Microfibre research featured in the news
The DREAM Lab’s work on preventing microplastics from fabric laundering is getting media attention! Check out an interview with the DREAM Lab by the Fast Company Link here Here’s an article posted by Just Style: Link. The release from the University of Toronto can also be found here.
Microfibre paper published!
Microplastic fibres shed from textiles are one of the main sources of plastic pollution in our water. Dr. Lahiri had the brilliant idea of preventing the problem entirely, using our polydimethylsiloxane brush coatings. Microfibres are released due to fibre/fibre friction, and he and Sonia have developed a robust, low-friction fabric finish that reduces the amount… Read more »
New funding from the Climate Positive Energy Commercialization Grant
The DREAM Lab is pleased to announce its smart de-icing coatings have been funded by the a Climate Positive Energy Commercialization Grant, towards the commercialization of the technology on all Canadian wind turbines. Over the next 24 months we’ll be designing and building an actual wind turbine and evaluating it in the harsh Canadian winters…. Read more »
Kamran defends his thesis
Congratulations Kamran for successfully defending your thesis on BEAMS. It’s been an excellent and productive four years, and I’m excited to see what your future holds for you 🙂 Very well done Dr. Alasvand!
Three new DREAM Lab members
The DREAM lab is pleased to announce three new members – Mehdi, Adel, and Tao. Our three latest members will be working on exciting topics including triboelectric nano generators, next-generation catalysis, and liquid-repellent coatings for everyday life. Welcome to the DREAM Team!
Editor’s Highlight
Sonia’s work on smart LIT materials has been selected by the Editor of Nature Communications as one of the top 50 highlights of 2022. Once again, excellent work Sonia! https://www.nature.com/collections/eecgdgijhh Publication: Smart low interfacial toughness coatings for on-demand de-icing without melting
LIT µWave Paper Published!
What started as a small project for Defence has now become an excellent study published in Nature Communications. Zahra (Sonia) and co-authors show that the interfacial toughness of ice with polyethylene (UHMW-PE) is temperature dependent. By teaming up with the OMEGA Lab at UBC, we embedded heaters and ice sensors into the polyethylene to make… Read more »
Mosquito paper published!
What if you could make disease-transmitting mosquitoes unhappy without killing them or other organisms? What if you could convince them to live away from humans. The DREAM Lab might just have the answer! LetÃcia’s latest paper shows that there is a natural limit to how smooth a surface can be before mosquitoes just can’t grip… Read more »
Two more BEAMS papers
The DREAM Lab has just published two more studies on our metallic de-icing technology BEAMS. In “Durable Metallic Surfaces Capable of Passive and Active De-icing” Kamran and co-authors explored transforming BEAMS from a passive to an active de-icing technology. Now BEAMS is capable of de-icing passively, using pressurized air (like a de-icing boot), and using… Read more »
Global SEED Project Featured
The DREAM Lab was recently awarded a SEED grant from the Centre for Global Engineering at the University of Toronto on the development of anti-mosquito paint. We’re super excited to continue to try and contribute towards the fight against vector transmitted diseases like malaria, dengue, and zika. Link to story: https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/mosquito-repellent-paint-among-five-projects-funded-by-cgen-seed-grant-program/Â
