TORONTO, Nov. 23 – Associate Vice-President Research Sushanta Mitra has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Each year the Council elects members whose efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished.

Mitra was elected AAAS Fellow for his distinguished contributions to the field of
micro-nanofluidics, particularly for development of tools and techniques for energy exploration, environment monitoring and applications in bio-systems.

Mitra’s research applications tackle some of the world’s most challenging problems, including the development of tools and techniques for efficiently extracting oil and gas from reservoir rocks, bio-converting coal into methane (bio-energy pathways), increasing water monitoring efficiency and affordability (environment monitoring), and detecting vector borne, bacterial and cardiac diseases (health applications).

Mitra credits a number of students (undergrads and graduate), post-docs, research associates, lab technicians that were part of the Micro & Nano-scale Transport Lab spanning across three universities – IIT Bombay (India), University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) and York University, as well as scientific collaborators across Asia, Europe and North America who have contributed to his innovative research program for helping to make this achievement possible.

For his contributions in science and engineering, Mitra has already been elected as a Fellow of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers, Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Institute of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

“Warmest congratulations to Professor Mitra for this exceptional achievement,” said York’s Vice-President Research & Innovation Robert Haché. “As a leading scholar in his field, Sushanta has made significant contributions to advancing innovative research and training in this discipline and epitomizes York’s commitment to research excellence.”

Lassonde School of Engineering Dean Janusz Kozinski said, “Everyone at Lassonde is exceptionally proud to see Professor Mitra honoured with this international accolade. He is an outstanding academic with an enduring commitment to impactful research to benefit our society and our planet.”

New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Feb. 13 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2016 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

This year’s AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 27.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world’s largest general scientific society, and publisher of the flag-ship journal, Science. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes 254 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals.

York University is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our 52,000 students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 24 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide.

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Media Contact:
Sandra McLean, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22097 / sandramc@yorku.ca