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Dr. Philip K. Chan

Philip Chan
Professor, Chair
BEng, MEng, PhD, PEng
KHS-241J
416-979-5000 ext. 556960

Areas of Academic Interest

Computer simulation of phase separation in polymer systems

Computer simulation of liquid crystalline materials

Computer simulation of complex fluids

Education

Year University Degree
1997 McGill University
PhD
1992 McGill University MEng
1990 McGill University BEng

Selected Courses

Course Code Course Title
CHE 217 Fluid Mechanics
CHE 451 Plastics Technology
CHE 454 Polymer Science

Spotlight

It is possible to land your dream job. Case in point, Philip Chan. Early in his life, Chan knew what he liked: chemistry and engineering. He was also intrigued by teaching. “I was lucky to have some really great teachers and professors,” he says. “I was amazed by the way they taught and I wanted to do the same.”

Having excellent teachers set a high bar, one Chan aims to reach every day. “With my grad students I try to give them what my supervisor gave to me: mentorship.” Chan watches over his MEng, MASc and PhD students to make sure they’re on the right track, introduces them to journals and resources, searches for bugs in their computer programs, and acts as a sounding board for their ideas.

For his undergraduates, Chan is always making adjustments to his methods. To impart complex engineering principles to his students, he’s a big fan of showing video clips and including examples from real life, such as why the shower curtain blows in when the hot water comes on. “If you want the answer,” he says, smiling, “you’ll have to take my class.”

Philip Chan

“My career is the perfect combination of my three passions: engineering, chemistry and teaching.”

  • R. Shadkami and P.K. Chan, “Computational Analysis to Optimize the Performance of Thin Film Liquid Crystal Biosensors”, Crystals, 12, 1463 (2022).
  • S. Ranjbarrad & P.K. Chan, “The Effect of Conductive Heat Transfer on the Morphology Formation in Polymer Solutions Undergoing Thermally Induced Phase Separation”, Polymers, 14, 4345 (2022).
  • Ghaffari, P.K. Chan and M. Mehrvar, “Long-Range Surface-Directed Polymerization-Induced Phase Separation: A Computational Study”, Polymers, 13, 256 (2021).
  • S. Ghaffari, P.K. Chan and M. Mehrvar, “Computational Analysis of Short-Range Surface-Directed Polymerization-Induced Phase Separation”, The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2021;1–13, DOI: 10.1002/cjce.23954 (2021).
  • V.-N. Tran Duc and P.K. Chan, “Using the Cahn-Hilliard Theory in Metastable Binary Solutions”, ChemEngineering, 3, 75 (2019).