Dr. Colin Dalton

Interested in exploring research partnerships with fellow academics and industry partners in the area of micro/nano fabrication technologies applied to biomedical engineering problems.

Background

Credentials

Professional Engineer (P.Eng), APEGA,

Senior Member, IEEE,

Educational Background

B.Eng (Hons) Electronic Engineering, University of Wales, 1994

M.Sc. Electronic Engineering, University of Wales, 1998

Ph.D. Electronic Engineering, University of Wales, 2002

Research

Areas of Research

Biomedical Engineering

My interests are microfluidics, electrokinetics, Lab on a chip, micro/nano fabrication, MEMS, bioMEMS, microneedles, micro-electrode arrays, brain machine interfaces, technology commercialization, entrepreneurship

Micro Nano Fabrication

I am the Scientific Director of the University of Calgary's microfabrication cleanroom facility, the Microsystems Hub. The facility aids researchers and local industry with their micro/nano fabrication requirements.

https://schulich.ucalgary.ca/research/makerspaces-labs-tech-support/microsystems-hub

Microneedles

See Projects below

Electrokinetics

See Projects below

Brain Machine Interfaces

See Projects below

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Brain and mental health

Child health and wellness

Engineering solutions for health

One health

Courses

Course number	Course title	Semester
ENGG 503 and 504	Enterprenurial Capstone	Fall and Winter 2022/2023; 2023/2024
ENEL 592 and 594	ESE Undergraduate Research Thesis	Fall 2023 and Winter 2024
ENEL 616	Micro/Nano System Design Fabrication and Integration	Winter 2021, 2022, 2023
ENCM 467	Digital Electronic Circuits	Fall 2019, 2020, 2021
BMEN 500 and 503	BME Undergraduate Research Thesis	Fall and Winter 2020-2021; 2021-2022; 2022-2023; 2023-2024
ENEL 619.50	Special Problems (Mcr/NanoSysDsgnFbrctn&Intgrtn)	Winter 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020
ENEL 619.65	Special Problems (EleckinMicpumpThr&App)	Spring 2013
BMEN 619.28	Special Problems (Multi electrode arrays)	Spring 2020
ENEL 619,48	Microsystems Technologies	Winter 2005, 2006, 2007

Projects

Microneedles for transdermal drug delivery

Needle-free transdermal delivery systems have long been a goal in biomedical engineering research, to overcome injection pain, increase uptake of pharmaceuticals, and reduce the requirement for trained medical personnel to administer injections. Microneedles create microchannels that pierce the hydrophobic skin barrier and enable transdermal routes for drugs to be transported. Microneedles minimize routes of infection, as the microscale holes rapidly heal, can increase drug efficacy, and overcome many of the issues associated with needle phobia. My research includes hollow, solid and coated microneedles for drug delivery and biosensing applications.

Close up of a hollow microneedle showcasing it's features

Microneedle array. Published in Microsystems Technologies.

Solid Microneedle array. Published in Proc. SPIE Microfluidics, BioMEMS, and Medical Microsystems

Brain Machine Interfaces

All brain functions ranging from simple reflexes to complex motor patterns, learning, memory, and cognition, rely upon network interactions between large neuronal ensembles. Disruption of these networks, either through trauma, stroke, epilepsy, synaptic perturbation, or neurodegenerative diseases (for example, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, etc.), can render the brain dysfunctional. My collaborative research in this area with the Hitchkiss Brain Institute has made new nano-featured multi electrode arrays for better cultured neuron experiments, 3D microelectrodes for improved signal to noise recording from brain slices and in animal models. This work led to spin out company Neuraura.

30 micron diameter electrode with Nano Edge, published in Scientific Reports

Schematic of 30 micron diameter electrode with Nano Edges,

Recording electrical signals from a brain slice

Electrokinetics

Electrokinetics is utilizing electric fields in microfluidic devices to move fluids. My focus currently is on the AC Electrothermal (ACET) effect, which induces microflows when joule heating of the solution produces non-uniform electric fields and temperature gradients in the fluids. This technique can work with high conductivity fluids, like biofluids, and my lab is investigating the underlying theory through simulations, and also fabricating and testing new devices.

Schematic of multi electrode ACET micropump,

Multiphysics simulation of ACET micro flows,

Cannulae Fabrication

This is an industry linked project with local company Ecmius Biomedical (https://ecmius.com/), developing a manufacturing process for the cannulae (tubes) that are used in the ECMO life support system to remove blood from the body and re-oxygenate it before returning it to the circulatory system.

Awards

Undergraduate Training Excellence Award , Schulich School of Engineering. 2023
Outstanding Research Impact Award, Schulich School of Engineering. 2023
Nominated by SSE Dean, Outstanding Mentor Summit Award , APEGA. 2022
Mentoring Excellence Award, Schulich School of Engineering. 2021
Outstanding Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program Supervisor of the Year, Biomedical Engineering Program. 2020
Early Research Excellence Award, Schulich School of Engineering. 2020
Trusted Reviewer Status, Institute of Physics. 2020
Finalist, Foundation Award Alberta Science and Technology Leadership, ASTech Foundation. 2019
Teaching Achievement, Schulich School of Engineering. 2019
Outstanding Laboratory Director, Biomedical Engineering Students Society. 2019
Winner, TENET Innovation to Commercialization (i2c) competition, University of Calgary. 2018
Graduate, First cohort, Creative Destructions Labs:Rockies, Creative Destruction Labs Program. 2018
CMC Success Story, CMC Microsystems. 2018
Finalist, Falling Walls Venture of the Year, Falling Walls Foundation. 2018
Top 20 Most Highly cited paper, Journal Biomicrofludics. 2015
Outstanding Teaching Achievement, Schulich School of Engineering. 2014
CMC Success Story, CMC Microsystems. 2009

Publications

Google Scholar

Scopus

In the News

Microneedle Method Demonstrated at University of Calgary. CTV Nightly News. (2023)
UCalgary researchers aim to stop or prevent epileptic seizures. uToday, University of Calgary campus wide. (2021)
Tiny 'YAHOO' sign highlights unique laser technology at University of Calgary. CTV Nightly News. (2019)
Spin out company developed from University research. uToday, University of Calgary campus wide. (2018)
Cleanrooms. CTV Nightly News. (2017)
Brain Machine interfaces. CTV Nightly News. (2016)
TENET i2c team wows judges with monitoring platform to measure brain activity. Schulich School of Engineering, Campus Wide. (2018)

More Information

Scientific Director, Microsystems Hub

Parex Innovation Fellow Allumnus

Co-Founder, Neuraura Biotech

Current Graduate Students:

Thomas Lijnse

Kuri Martinez

Stirling Cenaiko

Isaac Calivillio

Anthony Demong

Joshua Feddema

Former Graduate students:

Kazim Haider

Pierre Wijdenes

Ali Syedah

Sara Pishgar

Ali Salari

Michael Purdy

Atefeh Ghazavi

Bhagat Singh

Rumi Zhang

Former Post Doctoral Fellows:

Ebenezer Owusu-Ansah

Rumi Zhang

Current Technical/Research Staff:

Dylan Finch

Ebenezer Owusu-Ansah

Kazim Haider

Former Technical/Research Staff:

Malcolm Haynes

Laude Bannerman-Akwei

Lisa van de Panne

Louise Neeve

Undergraduate student supervision: 53

A mixture of summer students, Thesis Students, Project Students and Capstone Students.