Interested in joining our research team? We are always looking for highly motivated students that are passionate about smart and sustainable urban infrastructure.
Rebecca Dziedzic
UrbanLinks Lead
Dr. Rebecca Dziedzic is an Assistant Professor of the University of Concordia Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Her research expertise lies in developing decision support solutions for sustainable infrastructure, particularly water systems.
Fatemeh (Helia) Boloukasli
PhD Researcher
Helia’s current research is on water main breaks, modeling and optimization of water systems, real-time water distribution system operation, and machine learning. Helia earned her B.Sc degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Guilan, Iran (2019) and her M.Sc degree in Water and Hydraulics Structure from the University of Tehran, Iran (2022).
Melica Khashei
PhD Researcher
Melica received her M.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering – Environmental Management from the University of Tehran, Iran. Melica’s research is focused on sustainable water infrastructure and data science. Currently, she is working on optimizing water distribution system maintenance and rehabilitation under a changing climate. She is co-supervised by Dr. Ehsan Roshani of the National Research Council.
Louis Chan
PhD Researcher
Louis received his BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hong Kong. He also completed master’s degrees in computational fluid dynamics, chemical engineering and computer science. Louis has several years of experience in the water industry, with a focus on optimizing water infrastructure. Currently, he is working on developing smart control systems for optimizing chemical dosage in water treatment plants.
Niuosha Hedaiaty
PhD Researcher
Niuosha received her BSc. in Civil Engineering- Water and Sewage Networks and her MSc. in Civil Engineering- Environmental Engineering, both from Shahid Beheshti University, Iran. Currently, her research is centered on smart water distribution network operation and wastewater management.
Jawad Ta’amneh
PhD Researcher
Jawad received his MSc in Highways and Transportation Engineering from Coventry University, UK and BSc in Civil Engineering from Yarmouk University, Jordan. His research seeks to integrate Pavement Management Systems (PMS) into Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design . He is co-supervised by Dr. Luis Amador.
Previous Team Members
- Julia Ferreira Gomes (MASc 2024, Co-supervised with Dr. Mazdak Nik-Bakht)
“A Decision-Making Framework for the Built Facilities’ End-of-Life from Sustainability and Circular Economy Viewpoints” - Morad Nosrati Habibi (MASc 2024)
“Leak Localization in Water Distribution Networks with a Hybrid CNN-LSTM Model and Novel Distance-Based Loss Function” - Bharath Rajendir Rajendran (MASc 2024)
“Development of a Condition Assessment Rating System and Prediction Model for Railway Tracks” - Nayara Nunes Ferreira (PhD 2024, Co-Supervised with Dr. Marco Antonio Gaya de Figueiredo – UERJ, Dr. Marcelo Ramos Martins – USP)
“Development of a Framework for Life Extension Process Management in Offshore Oil and Gas Facilities” - Armine Sinaei (MASc 2023, Co-supervised with Dr. Enrico Creaco – University of Pavia)
“Holistic Assessment of Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts of Pipe Breaks: A Case Study of Vancouver” - Ziyuan Cai (MASc 2022, Co-supervised by Dr. Samuel Li)
“Development of Effective Methods for Water Distribution System Leakage Detection and Localization” - Alex Brisbois (MASc 2022)
“Assessment of the Feasibility of Pumps-as-Turbine in Water Distribution Networks with the Support of Machine Learning” - Sadaf Gharaati (MASc 2022)
“Identification of the Most Important Factors Driving Watermain Failure” - Mohammad Amini (MASc 2021)
“Application of Machine Learning Algorithms to the Prediction of Water Main Deterioration”
UrbanLinks 