In early 2023, business leader and philanthropist Bruce Mitchell (Sc’68, DSc'20) announced a $30 million investment in Queen's research. Nearly three years later, this transformational gift is advancing research in strategic areas such as programs led by Queen’s Canada Excellence Research Chairs and tier one research centres and institutes.

To date, the Bruce Mitchell Research Program (BMRP) has allowed Queen’s to grow its research community by hiring new research talent, including five faculty members, 39 graduate students, and 17 postdoctoral researchers, and boost research programs through the Ignite initiative, that provided funding for strategic programs across disciplines.

“We’re grateful for this opportunity to advance excellence by supporting world-leading research and recruiting talented researchers internationally and at different career stages, including graduate and post-doctoral researchers”, says Nancy Ross, Vice-Principal (Research). “Queen’s strength is our people, and this gift is helping us nurture the research community that is tackling some of the biggest challenges of our time.”

Through the Ignite initiative, the BMRP is supporting research leads at Queen’s in establishing or enhancing their research programs and teams, covering costs associated with research activity and start-up costs to build and expand productive research groups, including the hire of project managers, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students over the next five years.

New BMRP faculty hires are paired with Ignite awardees to support research intensity in strategic research areas. The funding will support salary and start-up costs to build research programs and teams over the next eight years.

The remaining BMRP funds will be allocated to recruit an additional 13 graduate students, six postdoctoral researchers, and four faculty members.

See a full list of new faculty hires and ignite recipients:
 

NEW FACULTY HIRES

Taleana Huff (Chemistry)

A member of the Carbon to Metal Coating Institute, Dr. Huff focuses on electronic, structural, and chemical characterization of surface-bound molecules at the single-atom scale. By uncovering their fundamental properties, she leverages this knowledge toward applications like production of quantum materials, improving semiconductor manufacturing workflows, and pushing the boundaries of atom-by-atom atomically precise manufacturing through "mechanical" chemistry.

Michela Lai (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)

Dr. Lai is an experimental physicist joining the global effort to detect dark matter using state-of-the art underground detectors. For the past few years, she’s been focusing on dark matter data analyses and simulations and is now also working on optimizing technology to increase the sensibility of current liquid argon detectors.

Hoang Dang (Chemical Engineering)

Dr. Dang leads the Recharge Lab, where his team develops functional materials and sustainable processing for energy storage technologies that make clean energy more reliable and widely accessible.

Ian Karlin (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Dr. Karlin is an exascale computing architect with more than a decade of experience building the world’s largest supercomputers, with a focus on application performance. He is interested in maximizing the scientific output achieved per dollar spent and in improving how researchers take advantage of emerging computer hardware.

Meng Li (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)

Dr. Li brings a distinguished track record of integrating theoretical modeling with experimental materials science. Her unique capability to validate quantum simulations and machine learning predictions with empirical data ensures that computational insights translate to device performance.
 

IGNITE

Cao Dinh (Chemical Engineering)

Dr. Dinh develops innovative carbon conversion technologies that transform CO₂ into sustainable fuels and useful materials like polymers. His integrated system captures and converts carbon with higher efficiency and lower energy use. Collaborating with industry partners, his team aims to scale this breakthrough.

Ryan Grant (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Dr. Grant leads research in secure, high-performance supercomputing and AI exascale infrastructure. Through his lab, one of the world’s largest in supercomputing architecture, he advances software for sustainable, next-generation computing. His work promotes sovereign supercomputing capacity, positioning Canada to lead in innovation and environmentally responsible technological growth.

Ken Clark (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)

Dr. Clark investigates dark matter and neutrinos through global collaborations. His research combines deep-underground and deep-sea detectors to probe cosmic particles, black holes, and supernovae. By enhancing detector sensitivity, he aims to reveal the universe’s most fundamental properties and elusive dark matter interactions.

Philippe Di Stefano (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)

Dr. Di Stefano’s experimental research explores rare nuclear and particle physics events, including dark matter detection and the decay of isotopes such as potassium. His expertise helps advance liquid-argon experiments, advancing detector technologies that probe the most elusive cosmic phenomena. 

Zhe She (Chemistry)

Dr. She studies chemical reactions on material surfaces. His research focuses on creating novel single-molecule layers, nanostructures, and advanced coating materials, and on characterizing their unique physical and chemical properties using state-of-the-art microscopy and spectroscopy. Working with interdisciplinary collaborators, his team applies these discoveries to develop new solutions for environmental monitoring, remediation of emerging contaminants, water-quality analysis, and corrosion protection for critical infrastructure.

Farnaz Heidar-Zadeh (Chemistry)

A recognized expert in developing theoretical models and computational software for chemical phenomena, Dr. Heidar-Zadeh merges quantum chemistry and machine learning to accelerate molecular design by accurately, but efficiently, screening millions of compounds. Her approach reduces cost in drug discovery and explores areas of chemical space that might not be intuitive to human chemists.

Paul Kubes (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)

Dr. Kubes pioneers live-cell imaging to study immune system responses in real time, uncovering mechanisms of inflammation, disease, and therapy. His discoveries illuminate how cells react to infection, injury, wildfire smoke, and cancer immunotherapy. His work strengthens Canada’s leadership in immunophysiology and immune-based therapeutic innovation.

Mark Daymond (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)

Dr. Daymond examines how microscopic material irregularities affect deformation and failure in engineering systems. His research supports safer nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, through advanced materials testing at Queen’s Reactor Materials Testing Laboratory.

Ali Etemad (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Dr. Etemad develops AI and machine learning models that analyze human-centred data (video, audio, wearable signals, and text) to understand human behaviour, emotions, and health. His team designs intelligent systems to enhance well-being, user experience, and healthcare outcomes through ethical, human-focused artificial intelligence innovation.

Talent recruitment and retention are a key pillar of Queen’s research mission and reflect the Government of Canada’s recent investment in talent attraction. The university is currently recruiting for a new round of the Queen’s National Scholars Program (QNS), aimed at strengthening Queen’s research and scholarly impact by bringing in seasoned researchers that can provide strong leadership in four research areas, selected following a university-wide call. 

To learn more about open QNS positions, visit the website.