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Our People
Current Mermbers (Grad)
Jaho Seo
Associate Professor
Lab Director
Jaho Seo was with the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering of the University of Waterloo as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2011, the Department of System Reliability of the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM) as a senior researcher for 2012-2016, and the Department of Biosystems Machinery Engineering of Chungnam National University, Korea as an Assistant Professor for 2016-2017.
Since 2017, he has been an Assistant (~23. 06) and Associate (23. 07~) Professor at the Department of Automotive and Mechatronics Engineering, Ontario Tech University where he has been involved in research on the development of autonomous control systems for intelligent mobile machines, and electro-hydraulic systems.
Tyler Parsons
Research Associate
KIMM and KEIT Projects
Tyler Parsons graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ontario Tech University in 2021, and completed his MASc under the supervision of Dr. Jaho Seo in Apr of 2023. Currently, he is working as a Research Associate.
Within the span of his undergraduate degree, he successfully completed a 16 month internship with a robotics vision solutions company, Bluewrist Inc. During this internship, he worked as a mechanical designer on many different automated systems, including an automated 3-layer surgical mask making machine. In addition to this, he also worked as an Application Engineer working with company software at numerous off-site locations to properly integrate inspection systems. He has been involved in optimizing routes of waste collection and street sweeping.
Fattah Hanafi
PhD Student
KIMM and KEIT Project
Fattah Hanafi obtained his M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2013. From 2011 to 2019, he was a member of FUM Robotics Lab, working on different aspects of industrial robots such as Kinematics, Dynamics, Simulation, Trajectory Generation, etc. In the last four years, he played a leading role in developing and producing a family of industrial-grade robots like FUM-6R-20, FUM-SCARA-II, FUM-Delta, and FUM-Stewart-M450 Robot.
He has started his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Ontario Tech University under the supervision of Dr. Jaho Seo from May 2021. His research topic is the development of advanced control and adaptive safety algorithms for autonomous construction equipment.
Sayyed Reza Alavian
PhD Student
NSERC Project
Sayyed Reza Alavian is a researcher specializing in artificial intelligence and data-driven methods for autonomous systems. He received his academic training at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), where he developed a strong foundation in data analysis, machine learning, and applied computational methods. Before joining the AVEC Lab, he worked as a data scientist developing predictive and decision-support algorithms for real-world applications. He has started his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Ontario Tech University under the supervision of Dr. Jaho Seo from Jan 2026. His current research focuses on the development of AI-based control and path planning algorithms for specialty vehicles and the application of modern AI techniques to vehicle control and navigation.
Nicholas Varas
MASc Student
Homegrown Innovation Challenge Project
Nicholas Varas completed his bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Ontario Tech University in 2023, where he also worked for Engineering Outreach as a Senior Program Instructor throughout the course of his studies. In addition, he also co-founded and currently leads the two Ontario Tech Robotics teams, Robot in 3 Days (Ri3D) and RoboMaster, as well as his own company Moduleaf, which was co-founded through Brillant Catalyst with fellow graduates Mitchell Vella and Andrew Champ. Having completed a 16-month internship at Honda of Canada Mfg. in their CRV paint department, he is very experienced in robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence. For his research, Nicholas will be working on autonomous indoor farming technologies under the supervision of Dr. Seo.
Mitchell Vella
MASc Student
KEIT Project
Mitchell Vella graduated from Ontario Tech University with a degree in Mechatronics Engineering. He gained experience during his 18-month internship at Honda of Canada Mfg., where he designed and maintained equipment for the assembly of the 2023 Civic. Mitchell's passion for robotics led him to participate in the Ri3D robotics team at OntarioTech as a mechanical Co-lead. For Mitchell's capstone, he worked under Dr. Seo to develop autonomous vertical farming solutions. He also co-founded Moduleaf through Brilliant Catalyst with his fellow graduates Nicholas Varas and Andy Champ working on further development of these technologies. For his research, Mitchell will be working on the development of an autonomous excavator under the supervision of Dr. Seo.
Reza Noorbakhsh
PhD Student
KEIT Project
Reza Noorbakhsh has obtained his Master's degree in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. He was actively engaged in the FUM Robotics Lab from 2014 to 2017, focusing on industrial robots including 6R-20, FUM-SCARA-II, FUM-Delta, and FUM-Stewart-M450 Robot. During the years 2017 to 2019, he continued his work at the Sun and Air Research Institute of Mashhad University, concentrating on a new generation of industrial Pick&Place robots. From 2019 to 2023, he has been involved in the intelligent automation and neural network domain within the field of operating room settings. His responsibility includes designing neural networks to create navigational maps for autonomous construction equipment in the area.
Cole Levere
MASc Student
Homegrown Innovation Challenge Project
Cole graduated from Ontario Tech University with a bachelor's in Mechatronics Engineering in 2023. During this time, he completed a 16-month internship at Veoneer Canada INC where he was part of the new product and process introduction team. He worked on implementing and improving various ECU products on assembly lines. For his capstone project, Cole worked under the supervision of Dr. Jaho Seo to develop an autonomous weed removal robot. His focus was on developing the machine vision component of the system. This project placed 2nd in the University's Annual Capstone Exhibition. Cole is also currently developing electrical and control systems for municipal vehicles at MacLean Engineering. For his master's, Cole will continue to work under Dr. Jaho Seo to develop autonomous farming solutions.
Seyedeh Sara Hosseini Jangjoo
MASc Student
NSERC Project
Sara Hosseini has experience in designing and programming robotic systems, particularly in medical robotics and prototyping. She worked on projects involving exoskeleton robots and SCARA manipulators at FUM Robotics lab and Eqbal Lahoori Institute of Higher Education, using tools like SolidWorks, Python, and ROS. Sara contributed to research and development efforts, improving robot performance and reliability. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Robotics Engineering from Eqbal Lahoori Institute of Higher Education and began her Master's studies in Mechanical Engineering at Ontario Tech University in September 2024.
Nicholas Maliavine
MASc Student
NSERC Project
Nicholas Maliavine received his Bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Ontario Tech University in 2024. To further his education, he has chosen to pursue a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering at Ontario Tech. During his Master's program, he will be working with SunnyBrook hospital on developing software that would be able to track and predict human foot traffic to minimize crowding resulting from unavailable elevators due to maintenance. This project will be under the supervision of Dr. Seo.