Congratulations to Professor Ramin Farnood who has been appointed as Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry for a 5-year term from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2026.
Professor Farnood obtained his BASc (1987) and MASc (1990) degrees in Chemical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology and his PhD (1995) from the University of Toronto. He joined the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto as a faculty member in 2000, serving as the Associate Director of the Pulp and Paper Centre (2001-2010). He later served as the Associate Chair Research of the Department from 2009 to 2017. He was subsequently appointed as the Vice Dean Research of the Faculty in 2017. Prior to joining U of T, he has held various industry positions working with Abitibi-Price Inc., Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada (now FPInnovations), and Trojan Technologies.
Professor Farnood’s expertise includes water and wastewater treatment using membrane separation and ultraviolet disinfection, solar photocatalysis for production of sustainable chemicals and fuels, and valorization of waste biomass by conversion to value-added green products. He has an extensive network of global academic collaborators and is leading an international doctoral cluster (IDC) with the National University of Singapore on Urban Water, Waste, and Energy Solutions.
In his role as Vice-Dean Research, Professor Farnood has expanded the mentorship programs for early career researchers through organizing orientation sessions and grant writing support, promoted equity, diversity, and inclusion in research, and established the XSeed program, a tri-campus initiative to foster multidisciplinary research.
Professor Farnood is a passionate teacher who is committed to the mentoring of students. He is the recipient of the Faculty’s TEAL Fellowship for technology enhanced active learning and Department’s Teacher of the Year Award. He is also the co-author of a textbook, The Art of Modeling in Science and Engineering with Mathematica, that he uses for teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels.