Ph.D. Students

Saad Alhadlaq

Ph.D. student, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research interests:

• Underwater acoustic communication
• Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) communication
• Theory and application of underwater tracking and sensing

Ahmed Al-Qallaf

Ph.D. student, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research interests:

• Design of on-chip power management systems for marine, and energy harvesting applications.
• Design of robust and adaptive control systems for switched-mode power systems

Emre Cilkaya
Ph.D. student
Department of Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering,
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Research Interests:
Propeller noise prediction by using CFD (OpenFoam)
Ship-ice interaction coupled with CFD and DEM (Discrete Element Method)
Ship hull form optimization by using CFD and genetic algorithms
Wave energy converters
Fluid-structure interaction.

Muhammad Usman Asad

Ph.D. student, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research interests:

• Intelligent control of robotics and power systems
• Control systems and automation
• Soft computing technologies
• Fuzzy system modelling
• Haptics and non-linear control

Seyed Mohammad Reza Mousavi

Ph.D. student, Department of Physics, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Research interests
Sound propagation in different media
underwater acoustic communication
underwater acoustic noise
microphone array signal processing

Xiaoyao Feng

Ph.D. student, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research interests:

• Computational electromagnetics
• Electromagnetic time-reversal methods
• Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
• Acoustics and Multiphysics

PhD student, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL, Canada

Brendan Smith

Ph.D., Physical Oceanography Student, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. Canada

Research interests:

• Passive acoustical oceanography
• Hydrothermal vents
• Natural soundscapes

Abolfazl Zokaei

Ph.D. student, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research Interests:

• Radio frequency and microwave circuits and systems
• Software Defined Radio
• Digital signal processing
• Hardware implementation and information theory of coding
• CAD tools  

Masters Students

Marina Antipina

MSc student, Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research interests:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Machine learning
• The Cloud
• Big data
• Unmanned systems
• Acoustic propagation modeling
• Risk management assessment of the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine fauna
• The Arctic

Chris Bayley

MASc student, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research interests:

• Robotics
• Robot autonomy
• Mapping and navigation
• Sensing

Hamed Bozorgi

Master of Engineering student, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, P.E.I., Canada

Research interests:

• Robotics perception
• Machine learning and deep learning
• Sensor fusion
• Pattern recognition
• Data analysis

Brad Chevarie

MSc Engineering student, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B., Canada

Research interests:

• Advanced control systems
• Advanced predictive controls
• Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)
• Deep learning

Mark Henderson

Master of Engineering student, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, P.E.I., Canada

Research interests:

• Robot path/motion planning
• Social robotics
• Mobile robot design

Josiane Ostiguy

MSc Physical Oceanography student, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

Research interests:

• Acoustical oceanography 
• Ocean ambient sound
• Oceanographic instrumentation 

Cesar Rodriguez

MASc student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research Interests:

• Autonomous robotics
• Machine learning
• Adaptive sampling
• Control systems engineering
• Sensor development and integration
• Mechatronics

Erin Wetter

MASc student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

Research Interests:

• Underwater robotics and communications
• Autonomous behaviour
• Multi-agent collaboration

Completed iMERIT Program Terms

Apurva Deota

Graduated May 2020, MASc, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dalhousie University Halifax, N.S., Canada

Zachary Wallot-Beale

iMERIT trainee summer term 2019, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada

BSc student, Department of Marine Biology