University Canada West has welcomed its first postdoctoral researchers: Dr. Arshad Khan, Dr. Navdeep Singh and Dr. Ankita Srivastava, who began their appointments in September 2026.
The milestone strengthens UCW’s research capacity and supports interdisciplinary work on challenges in healthcare, agriculture and emerging technologies.
Working under the supervision of UCW Associate Professor, Dr. Amit Kohli, the researchers are exploring how artificial intelligence, blockchain and data-driven decision-making can support innovation and sustainable development.
"These appointments reflect UCW’s commitment to research excellence, academic collaboration and real-world problem solving,” said Dr. Stewart Fast, UCW’s Director, Office of Research & Scholarship.
“UCW looks forward to the contributions of these highly trained individuals to Dr. Kohli’s research program, and we welcome them to the university community.”
Dr. Arshad Khan holds a PhD in Computer Science from Auckland University of Technology. His expertise spans blockchain, AI and machine learning, IoT security and cryptography. At UCW, he is developing a blockchain-enabled, AI-driven data governance framework to support patient-centred health information sharing in underserved Canadian communities.
Dr. Navdeep Singh, a Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar at UCW, is also an Assistant Professor at Chandigarh University and an Honorary Research Fellow at INTI International University. Named among the World’s Top 5% Scientists in the SciRank Global 2025 registry, he is investigating AI- and digital twin-driven strategies to make agri-food supply chains more resilient and sustainable, with a focus on cold chain integrity, climate-adaptive logistics and net-zero transformation.
Dr. Ankita Srivastava earned her PhD at Banaras Hindu University, specializing in energy-efficient optimization for wireless sensor networks. She is contributing to an Indo-Canadian project on explainable hybrid AI decision support systems for climate-smart agriculture.
