Ishwar K. Puri, PhD, P.Eng., FCAE

Dr. Ishwar K. Puri is dean of the Faculty of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. At McMaster, he is also an associate member of the departments of engineering physics and materials science and engineering, school of biomedical engineering, as well as founding academic director of the Computing Infrastructure Research Centre (CIRC). 

He is recognized for experiential learning programs. At McMaster, all first-year engineering students follow an innovative project-based curriculum delivered through a year-long thirteen-credit course that integrates core engineering curricula across all engineering disciplines and. places human-centred engineering design and ethics at the centre of engineering curricula. By developing solutions for Grand Challenge problems, students learn early that engineers must establish, maintain and develop standards of professional ethics.

Dr. Puri’s engineering research is globally recognized, with inventions ranging from a facile 3D printer for human cells and tissues to a novel “1U” heat exchanger that can be directly mounted in computer racks in data centres. This latter research led to a startup, NanoSpin, which invented the first cooling system for computers and electronic devices using a liquid dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles to dissipate waste heat.

He is also a founder of Celerite Labs, an Ontario startup that uses a magnetic 3D printer to print tissues and organoids. Based on this technology, printed segments of the human lung and liver are being used as alternatives to animal testing to develop therapies for liver cirrhosis.