Principal Investigator
Mohammad Zarifi (Fellow IEEE, Ph.D. PEng, PRC Tier II,), is currently an Associate Professor and Tier II Principal’s Research Chair (PRC) in Sensors and Microelectronics at the School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia, and the director of Okanagan MicroElectronics and Gigahertz Applications laboratory (OMEGA Lab), Canada. Dr. Zarifi has authored or co-authored more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings and holds six issued or pending patents. Dr. Zarifi’s research focuses on Applied Electromagnetics and Circuits and Systems for Communications and Sensing Applications. Dr. Zarifi has served as the chair and a member of IEEE MTT-S TC-26 “RFID, Wireless Sensor, and IoT,” as well as a member of IEEE MTT-S TC-4 “Microwave Passive Components and Transmission Line Structures”. Additionally, Dr. Zarifi has served as a Reviewer and an Associate Editor for several journals and conferences such as IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Technology, IEEE Sensors Journal, and IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation. Dr. Zarifi has received the Emerging Researcher Award and the Best Teaching Award at the School of Engineering in 2020 and 2021, respectively. He is an IEEE MTT-S Distinguished Microwave Lecturer for the class of 2024-2027.
Research Scientists
Post Doctoral Fellows/Research Associates
Doctorate Students
Zahra Sarpanah Sourkouhi is a Ph.D. candidate, graduate research assistant, and sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan (UBCO) Campus, Canada. She has been responsible as the lab manager at the Okanagan MicroElectronic and Gigahertz Applications (OMEGA) lab. Her main research is focused on material characterization, additive manufacturing for novel fabrications of microwave components, and the study of the impact of 2D MXene material at high frequencies. Her research background involves investigating microwave ring resonators and transmission lines sensitive to visible light illumination. She has been contributing to publications in multiple academic journals, including T-MTT, Small, and Advanced Materials Technologies, and assisting in writing academic and industrial proposals. Her teaching experience is related to VLSI and circuit analysis at Cadence (ENGR 466). Additionally, she serves as a reviewer for IEEE Sensors (Journal, Letter, and conference). She received the prestigious 2025 APS Professor Mojgan Daneshmand grant and was selected as the first-place award for Excellence in Microsystem Fabrication at the TEXPO 2025 CMC microsystem competition. She has job experience in the automotive industry as an R&D engineer with the responsibility of designing test circuits for electronic vehicle components. She is a member of the MTT-S TC-17 Microwave Materials and Processing Technologies Committee, IEEE Young Professionals, Women in Engineering, Women in Microwave, and MTTS student ambassadors. Her volunteer contribution involves attending mentorship programs when required by the university or the research group.
Fatemeh Niknahad received her MSc degree from Islamic Azad University of Tabriz, in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Integrated Circuits. Her MSc thesis involved the design of CMOS Image Sensor with Current-Mode Pixels in Standard CMOS Process for On-Chip Image Processing. Also, fatemeh has a 2-year job experience as a research and design expert, working on nanotube and nanowire sensors and 3D simulations by silvaco Tcad for predicting electrical behaviour of biosensors. Her academic interests include Integrated Circuit Design, Micro/Nano electro mechanical Systems (MEMS/NEMS), Nano Tube/Wire sensors, Biosensors and silicon-based sensors
Master Students
Jack McClelland received his BASc in Electrical Engineering from UBCO in May of 2021. He is a student member of IEEE and a member of Sigma Phi Delta – Beta Epsilon. Jack participated in and won first place in the competition and presentation portions of UBCO’s second year engineering design competition in 2018. He was also successful in delivering an accurate recycling machine vision system for his Capstone in 2021, winning the overall Capstone competition against 58 other teams. Jack has experience with testing, project management, and design documentation from his 16-month engineering co-op at SKYTRAC Systems. His academic interests include digital circuits, VLSI integrated circuit design, electromagnetics, and FPGA systems.
Anne Lehoux completed her BASc in Electrical Engineering from UBC Okanagan in May 2025. She is currently focused on the fabrication and characterization of RF components using additive manufacturing techniques, exploring novel approaches to rapidly prototype and evaluate high-frequency devices, with an emphasis on improving design flexibility and performance through emerging manufacturing methods. Her academic interests lie in integrated circuit design, high-frequency systems, and electromagnetics. As an avid runner and outdoor enthusiast, she brings the same dedication and discipline to her work as she does to endurance sports and mountain pursuits, reflecting a commitment to tackling complex challenges with persistence and curiosity.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Aiden Macson is currently completing his BASc in Electrical Engineering at UBCO. He is an electrical member of the OK Motorsports student design team that designs and builds a formula style EV car that competes each year in Formula SAE’s international competition in Michigan where their team placed 3rd in Canada and 36th against 121 teams worldwide in 2023. With the team, Aiden has designed multiple PCBs that detect for faults in the car as well as constructing the car’s wiring harness to ensure reliable communication between the car’s components. Aiden has completed a 12-month co-op with FedEx Ground where he gained experience with project management, data analysis, and implementing operational plans throughout Western Canada for the company’s merge with FedEx Express.
Visiting Scientists and Students
OMEGA Alumni
Vishal Balasubramanian
Position in OMEGA Lab: PhD Student (May 2025- May 2022)
Current Position: Engineer – Intel Canada
Cory Pope
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (July 2022- July 2025)
Pau Casacuberta
Position in OMEGA Lab: Visiting scientist (September 2024- January 2025)
Current Position: Ph.D. student
Hee-Jo Lee
Position in OMEGA Lab: Visiting Professor (June 2024- September 2024)
Marzieh Dordanihaghighi
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (January 2023- August 2024)
Current Position: Semiconductor Engineer – Ansys Canada
Hamed Mirzaei
Position in OMEGA Lab: PhD Student (August 2022- August 2024)
Dr. Dima Kilani
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (October 2022- July 2024)
Current Position: Semiconductor Engineer – Ansys Canada
Alessio Mostaccio
Position in OMEGA Lab: Visiting scientist (Jan 2024- July 2024)
Current Position: Ph.D. student at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy.
Omid Niksan
Position in OMEGA Lab: PhD Student (May 2021- July 2024)
Current Position: Engineer – Ansys Canada
Aaryaman Shah
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (May 2022- February 2024)
Current Position: Research Scientist KF Aerospace
Ali Maleki Gargari
Position in OMEGA Lab: PhD Student (May 2020- November 2023)
Current Position: Semiconductor Engineer – Ansys Canada
Ben Wiltshire
Position in OMEGA Lab: PhD Student (January 2018-October 2023)
Current Position: Research Scientist MDA Space
Dr. Devansh Sharma
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (September 2022-October 2023)
Current Position: Post Doctoral Fellow
Keatin Colegrave
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (May 2022- May 2023)
Dr. Ahmed Salim
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (March 2022-march 2023)
Current Position: Assistant Professor Electrical Engineering Dept., Namal University Mianwali Pakistan
Maryam Moradpour
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (May 2020- November 2022)
Current Position: Semiconductor Engineer – Ansys Canada
Dr. Azar Shabani
Position in OMEGA Lab: Research Scientist (April 2022- November 2022)
Current Position: Process Engineer at AtkinsRéalis
Mahnaz Alijani
Position in OMEGA Lab: Visiting scientist (May 2021- May 2022)
Current Position: Ph.D. student at the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) (Czech Republic)
Dr. Hanna Sopha,
Position in OMEGA Lab: Visiting scientist (April 2022- May 2022)
Current Position: Senior scientist at the Centre of Materials and Nanotechnologies, University of Pardubice (Czech Republic)
Kasra Khorsand-Kazemi
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (September 2019- January 2022)
Current Position: RF Design Engineer at Rogers Communications Inc.
Ryan Kozak
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (May 2020- September 2021)
Current Position: Engineer – Ansys Canada
Md. Abdur Rafi
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (December 2018- December 2020)
Katherine Luckasavitch
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (September 2018- June 2021)
Current Position: Engineer – ESS Tech
Aida Javadian Saraf
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (May 2019- September 2021)
Current Position: Staff Technician – University of British Columbia
Sevda Mohammadi
Position in OMEGA Lab: PhD Student (May 2018-July 2021)
Current Position: Apple USA
Rakesh Narang
Position in OMEGA Lab: Research Associate (Jan 2021-July 2021)
Mandeep Chhajer Jain
Position in OMEGA Lab: Master Student (September 2018- September 2020)
Position in OMEGA Lab: OMEGA Lab Manager– The University of British Columbia (September 2020- January 2023)
Current Position: Hardware Engineer Watts Tekmar
Dr. Nicolas Tanguy
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (May 2020-May 2021)
Current Position: Post Doctoral Fellow- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Dr. Ehsan Hosseini
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (August 2020-August 2021)
Current Position: Post Doctoral Fellow – National Research Council Canada
Dr. Kishor Kumar Adhikari
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (January 2021-Febuary 2022)
Current Position: Post Doctoral Fellow
Dr. Arezoo Hosseini
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (Jan 2020-Jan 2021)
Current Position: Scientist – ACAMP
Dr. Ehsan Ebrahimnia-Bajestan
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (May 2019-May 2021)
Current Position: Post Doctoral Fellow
Dr. Anupama Pillai
Position in OMEGA Lab: Post Doctoral Fellow (May 2019-May 2020)
Current Position: DREAM Lab Manager – University of Toronto
Dr. Sholeh ALaei
Position in OMEGA Lab: Research Scientist (May 2019-Jan 2020)
Current Position: Assistant Professor – Azad University
Dr. Hamid Sadabadi (P.Eng)
Position in OMEGA Lab: Research Scientist (May 2018-Jan 2021)
Current Position: Scientist – Fisher Scientific
- Micheal Bell 2026
- Keith Xu 2025
- Ahmed Sabry 2022
- Gilberto A. Lopez Astorga 2022
- Deniz Gunduz URA 2021
- Sydney Blackmore URA 2021
- Aaryaman Shah URA 2021
- Ramin Shahbazi
- Runliang Wu URA 2020
- Bianca Marjan Vizcaino URA 2019
- Abdulwahab Elramali URA 2019
Group Photo (April 2025, End of Semester!)
Group Photo (April 2023, End of Semester!)
Group Photo (June 2022, Graduation Day!)
Group Photo (Towards Endemic of COVID-19 March 2022)
Group Photo (COVID-19 Time January 2021)
Group Photo (End of Summer Ice cream Event 2019)
Group Photo (Summer 2019)
Amazing Okanagan nature, enthusiastic students, and outstanding friendly environment, what-else do we need?
