PhD Students
Lava Kumar Pillari
Lava received his bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical and Material Science Engineering from RGUKT-Nuzvid, India in 2014. Lava obtained his master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from VIT-Chennai, India in 2018. He worked as a Project Associate at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering until April 2019. Lava is completing his PhD on the development of aluminum-graphene nanocomposites through casting, and mainly studying the effect of graphene on the microstructure, precipitation behaviour, and mechanical properties of aluminum alloys.
Kyle Lessoway
Kyle obtained his bachelor’s degree of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering from UBC in 2019. He went on to pursue his M.A.Sc. degree at UBC in May of 2019, and later transferred into the Ph.D program in 2021. Kyle’s work is on the heat-treatment of aluminum alloy A356 and the fabrication of graphene reinforced aluminum matrix composites produced through casting. His research is focuses on evaluating the mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of these materials. Kyle has developed a unique expertise in using XRD, SEM, ICP-MS/OES, tribometer, and thermal and electrical conductivity analyzers.
Richard Holloway
Richard has joined UBC after a very successful career in the private sector, where he was involved in the development of composite materials for diverse engineering applications. He is currently conducting research on the development of novel technologies for in-situ fabrication of advanced composite materials. His work on dynamic hot consolidation and sintering of Carbide ceramics has a potential to significantly enhance the industrial adoption of the studied materials.
Master’s Students
Saif Ahmed Alvi
Saif worked in the Indian Space Agency (ISRO) as a Scientist/Engineer for 5 years, and was responsible for the development of various mechanical ground systems related to launch vehicles for ITL/IOP concepts. Currently, Saif is working on the development of composite ferrous alloy to be used in high impact hammers in the mining industry. The composites contain ceramic inserts fabricated at UBC using the spark plasma sintering process.
Mitchell Barrett
Mitchell received his Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from UBC-Okanagan in 2022. He then went on to pursue his M.A.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering in May of 2022, and later transferred to a PhD program in 2024. Mitchell started his work in Dr. Bichler’s research group during his undergraduate degree through the Indigenous Research Mentorship program.
Mitchell’s research involves carbonizing and graphitizing wood waste from B.C.’s forestry industry. His research is focused on process development and optimization, as well as the characterization of material properties.
Franklyn Nchekwube
Franklyn Nchekwube received his Bachelor of Engineering in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria. His current research is on the characterization and testing of rubber materials made with recycled carbon black filler particles along with metal casting of aluminum alloys. Franklyn’s research interests lie in strengthening materials, metal casting, extractive metallurgy and mineral processing of rare earth metals, and product modeling/design.
Undergraduate Students
Emma Tsukishima
Emma is an undergraduate research assistant who is completing her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. She has worked on metallurgical analysis of cast aluminum alloys and the processing and analysis of bio-carbon waste. Through her experiences, she has gained knowledge in material preparation and analysis such as polishing, electrical conductivity analysis, hardness, microstructure analysis, SEM imaging, and tensile testing.
Abigail Yakemchuk
Abigail is second-year electrical engineering student at UBCO. She is supporting the work on the processing an upgrading of bio-mass carbon towards industrial applications.
Deeptha Jagadeesh
Deeptha is a second-year mechanical engineering student at UBCO. She is supporting metalcasting experiments in Dr. Bichler’s laboratory. She is interested in new alloy development for the transportation industries.
Shanshan Welch
Shanshan is a second-year electrical engineering student at UBCO. Shanshan is involved in supporting projects related to biogenic materials and their use in novel energy storage applications.
Ashton Kennedy
Ashton is an undergraduate research assistant in mechanical engineering at UBC Okanagan. With an interest in material science, manufacturing and design, he joined Dr. Bichler’s research group to gain hands-on experience in a research environment. Ashton is involved in analyzing and preparing high manganese steel, ferrous metal matrix composites, and cast aluminum alloys for further analysis. Ashton has gained knowledge in material preparation and analysis such as polishing, machining, microphotography, and SEM imaging.
Ryan Pitre
Ryan is a third-year mechanical engineering student at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. He has been working on various projects including the recycling of carbon black filler particles and metal casting research. Ryan’s research interests are in product model and design as well as metal casting and sustainability.