Timothy A. Sipkens
About
I am an aerosol scientist and researcher interested in optical and physical diagnostics, with a particular focus on data inversion and analysis. My work has included analysis of the products of gas flares, interpreting TEM images with machine learning, modeling of time-resolved laser-induced incandescence (TiRe-LII), particle filtration by face masks and related products, and molecular dynamics simulations of nanoscale heat transfer.
I received my PhD from the University of Waterloo in 2019, with a focus on TiRe-LII as a diagnostic for engineered nanoparticles. From 2018 to 2020, I held a Killam postdoctoral fellowship in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia. There, I refined aerosol diagnostics, including novel approaches to interpret tandem measurements of aerosol characteristics — e.g., following the use of a centrifugal particle mass analyzer (CPMA) and differential mobility analyzer (DMA) in series — and machine learning techniques to interpret transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of soot. I also worked on the filtration properties of candidate barrier face covering materials, condensed into a web app here. More recently, I joined the National Research Council Canada, where I continue to work on aerosol measurement.
Education
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2019
Doctor of Philosophy
Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
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2015
Masters of Applied Science
Mechanical Engineering
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
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2012
Bachelor of Applied Science
Mechanical Engineering
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
Publications & Presentations
Codes
As part of many of my projects, I have code available for use by researchers. Please refer to my GitHub page for more details. Some sample projects are listed below.