Department of Mechanical Engineering · Faculty of Engineering · University of Alberta

Designing next‑generation structures for advanced manufacturing.

The Multifunctional Design & Additive Manufacturing (MDAM) Lab develops design methods for Industry 4.0 — topology optimization, lattice and porous structures, and process-aware design — and extends them to multiphysics problems such as heat transfer, fluid flow and biomechanics.

A copper heat sink with topology-optimized conformal lattice fins, made by electrochemical additive manufacturing
A heat sink designed with topology-optimization-driven conformal lattices and built by electrochemical additive manufacturing (ECAM). Orakwe et al., 2024.

News

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Winners at the SME and TCT awards ceremony

Runner-up in the SME Digital Manufacturing Challenge

Xinhao Yin and Esosa Egharevba placed second in the graduate category of the 2026 Digital Manufacturing Challenge, organized by SME.

  • New paper on CMT-WAAM bimetallic structures

    Our paper, Microstructural and Mechanical Characterization of a CMT-WAAM Fabricated 17-4PH Stainless Steel/Inconel 625 Bimetallic Structure, is now...

  • MDAM at HI-AM 2026

    Lab members attended the HI-AM 2026 conference on June 22–23, Canada’s main academic meeting on additive manufacturing.

  • Helping run CIRP CAT 2026

    Muhammad Irfan helped organize the CIRP CAT 2026 conference, held June 15–17, where he led the registration team....

  • Armin Hassanirad defends his MSc thesis

    Congratulations to Armin Hassanirad, who successfully defended his MSc thesis, Architected Multi-Morphological Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) Structures...

Selected publications

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  1. Performance evaluation of architected multi-morphological TPMS structures for liquid-cooled heat sinks

    A. Hassanirad, C.C. Kwasi-Effah, O. Ibhadode

    International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 272, 129515 (2026)

  2. Microstructural and mechanical characterization of a CMT-WAAM fabricated 17-4PH stainless steel/Inconel 625 bimetallic structure

    M. Irfan, M. Keshmiri, S. Singh, A. Abubakar, S.U. Butt, Y.F. Fu, A.F. Arif, O. Ibhadode, A.J. Qureshi

    Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing, 10(7), 220 (2026)

  3. Effect of topology-optimized support structures on the quality of Inconel 718 parts made by laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

    Z.D. Zhang, D.Y. Yu, X.Y. Zhai, Q. Ren, O. Ibhadode, Y.Z. Huang, Y.N. Xue, T. Gao, J.H. Zhu, W.H. Zhang

    Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 167, 368–382 (2026)

  4. Coordinate-driven implicit modeling of straight-strut, curved-strut and plate-type lattice structures for additive manufacturing

    A. Inoma, O. Ibhadode

    The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 144, 4621–4644 (2026)

Partners & funders

  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
  • Mitacs
  • Alberta Innovates
  • Groupe Meloche
  • voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Centre
  • InnoTech Alberta
  • Davey Textile Solutions
  • ADaMS Lab, University of Alberta
  • SMART Lab, University of Alberta
  • ANGAM Lab, University of Alberta
  • HI-AM 2.0 — Holistic Innovation in Additive Manufacturing

Interested in joining?

We are not actively recruiting right now, but we're always glad to hear from motivated students and postdocs — especially those bringing their own funding. Write to mdamlab@ualberta.ca.