 PhDs, now at leading positions in industry and academia worldwide. Currently he advises four PhDs and four post-docs. He has published 400+ refereed articles, filed 20+ patents that are licensed to industry and have contributed to creation of four spinoffs without him owing shares or holding any positions in them. In December 2020 one of them, HeiQ Inc., entered the London Stock Exchange valued 127 M £.  

His research focuses on multiscale particle dynamics & aerosol reactor design. He has pioneered flame aerosol synthesis of nanostructured materials with closely controlled characteristics. This scalable process is practiced today worldwide and contributed decisively to identifying the origins of nanosilver toxicity, led to novel heterogeneous catalysts and, for the first time, flame-made gas sensors, nutritional supplements, dental and theranostic materials. In addition, since 2017 the German National Science Foundation has launched a 6-year program funding 20 PhDs in various universities on the fundamentals of flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) that was developed in his laboratories in early 2000’s. Also, Harvard’s School of Public Health is using FSP for synthesis of nanomaterials to benchmark their toxicity under major funding by the US National Institute of Health (NIH) since 2016.

Pratsinis' presentation will focus on highly selective gas sensors that can be used for the early diagnosis of various diseases such as diabetes and measuring the alcohol percentage in your glass of wine.

Alexandra Teleki
Alexandra Teleki is an Associate Professor and SciLifeLab Fellow in Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology at the Department of Pharmacy at Uppsala University, Sweden. She received her MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) Stockholm, Sweden and her PhD in Mechanical and Process Engineering from ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Then she joined the Formulation and Application R&D department at DSM Nutritional Products in Basel, Switzerland before she was recruited to Uppsala University and SciLifeLab. Her research has been recognized internationally by several awards including the 2020 ERC Consolidator Grant, 2016 Smoluchowski Award of the European Aerosol Association, the 2016 SABIC Young Professional Award by the Particle Technology Forum (PTF) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the 2009 DSM Science and Technology Awards for outstanding PhD work with a clear future impact and the 2008 ETH Medal for Outstanding PhD. She has >35 publications in international, peer-refereed journals and 11 patent applications.

Teleki's talk will be about “Flame-made magnetic nanoparticles: your local guides in the gut”! She will explain how such nanoparticles can be used for magnetic imaging as well as drug delivery (e.g. by hyperthermia).

Keroles Riad (Moderator)
Keroles Riad is a doctoral candidate in the Individualized program (INDI). Keroles holds a BEng in Mechanical engineering and an MSc through the INDI program. Keroles is a recipient of the Quebec Lieutenant Governor Youth Medal, and is the driving force behind Concordia’s successful Waste Not, Want Not student-led composting program.