Dr. Mina Hoorfar

Dr. Hoorfar is a Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia Okanagan and the head of the Advanced Thermo-Fluidic Laboratory (AFTL) with diverse research programs providing ample opportunities for the students to work in multidisciplinary areas that straddle concepts of fluid mechanics, physical chemistry (liquid-surface interactions), biochemistry (cell deformation and separation), electrochemistry (fuel cells), advanced imaging (microCT), computational modeling, and fabrication of microstructures.

Since its establishment, ATFL has been involved in the implementation of its vast expertise into different applications ranging from renewable energy to sensors and biosensors for human health and environmental monitoring. Dr. Hoorfar’s research in the renewable energy initiated from her expertise obtained during her PDF at CWRU. They have recently applied their expertise to the development of a novel microbial fuel cell for both treatment and energy production from wastewater in remote areas. After joining UBC, Dr. Hoorfar with collaboration with other faculty members established a microfluidics group with interests in the development of portable devices for biomedical applications ranging from DNA purification from saliva, acetone detection from the exhale breath of a diabetes patient, circulating tumor cells detection from the blood of a metastatic patient, and cell patterning on the digital microfluidic platforms for tissue engineering. Another aspect of Dr. Hoorfar’s research endeavors involves the design and fabrication of biosensors and nano-biosensors to achieve low detection limits required for environmental and agricultural applications. She has filed a patent in this area for the detection of pathogen in drinking water.