Principal Investigator

Prof. A. Mwesigye

Prof. Aggrey Mwesigye

Dr. Aggrey Mwesigye is an Assistant Professor of Renewable Energy in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. He leads the Sustainable Thermal Energy Research Group. His research focuses on the development, modeling, and optimization of sustainable thermal energy systems for different applications, including space heating and cooling, refrigeration, power generation, and cold chain among others. Dr. Mwesigye’s research is currently looking at optimal system configurations of alternative and sustainable energy technologies for providing space heating and cooling in extremely cold climates with potential applications in Canada’s northernmost communities and especially, rural areas where there is over-reliance on diesel generators to meet their energy needs. The other research focuses on the performance improvement of concentrating solar thermal technologies and their applications for simultaneous generation of electricity and heat, geothermal energy systems, and high heat flux electronics cooling. Dr. Mwesigye is a registered Professional Engineer with Professional Engineers Ontario and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta. He is a Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and an Associate Member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

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Ph.D. Students

Charaka Jathunge

Charaka Beragama Jathunge

Charaka Jayathunga obtained his BSc degree specializing in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka in 2020. Immediately after graduation he joined the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Ruhuna as a Temporary Instructor. In January 2021 he joined the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, Sri Lanka as a mechanical engineer and in September 2021 joined the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Technology, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka as a Lecturer (Probationary). He completed his MSc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Calgary in 2024 and continued with his Ph.D. studies in the Sustainable Thermal Energy Systems Laboratory. Charaka’s current research at the University of Calgary is investigation of a seasonal solar thermal energy storage coupled heat pump system for space heating and cooling applications with a focus on thermo-economic optimization of the system. Key components of his research are building heating/cooling load profile analysis, numerical simulation of the system, and system optimization.
Philip Adebayo

Philip Adebayo

Philip Adebayo is a Ph.D. student in the Sustainable Thermal Energy Systems research group. He obtained his masters degree from the American University of Beirut under the full sponsorship of the MasterCard foundation and a bachelor’s degree (with honours) from the University of Ibadan.  He is interested in exploring sustainable engineering practices that can improve the efficiency of energy systems with less environmental impact to meet increasing energy demand. His Ph.D. research focuses on the modelling and optimization of solar-assisted ground source heat pump systems with and without thermal energy storage for cold climates 

Co-supervised with Prof. Abdulmajeed Mohammad

Nima Mazaheri

Nima Mazaheri

Nima Mazaheri graduated with a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering - Energy Conversion. He is currently a Ph.D. student in the Sustainable Thermal Energy Systems research group. With more than six years of research experience, most of Nima's investigations involve CFD analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena in various thermofluidic equipment such as heat sinks, heat exchangers, microchannels, minichannels, chaotic channels, etc. Besides, solar energy and its efficient utilization is another field of study he is interested in. Nima's current research focuses on the design, development, and optimization of novel heat sinks for cooling of electronic chips, particularly those utilized in electric/hybrid vehicles. The investigation involves both experimental studies and numerical simulations. 

Master's Students

Timothy Otukoya

Timothy Otukoya

Timothy Otukoya is a Master’s student in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, at the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. He obtained a diploma in Mechanical Engineering with distinction from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Nigeria in 2016, and he completed a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with first-class honors from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 2023. He joined the Sustainable Thermal Energy Systems research group at the University of Calgary in September 2024, where his research focuses on Concentrating Solar Thermal Systems.

Sheel Bhadra

Sheel Bhadra

Sheel is a M.Sc. student at the University of Calgary. He joined the Sustainable Thermal System research group in September 2023. He completed his undergraduate degree from Delhi Technological University, India. During his undergraduate degree, Sheel received a Mitacs Globalinks Research Award to complete an internship at York University, Canada. Sheel’s research is looking at the energy and exergy analysis of air source heat pumps coupled with solar air heaters and thermal energy storage. He also loves to play cricket and hang out with friends in his free time.

Undergraduate RAs

Devon

Devon Dickinson

Devon is an undergraduate student studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Calgary. Prior to this, he obtained a diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. He joined the Sustainable Thermal Energy Systems research group in 2022 as a Research Assistant. Currently he is exploring ground source heat pumps systems as a means to supplement or replace large scale traditional fossil fuel based heating systems.