The University of British Columbia

Vancouver, Canada—February 8, 2010—Dragonfly Instruments, co-founded by UBC Engineering students Lin Watt (CHBE) and Tagg Jefferson (IGEN), has won first place—$15,000 in cash and professional services—in the Enterprize Canada National Business Plan Competition. The company’s initial product is a portable field device that measures water quality with laboratory-grade accuracy, allowing environmental field technicians to get results in minutes that, prior to the invention, would have taken days. Technicians will be able to modify where and how they sample on-site, producing better quality results and significant savings in both cost and time.

Along with Dragonfly Instruments, two other teams from the University of British Columbia placed in the top three of the national business plan competition held February 5-7 in Vancouver.

Aegis, a business developed through APSC 486/New Venture Design course, won second place and $7,000 worth of cash and professional services. Aegis’s main product is software that connects students, teachers and parents through an online portal containing grades, assignments and other relevant information. Founders include engineering students Winnie Lai (ENPH), Edwin Jaury (EECE) and Christopher Chan (CHBE), and commerce students Scott Schaffter and Peter Stein.

Also formed from an APSC 486/New Venture Design collaboration, Aeos Biomedical won third place and $5,000 in cash and professional services. Dedicated to improving patient care and reducing errors made in the medical field, by increasing patient-specific information available to surgeons, Aeos’ current device, Target Tape, is an aid for medical imaging that contains semi-permanent ink and radiopaque materials in a ruler or grid pattern. The tape allows the surgeon to correlate information from an X-ray based scan image to the patient. The team includes engineering students Patricia Backlund (ENVE) and Colin O’Neill (IGEN) and commerce students Nicholas Seto, Wylie Spencer and Emi Yamada.

Enterprize Canada is one of Canada's largest entrepreneurship conferences and business plan competitions. Established in 2001, the conference attracts delegates from a wide range of faculties and provinces looking to gain a competitive advantage in their respective fields. The business plan competition attracts competitors seeking valuable industry feedback and mentorship, in addition to cash prizes.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—February 3, 2010—Four teams from the University of British Columbia will be advancing to Enterprize Canada’s national business plan competition February 5-7 in Vancouver. Each team comprises at least one engineering student.

Congratulations to the teams that qualified during the Enterprize Regional business plan competition:

1st place: Aeos
Formed from a collaboration of students in APSC 486/New Venture Design, Aeos’ main product is a gridded biomedical tape. The team includes engineering students Patti Backlund (ENVE) and Colin O’Neill (IGEN) and commerce students Nick Seto, Wylie Spencer and Emi Yamada.

2nd Place: Dragonfly Instruments
Engineering students Lin Watt (CHBE) and Tagg Jefferson (IGEN) have founded Dragaonfly Instruments; its initial product is a portable laboratory-grade field device that measures water quality.

3rd Place: MNB Devices
Founded by engineering student Graeham Douglas (MECH) and political science student Andrei Pop, MNB Devices produces the Cerv360, a powered head support systems for people with late-stage ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The Cerv360 allows for comfortable resting of the head and a return of neck function to people who experience extreme weakness and fatigue of the neck muscles. There is currently no effective device that provides this for people living with ALS.

4th Place: Aegis
Developed through a partnership formed in APSC 486/New Venture Design, Aegis’s main product is software that connects students, teachers and parents through an online portal containing grades, assignments and other relevant information. Founders include engineering students Winnie Lai (ENPH), Edwin Jaury (EECE) and Christopher Chan (CHBE), and commerce students Scott Schaffter and Peter Stein.

Enterprize Canada is one of Canada's largest entrepreneurship conferences and business plan competitions. Established in 2001, the conference attracts delegates from a wide range of faculties and provinces looking to gain a competitive advantage in their respective fields. Offering a six-figure national prize pool, the business plan competition attracts competitors seeking valuable industry feedback and mentorship, in addition to cash prizes.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—February 2, 2010—Researchers at the University of British Columbia have received $10.3 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to lead and coordinate two Strategic Networks in machining and biomaterials technology.

NSERC today announced $56 million in grants for 11 Strategic Networks. The grants fund large-scale, muliti-disciplinary research projects that could significantly enhance Canada’s economy, society and environment within the next decade. There are currently 36 strategic networks across the country, including those announced today.

“We are grateful to NSERC and the Government of Canada for their continued investment in research collaborations that will generate new and immediately applicable knowledge to some of the most pressing and intriguing technological questions of our day,” said John Hepburn, UBC Vice President Research and International.

“UBC has a stellar track record of multi-disciplinary research and the addition of two new NSERC Strategic Networks hosted here will further enhance our capacity to contribute to research excellence in Canada.”

The new Strategic Networks to be hosted at UBC are:

NSERC Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology (CANRIMT)

Led by Yusuf Altintas, mechanical engineering professor and NSERC-P&WC Industrial Research Chair Professor in Virtual Machining, CANRIMT aims to develop the world’s most advanced Virtual Machining Technology and a state-of-the-art five-axis mezzo milling machine. The technology will enable the design and manufacturing of products without first resorting to costly physical trials and will benefit the Canadian aerospace, automotive, power generation, mould-making and automation systems industries.

The CANRIMT team will receive $5 million from NSERC and $400,000 from industry over five years. The network includes 20 researchers from seven universities in B.C., Alberta, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec. Approximately 100 engineers are expected to be trained through the network.

NSERC Biomaterials and Chemicals Strategic Network

Led by Wood Science Prof. John Kadla, the Biomaterials and Chemicals Strategic Network aims to develop technologies to better utilize lignin, one of the primary components of wood. Approximately 20 per cent of wood is dissolved as lignin when pulped. The complex biomaterial is currently used as fuel in pulp mills but has the potential to become part of carbon-fibre composites for strong and light-weight automobile parts, carbon aerogels for hydrogen storage and new bio-based polymers.

The Biomaterials and Chemicals Strategic Network will receive $5.3 million over five years and includes 16 researchers from 11 universities.

UBC already hosts two other NSERC Strategic Networks:

RES’EAU-WaterNet has received $5.2 million over five years to make technology available that ensures clean water for all Canadians. Currently, water quality in 1,700 small and rural Canadian communities can be as bad or worse than that in developing countries. (More information)

MagNet has received $4.8 million over five years to work with the automotive industry to develop knowledge to produce magnesium components that may significantly reduce the weight of vehicles and in turn reduce fuel consumption. (More information)

NSERC is a federal agency whose vision is to help make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators to the benefit of all Canadians. The agency supports some 28,000 students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding more than 11,800 professors every year and fosters innovation by encouraging more than 1,500 Canadian companies to participate and invest in post-secondary research projects.

The NSERC announcement is available here.

Contact

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell: 604.818.5685
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—February 2, 2010—The University of British Columbia received the 25th Anniversary Excellence Award and UBC Engineering student teams placed within the top-three of five categories at the 25th annual Western Engineering Competition (WEC). The annual event was held January 20-24th at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and connects approximately 250 engineering students from Western Canada to develop problem solving, teamwork and communication skills through peer competition.

Congratulations to the following students:

Senior Design:
1st place – Andrew Carne, Bob Orlando, Eric Pospisil, Justin Stevens
2nd place – Kevin Baillie, Howard Hu, Alim Jiwa, Lok Tin Lam

Impromptu Debate:
1st place – Sean Heisler, Fraser Macdonald
3rd place – Amanda Li, Jose Luis Lopez

Consulting Engineering:
3rd place – Kevin Bergen, Chris Chan, Kimberly Dioszeghy, Brittany Ewert

Innovative Design:
3rd place – Tagg Jefferson, Lin Watt

Engineering Communications:
3rd place – Shahrzad Pedram

Spirit:
Madeleine Schaefer & Morgan Tien

Twelve students qualified for the Canadian Engineering Competition to be held March 18-21st in Toronto. For more information on the Western Engineering Competition visit: http://www.wec2010.ca/

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—January 29, 2010—UBC Mining Engineering Professor Emeritus Janusz Laskowski has been given the Medalla Rectoral and been decorated as a Distinguished University Visitor by Chile’s Universidad de Concepción.

The medal and accompanying title recognizes an individual that the university feels has elevated its prestige and recognition within the national and international community through his or her contributions, collaborations and commitment to the university.

Only the fifth foreign academic to receive this honour since it was established in 2005, Prof. Laskowski was singled out for his long and fruitful collaboration with the university’s Department of Metallurgy spanning 38 years. Beginning with a month-long stay in 1972, the university credits Prof. Laskowski with such significant contributions as teaching a variety of postgraduate courses, collaborating in research studies, authoring a monograph “Fundamentos Fisicoquimicos de la Mineralurgia” (Universidad de Concepción, 1974), co-authoring joint publications and participating in the internal review of the department in 1997, to name a few. Currently, he continues to collaborate with colleagues in the department on an innovative project on copper ore flotation in sea water.

To learn more, view the original Universidad de Concepción media release.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—January 27, 2010—Students from the UBC Mechanical Engineering Mech 2 Program will be competing in a design project that explores issues related to sending a spacecraft and probe to one of the moons of Jupiter.

Mech 2 student teams have designed and constructed small devices, about the size of a toaster, which will mimic the operations of the spacecraft. Students have been working on their designs for four weeks and their efforts will culminate in a competition in which teams will demonstrate their work.

For the competition, space will be represented on a flat playfield with Earth at one end and the Jovian moon, Europa, as a funnel-shaped hole at the other end. Teams will take turns launching their vehicles from Earth (see image attached). On route, the vehicles will autonomously launch a separate probe towards the hole representing Europa. Teams will be scored on whether their probe reaches Europa and whether their main spacecraft achieves necessary speed to maintain orbit around the moon.

Day:	Thursday, January 28, 2010
Time:	First competition runs begin approximately 10:00am Last competition runs finish approximately 2:00pm
Location:	Kaiser Building, Room 1180
Contact:	Dr. Peter Ostafichuk, Mech 2 Coordinator, ostafichuk@mech.ubc.ca

Media contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—January 26, 2010—The Faculty of Applied Science announces a host of Olympic-related activities, events and exhibitions during the upcoming Olympic and Paralymics including ROBOstudio—collaboration between architecture, mechatronics (mechanical engineering) and engineering physics students—at the YVR airport and Work Hard, Play Hard: The Ultimate Engineering & Bobsledding Experience.

For a complete listing visit: www.apsc.ubc.ca/olympics.php

To have your Applied Science, Olympic-related event included, contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—January 11, 2010—The University of British Columbia is collaborating with BC Hydro Power Smart to deliver a new Master’s of Engineering in Clean Energy Engineering program within the Faculty of Applied Science. BC Hydro will support the Power Smart® Instructor for the program and the co-operative education (co-op) portion of the graduate program.

The new graduate degree, developed in partnership between the Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) within Applied Science and the Sustainability Office at UBC, is the first of its kind in Canada. It will focus on the supply and demand side of energy, including energy efficiency and conservation, social change concepts, efficient use of electricity and methods for comparing and evaluating alternative energy scenarios. The program includes studies in renewable energy sources, such as biomass, solar, wind and small-scale hydro. Currently in its inaugural year, the program has 25 students enrolled.

The master’s degree will take 12 to 16 months to complete and includes a co-op work term. BC Hydro Power Smart will help UBC support co-op work terms with B.C. companies if the work is related specifically to energy efficiency and conservation. The Power Smart® Instructor will develop courses for the program that focus on energy efficiency and conservation, energy policy, behavioural and social change concepts. BC Hydro’s involvement will enhance the program, assisting students in developing skills in these areas and providing opportunities for students to engage with and gain experience from industry.

“This new degree will provide graduates with the skills to solve the current crises we face in the energy sector – meeting the global need for energy while reducing usage and greenhouse gasses,” said Professor David Wilkinson, Director of the Clean Energy Research Centre. “CERC is leading the way in Canada in research in clean energy, and this program will allow us to share our knowledge with the next generation of engineers and professionals in the energy industry.”

“Energy management is an emerging field and there is an increasing need for trained and qualified energy professionals at all levels,” said Lisa Coltart, executive director of Power Smart and Customer Care for BC Hydro. “Power Smart has become a leader in creating demand-side management programs in North America and we are pleased to partner with UBC to offer our expertise in electricity efficiency and conservation to the energy professionals of tomorrow.“

About CERC

The UBC Clean Energy Research Centre, located within the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of British Columbia, aspires to be recognized as one of the world's leading academic research centres in clean energy technologies, and is dedicated to developing knowledge and solutions which can be helpful in sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of the use of energy. CERC brings together over 40 faculty members from within engineering and related faculties and more than 100 graduate students in pursuit of clean energy solutions. We have formed collaborative research relationships with many other offices on campus as well as industry and governmental bodies, within and beyond Canada.

CERC’s research spans the entirety of clean energy issues, including clean burning engines; fuel cell systems; biomass storage, handling and processing; high temperature materials; reducing energy loss from coking and fouling; capture of carbon dioxide; hydrogen generation; natural gas hydrates; and photochemical oxidation technologies. CERC provides state-of-the-art research facilities in a recently-completed building for the investigation of these clean energy problems and the development of environmentally-friendly solutions. Many of these facilities are unique.

About UBC

The University of British Columbia is one of Canada's largest and most prestigious public research and teaching institutions. Located in the Pacific Rim gateway of Vancouver, one of the world's great cities, and in the Interior city of Kelowna, UBC is a global centre of research and learning. It offers more than 50,000 students a range of innovative undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in the arts, sciences, medicine, law, commerce and other faculties. UBC consistently attracts more than $450 million per year in research funding from government, non-profit organizations and industry for about 7,000 projects.

UBC is consistently ranked among the world’s 40 best universities, one of only two Canadian universities in this category.

About BC Hydro

BC Hydro, a crown corporation, is the third largest electric utility in Canada. BC Hydro serves customers in an area containing approximately 94 per cent of B.C.’s population. Power Smart, created in 1989, is BC Hydro’s demand-side management program. The program achieves a savings of 4,050 of gigawatt-hours of electricity year.

For more information about this program, please contact:

Media Inquiries:
ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Program Inquiries:
Dr. David Wilkinson
Director
Clean Energy Research Centre
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-827-4342
E-mail: cerc@cerc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada—January 6, 2010—The IEEE (eye-triple-e), the world's leading professional association for the advancement of technology, has singled out two UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering professors for recognition.

Dr. Vijay Bhargava has won the 2010 Outstanding Educator Award from IEEE Canada "for exemplary teaching, curriculum development and lifelong dedication to students." The award will be presented on May 3, 2010 at Calgary's TELUS Convention Centre during the banquet of the Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering. An IEEE volunteer for 30 years, this is the 14th honor that the IEEE has bestowed upon Bhargava. To view the complete list, visit: http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~vijayb/awards.htm

Bhargava has also recently been selected to appear on ISIhighlycited.com, a free, publicly available website intended to highlight the world's most cited authors from the past 25 years. Less than one half of one percent of all publishing authors meet the criteria for inclusion on the site. UBC currently has 20 highly cited researchers listed.

Dr. Robert Schober has been elected Fellow of the IEEE effective January 1, 2010 for his contributions to wireless communications. The IEEE Grade of Fellow is conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. The total number selected in any one year does not exceed one-tenth of one percent of the total voting membership.

Schober holds a Canada Research Chair in Wireless Communication with a broad research goal of improving the speed and quality of wireless communication and enabling communication anytime and anywhere. Applications of his research include mobile communication systems, high-speed internet access, personal area networks and sensor networks. His algorithm on interference suppression has been commercialized and implemented in millions of GSM mobile phones.

For more information: http://www.ieee.org

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604-822-9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—December 8, 2009—Third-year Civil Engineering Co-op student Max Cronk has been awarded a $2000 scholarship in Glotman Simpson’s name awarded by the Steel Joist Institute. The Steel Joist Institute’s 2009 Design Awards provide winners with a $2000 scholarship in their company’s name; Glotman Simpson received the SJI 2009 Design Award for the Vancouver Convention Centre expansion.

Cronk completed a Co-op work term at Glotman Simpson during the summer of 2009 and is recognized for his contribution to the firm. He has also been involved in the UBC Steel Bridge Club, writing and presenting the technical report at the annual ASCE Steel Bridge competition.

Robert Hackworth (Managing Director of the Steel Joist Institute) travelled from Virginia to present the check along with John Gracie and Chris Casumpang of Canam Steel, Glotman’s partners in the project and award submission.

Media contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—December 2, 2009—The Minister of State for Climate Action, Honourable Mr. John Yap and UBC president Professor Toope visited the UBC Electric Car Club (UBC ECC) today to gain familiarity with the club’s vision and goals, and to view the status of the club’s electric vehicle.

The UBC Electric Car Club (ECC) is a multidisciplinary undergraduate student organization founded by electrical engineering students in August 2009, working towards the goal of developing alternate means of sustainable transportation. UBC ECC is developing an electric car prototype inspired by the UBC Strategic Plan "A place of mind," which focuses on innovation and sustainability. The goal of ECC is to promote UBC, and UBC Engineering, in particular, as a global learning community aimed at leveraging technology toward achieving societies based on sustainable economies and life-styles.

Click here more information on: UBC Electric Car Project

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—November 19, 2009—The UBC Electric Car Project, led by third-year student Ricky Gu (Electrical & Computer Engineering), has recently received a message of best wishes from City of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.

Expressing best wishes to everyone involved with the project, the note states that the Electric Car Project is of special importance to Vancouver City Council because it has recently embarked on an ambitious initiative to become The Greenest City in the World, and is a big supporter of electric vehicle infrastructure.

Click here more information on:
UBC Electric Car Project
Vancouver’s Greenest City initiative

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—November 9, 2009—A team of UBC undergrads recently won a gold medal for their biosensor technology at the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This is the first time a team from UBC has participated in the contest that draws more than 100 teams internationally.

“I am extremely impressed by our students’ performance,” says Eric Lagally, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering who founded the team and is its faculty advisor. “After forming just a few months ago, the team has demonstrated remarkable cohesiveness, dedication, maturity and ingenuity.”

After more than 7,000 hours of research work over the summer, the team produced the E.coli Traffic Light, a biosensor signaling mechanism operating in E.coli.

Traffic Light is a whole-cell biosensor—a machine built inside a single living cell—that measures concentrations of substances at finer levels than previously available. Students manipulated DNA and RNA in E. coli cells to detect levels of a sugar added to the medium used to grow the cell. The technique causes the cell to fluoresce green in response to a low level of sugar, amber for a medium level and red for highest levels of sugar. Research problems included triggering the cell to fluoresce at the correct level and getting the non-relevant colours to stop fluorescing so the appropriate one would be clearly visible.

Lagally believes the work has the potential to be broadly significant—the research is entered in the iGEM category of “potentially fundamental advance.” Applications for the technology include detecting heavy metals for environmental analysis or finding the earliest signs of cancer or other disease.

iGEM, launched at MIT in 2003, is widely recognized as the leading undergraduate learning opportunity in synthetic or engineered biology. Projects have ranged from banana- and wintergreen-fragranced bacteria to an arsenic biosensor. This year, more than 100 teams from 20 countries participated, including 10 teams from Canadian universities.

The team is made up of second- to fifth-year UBC students in disciplines that include microbiology and immunology, chemical and biological engineering, and computer science. iGEM organizers give competitors a kit of genetic material that can be inserted into E. coli, a well-studied model organism for operating and designing genetic circuits.

Read more about the team and the project: Students build tiny E.coli ‘traffic light’.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—November 6, 2009—Daniel Fortin, second-year Civil Engineering student, has been awarded the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) Vancouver Island Branch’s Annual Scholarship. The EIC Scholarship is awarded to a Vancouver Island high school graduate entering a second- or third-year engineering program with high academic standing, financial need and leadership roles in extracurricular activities.

Graduating from high school with a 95% average, Fortin has proven to be a leader in his community. In addition to receiving the Brad Beaton Memorial Aboriginal Award for top graduating Aboriginal student and a number of other awards in high school, he received the Coastal Community Credit Union Scholarship for a business plan he submitted to improve a local park in Nanaimo. A member of Scouts Canada since childhood, Fortin has taken on a leadership role with the local Beaver Scouts.

Fortin manages a seven-course workload, volunteers with the Beaver Scouts and supports himself financially. He will continue to volunteer in the future, feeling that “it makes me feel more part of the community.” Next summer, Daniel will be gaining work experience and saving up for his third year at UBC, as he will be applying for jobs this January through the UBC Engineering Co-op Program.

Dr. Susan Nesbit, Senior Instructor for UBC Civil Engineering, congratulated Daniel on his success saying that not only does he “care about people and the planet, he has demonstrated the capacity to act on his beliefs.”

The EIC is “the leading proponent of continuing education and technical professional development in the Canadian engineering community.” With this award, the Vancouver Island Branch EIC recognized Fortin’s many achievements, both academic and extracurricular.

To find out more about the Engineering Institute of Canada, visit them at www.eic-ici.ca.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

NRC-Powertech-UBC partner resources to better serve Canadian technology companies

Vancouver, Canada—November 6, 2009—Three leading Canadian organizations that advance the development and commercialization of cutting edge clean energy technology joined forces today to coordinate their service offerings for British Columbia clean energy technology companies.

The National Research Council Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI), Powertech Labs (a clean energy subsidiary of BC Hydro) and The University of British Columbia (UBC) have signed a Letter of Intent to work together in a BC Clean Energy Technology Cooperative. The Cooperative plans to act as a unified source of talent, knowledge and expertise for the clean energy sector.

“This partnership of leading organizations will focus resources and build a critical mass of expertise and infrastructure in the province of British Columbia,” said Eamonn Percy, President and Chief Operating Officer of Powertech Labs. “This Cooperative will accelerate the commercialization of clean energy technology, bringing BC solutions to world markets faster, resulting in an expanded clean energy sector.”

“Global success relies on coordinated knowledge-support that nurtures the innovation process from development, through validation, to deployment and commercialization,” explained John Hepburn, Vice President Research & International at UBC. “The Cooperative will address current gaps to ensure our public and private investment leads to stronger commercial success.”

Each founding member brings unique value to the Cooperative, including research capability, market access or leveraged funding.

“This Cooperative builds on the established strength of the Vancouver-based fuel cell technology cluster, which is part of BC’s growing network of clean energy companies, investors and cutting-edge research facilities,” said NRC-IFCI Director General Maja Veljkovic. “By working together we can tap into national capabilities and international networks to help small companies grow, creating more jobs, exports and GDP from the development of integrated clean energy solutions,” she added.

Over the coming months the Cooperative’s founding members will be consulting closely with industry and other research partners to identify and develop joint service offerings and project plans, which may include a shared inventory of technology evaluation facilities and equipment, joint training and expertise development and commercial-scale demonstration programs. New members will be invited to join the Cooperative on a value-added basis.

“Clean energy offers a future rich in possibilities for British Columbians – that’s why the Province is helping bring B.C.’s clean energy technologies to the marketplace with continuing support from the Innovative Clean Energy Fund,” said Iain Black, B.C.’s Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development. “We commend the NRC-Powertech-UBC partnership – it’s the smart way to work together toward a prosperous clean energy future for British Columbia.”


About the University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is one of Canada's largest and most prestigious public research and teaching institutions. It is consistently ranked among the world’s 40 best universities and within the top 10 North American universities – and first among Canadian universities – in terms of the number of U.S. life sciences patents and the quality of activity generated from those patents, including spin-off company creation.

About Powertech
Powertech, BC Hydro’s subsidiary that specializes in clean energy consulting, testing, and power solutions, has been serving electrical, oil and gas companies, automotive and electrical equipment manufacturers since 1989 by meeting the complex and changing needs of its customers around the world.

About NRC-IFCI
As part of Canada’s premier research organization, NRC-IFCI supports Canadian leadership developing and integrating fuel cells into clean energy systems by addressing industry-defined R&D and commercialization priorities. It is one of nearly 20 NRC institutes and national programs spanning a wide variety of disciplines across the country.

For more information, please visit NRC’s Web site at www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca or contact:

Randy Schmidt, Public Affairs
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1266 / Cell: 604-828-0787 / Email: randys@exchange.ubc.ca

Eamonn Percy, President and COO
Powertech Labs
Tel: 604.590.6695

Sylvia LeRoy, Communications
NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation
Tel: 604.221.3099 / Cell : 778.840.6140 / Email: Sylvia.LeRoy@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, industry

Event: UBC Engineering Open House
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Location: Fred Kaiser Building Atrium
2332 Main Mall, UBC Vancouver
For map, visit: www.maps.ubc.ca?313

Meet a robot that’s capable of ultra-precise movements during surgery and get up close and personal with a massive robotic arachnid at the UBC Engineering Open House this Saturday, Nov. 7.

From the everyday to the extraordinary, see how engineers are improving our world. Media are invited to interview students and view demonstrations throughout the day.

The projects on display, from Rosie the Robot to the massive Mondo Spider, will show how engineers are creating novel solutions to some of the most challenging problems of today.

New this year is the Surgical Robot, a hand-controlled scalpel that allows surgeons to minimize tissue removal during orthopaedic surgery and protects sensitive areas during surgery.

Media are invited to cover the demonstrations during Open House. Please contact Wendy Barthel at 604.827.4762; wendy.barthel@ubc.ca for details and demo times. (Nov.7th contact number 604.218.3584)

For more information and a list of scheduled events, visit www.engineering.ubc.ca/openhouse

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: alumni, apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—October 28, 2009—The IEEE (eye-triple-e) Electron Devices Society has awarded UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering professor David Pulfrey with its Education Award for his contributions to the teaching of semiconductor devices at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Pulfrey will be presented with his award in Baltimore, Maryland on Monday, December 7, 2009 at the 2009 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting—the world's main forum for reporting breakthroughs in technology, design, manufacturing, physics and the modeling of semiconductors and other electronic devices.

This is the second time in a week that Pulfrey has been honoured for his teaching abilities. On Friday the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. (APEGBC) bestowed upon him its Award for Teaching Excellence in Engineering and Geoscience Education—the highest teaching award for engineering educators in British Columbia.

Learn more about the IEEE EDS Education Award.

APEGBC will be posting on its website a video vignette of Pulfrey in the next few days. We encourage you to check back at: http://www.apeg.bc.ca/services/awards/prezawards/pastwinners.html to view the 2009 President’s Award videos.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604-822-9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—October 26, 2009—The University of British Columbia Faculty of Applied Science and Sauder School of Business are pleased to launch Entrepreneurship@UBC, a new program to support student entrepreneurship, in partnership with the BC Innovation Council (BCIC) and the generous support of Peter and Diane van der Gracht and Greg Peet.

At Connect ’09, BCIC’s event for technology start-ups and innovators on October 19, Peter and Diane van der Gracht and Greg Peet announced support totaling $250,000 for the program. BCIC matched the contributions with their own contribution of $250,000 for a total of $500,000.

“The support of the community is essential to the success of this program,” said Applied Science Dean Tyseer Aboulnasr. “We are honoured to have the partnership of BCIC and the support of Mr. and Mrs. van der Gracht and Mr. Peet.”

“Entrepreneurship@UBC provides innovative and entrepreneurial students with mentorship from the business community and the opportunity to start their own companies with pre-seed capital from the venture fund created for this program”, said Dean Rockwell, CEO of BCIC. “The Council is committed to working with BC’s educational institutions and private investors to build a network of incubators, such as Entrepreneurship@UBC, that will train students to become entrepreneurs and launch new businesses.”

“This collaboration speaks to the strong synergies between the BC Innovation Council and UBC, and the impressive level of student entrepreneurship that is happening here,” said Daniel F. Muzyka, Dean of the Sauder School of Business at UBC. “This unique initiative will foster valuable learning and career opportunities for our students, enabling them to take business innovation and creativity directly to the marketplace.”

The Entrepreneurship@UBC program will develop entrepreneurs who will not only make a difference by transforming ideas into reality, but will also drive the economy.

About UBC

The University of British Columbia is one of Canada's largest and most prestigious public research and teaching institutions. Located in the Pacific Rim gateway of Vancouver, one of the world's great cities, and in the Interior city of Kelowna, UBC is a global centre of research and learning. It offers more than 50,000 students a range of innovative undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in the arts, sciences, medicine, law, commerce and other faculties. UBC consistently attracts more than $450 million per year in research funding from government, non-profit organizations and industry for about 7,000 projects.

UBC is consistently ranked among the world’s 40 best universities, one of only two Canadian universities in this category. It is ranked within the top 10 North American universities, and first among Canadian universities, in terms of the number of U.S. life sciences patents and the quality of activity generated from those patents, including spin-off company creation.

About BC Innovation Council

The British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) is the lead organization charged with developing entrepreneurial talent and driving the commercialization of new technologies in British Columbia. BCIC is focused on accelerating the growth of our science and technology communities and competitively positioning British Columbia in the global science and technology economy in order to provide significant employment opportunities and a high standard of living for British Columbians. BCIC is a Crown agency of the Province of British Columbia. For more information about BCIC, visit www.bcic.ca.

For more information about the Entrepreneurship@UBC program, please contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Derek Moscato
Manager, Public and Media Relations
Sauder School of Business
University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.8345
E-mail: derek.moscato@sauder.ubc.ca

Lindsay Thom
Communications Specialist
BC Innovation Council
Tel: 604.602.5249
E-mail: lthom@bcic.ca

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering, entrepreneur

We have been informed that rain has forced the cancellation of the School of Engineering's Great Pumpkin Massacre, originally scheduled for this afternoon outside the UBC Okanagan Gymnasium.

This would have been the third consecutive year for the pre-Halloween event, in which Engineering students drop pumpkins onto a target, with the least damaged and most accurate pumpkins winning.

---

DATE: Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
TIME: Design and build at 1:30 p.m., pumpkins drop at 2 p.m.
LOCATION: UBC Okanagan Gymnasium (outside)

All are invited to watch and cheer on the students.

• 12:45 p.m. Barbecue -- by donation.
• 1:15 p.m. Welcome and event introduction
• 1:30 p.m. Official start time of the apparatus building
• 2 p.m. Team clean-up and lining up for the big drop
• 2:05 p.m. Launching begins
• 2:45 p.m. Winning team announced

Maybe they can't control gravity, but UBC Okanagan Engineering students will be trying to control the damage sustained by falling pumpkins in the third annual Great Pumpkin Massacre next week.

Just in time for Halloween, UBC Okanagan’ School of Engineering is hosting a fun break for engineering students on October 29. The afternoon competition will see students given just 30 minutes to devise an apparatus that can protect a pumpkin from harm – after being dropped 15 feet onto concrete.

Starting at 1:30 p.m., student teams will design an enclosure or apparatus to protect a pumpkin from damage. Then, starting at 2 p.m. they'll drop their pumpkins from the UBC Okanagan gymnasium balcony onto pavement. In the quest for prizes the students will earn points for accuracy – aiming for a target on the ground -- for creativity and team spirit. Students will be provided with materials at the event, so they’ll be developing their creative solutions on-site. Victory goes to the team with the most points.

The afternoon will include a donation BBQ with proceeds going to the UBC Okanagan United Way campaign.

Contact:

Bud Mortenson
Manager, Public Affairs
Alumni and University Relations
UBC Okanagan
Phone: 250-807-9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—October 23, 2009—A new research initiative based at UBC aims to provide users of powered wheelchairs with a helping hand. Funded by a six-year, $1.5 million Emerging Team Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Wheeled Mobility for Older Adults Team (WheeMOAT) is a multidisciplinary team that will investigate how older adults are currently using powered wheelchairs, how they can be used better and how the chairs themselves can be improved. The answers to these questions will improve knowledge and understanding in the field of aging and mobility research.

Professors Gary Birch and Meeko Oishi (Electrical and Computer Engineering) are part of the team led by Prof. William Miller of the UBC Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. The Pan-Canadian team of 14 clinical researchers, scientists and engineers will conduct a number of research activities. These include an assessment of measures to improve research and clinical practice, and the development of a wheelchair skills program and a new, collaboratively controlled wheelchair. The UBC Health Research Resource Office (HeRRO), funded by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, assisted in preparing the successful funding application.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—October 22, 2009—Advances in ultrasound and digital display technologies developed by University of British Columbia researchers have been recognized by Canada’s leading science and engineering funding agency with two prestigious awards.

UBC Engineering Profs. Robert Rohling and Septimiu Salcudean received one of this year’s four $200,000 Synergy Awards for Innovation, presented by The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Rohling and Salcudean were honoured along with their industry partner Ultrasonix Medical Corporation for developing new ultrasonic imaging techniques that could improve cancer diagnosis and treatment while reducing the number of biopsies required.

Recent UBC PhD graduate Helge Seetzen and Physics Prof. Lorne Whitehead won this year’s $10,000 NSERC Innovation Challenge Awards grand prize for their High Dynamic Range technology. Seetzen and Whitehead’s invention, which spun-off BrightSide Technologies and was subsequently acquired by Dolby Laboratories, replaces the LCD backlight with a controlled array of Light Emitting Diodes that significantly improves contrast in high definition displays.

“We are thrilled for our researchers on these outstanding achievements,” says John Hepburn, UBC’s Vice President Research and International. “Their ingenuity in advancing knowledge while addressing critical bottlenecks in related industries will continue to have major impacts on our lives.”

The Synergy Awards for Innovation recognize partnerships between universities and industry in Canada. In addition to research funding for the honorees, the industry partners receive support to hire an NSERC Industrial R&D Fellow for a two-year term.

For more information, visit http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Media-Media/NewsRelease-CommuniqueDePresse_eng.asp?ID=164

Contact

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cel: 604.818.5685
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada—October 22, 2009—A collaboration between architecture, mechatronics (mechanical engineering) and engineering physics students, ROBOstudio will be on display next Tuesday October 27 from 9am–5pm in the Kaiser Atrium, 2332 Main Mall, UBC Point Grey Campus.

ROBOstudio features student designed retrofits for buildings on UBC campus whose envelopes have problems with their performance. These problems result in poor conditions for the building occupants (ie there is too much sun, it is too hot or too cold). The buildings chosen are representative of typical building types on campus and off from the time periods in which they were built. The speculative projects propose mechatronic facade systems which respond both to occupation and environment. There will be models, videos and poster boards on display, and students will be available to speak about their designs. Posters will remain in the lobby for the remainder of the week.

The projects which will be exhibited are the first design exercise in a collaborative architecture studio which is run in conjunction with an engineering course in mechatronics. The second project will be displayed at the end of term.

For further information, feel free to contact:

AnnaLisa Meyboom
School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
meyboom@interchange.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—October 21, 2009—The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. (APEGBC) has awarded UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering professor David Pulfrey with its Award for Teaching Excellence in Engineering and Geoscience Education–the highest teaching award for engineering educators in British Columbia.

Award Citation: David Pulfrey’s outstanding academic record spans four decades of accomplishments at UBC as a teacher, mentor and leader. A professor of electrical engineering, Dr. Pulfrey’s dedication, knowledge and inspiration encourages students to strive for mastery in the field of engineering. He has been at the core of successful efforts to update, revise and streamline the department curriculum to ensure its relevance for today’s students. Enthusiastically providing his students a learning environment that encourages originality and creative thinking, Dr. Pulfrey is an accomplished instructor who has been recognized with UBC’s prestigious Killam Teaching Prize. He is active in several professional associations, including APEGBC, and is a Fellow of both IEEE and the Canadian Academy of Engineering. David Pulfrey’s incredible work ethic, leadership and guidance will leave a lasting legacy for his students and will continue to shape the engineering profession for years to come.

APEGBC will be posting on its website a video vignette of Dr. Pulfrey in the next few days. We encourage you to check back at: http://www.apeg.bc.ca/services/awards/prezawards/pastwinners.html to view the 2009 President’s Award videos.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604-822-9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—October 20, 2009—UBC announced today that Professor Hongshen Ma, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has received a $100,000 (USD) grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant is part of the Grand Challenges Explorations program to support research in Global Health. Professor Ma’s grant will support his work in the development of a low-cost device to detect malaria infection in low-resource regions.

Malaria is one of the greatest challenges facing human health today. Globally, there are between 200 to 500 million cases of malaria per year resulting in more than 1 million deaths. Accurate, sensitive, and cost-effective diagnostic tests are central to the global campaign to control and eradicate malaria. Current diagnostic methods are either not sufficiently sensitive or require equipment and expertise often not available in low-resource regions.

Professor Ma’s approach is to apply microfluidics technologies to create a low-cost and portable diagnostic tool to detect infection levels from a finger-prick blood sample. This device could eventually be used to direct treatment until clearance of the disease and to evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs and potential vaccines.

Professor Ma is a recent recruit to UBC after completing Ph.D. and postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology focusing on precision instruments and biomedical device design. His research group, the Multi-scale Design Laboratory, works at the intersection of engineering, physics, and biology to develop enabling technologies for improving human health.

Professor Ma’s project is one of 76 grants announced by the Gates Foundation in the third funding round of Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to help scientists around the world explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve health in developing countries. The grants were provided to scientists in 16 countries on five continents.

To receive funding, applicants must show how their ideas fall outside current scientific paradigms and might lead to significant advances in global health. The initiative is highly competitive, receiving almost 3,000 proposals in this round.

“The winners of these grants show the bold thinking we need to tackle some of the world’s greatest health challenges,” said Professor Tachi Yamada, president of the Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program. “I’m excited about their ideas and look forward to seeing some of these exploratory projects turn into life-saving breakthroughs.”

About Grand Challenges Explorations

Grand Challenges Explorations is a five-year, $100 million initiative of the Gates Foundation to promote innovation in global health. The program uses an agile, streamlined grant process – applications are limited to two pages, and preliminary data are not required. Proposals are reviewed and selected by a committee of foundation staff and external experts, and grant decisions are made within approximately three months of the close of the funding round.

Applications for the current round of Grand Challenges Explorations are being accepted through November 2, 2009. Grant application instructions, including the list of topics for which proposals are currently being accepted, are available at http://www.grandchallenges.org/explorations.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—October 13, 2009—Shaun Lee, third-year Engineering Physics (Electrical Option) student was awarded the Live EDGE Scholarship valued at $2,500 by element14. Lee was the sole Canadian recipient among twelve award winners.

From the Element14 website, Lee says, “With my electrical degree, I hope to contribute to the development of a new generation of energy storage devices such as super-capacitors. I believe such an invention will bring about a revolution in electrical engineering, solving many of today’s environmental problems.”

Element 14 is a new online technology resource and community for electronic design engineers. It is both a technical portal and social network where engineers are able to conduct research, ask questions and share information with other community members.

To view Lee’s winning entry, please visit: http://www.element-14.com/community/thread/1690

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Event: Media demonstration of the UBC TREAD robotics team
Date/Time: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009
Place: Hennings Building, Room 115
6224 Agricultural Road, UBC Vancouver
Please enter from southside laneway
For map, visit: www.maps.ubc.ca?652

 

A robot designed by UBC students will be shoveling moon dust at an international robotics competition next week, vying for a $500,000 prize and the opportunity to contribute to NASA’s future space exploration projects.

The UBC team has created a robotic machine that can excavate simulated lunar soil (regolith). Excavating regolith will be an important part of any construction project or processing of natural resources on the Moon.

The UBC TREAD robot team will compete in the NASA Regolith Excavator Centennial Challenge at Ames Research Air Force Base in Mountain View, California, on Oct. 17.

Media are invited to see a sneak preview of TREAD’s excavator in action on Saturday, October 10, from 10 a.m. – noon. Contact Prof. John Meech at 604-761-0472 to attend.

See UBC’s robot: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd_MNrIRei4

During the NASA competition, robots will be tested in box containing eight tons of simulated lunar regolith that is about four meters square and about one-half meter deep. In order to qualify for a prize, a robot must dig up and then dump at least 150 kg of regolith into a container in 30 minutes.

The NASA challenge is designed to drive progress in aerospace technology of value to NASA's missions; encourage the participation of independent teams, individual inventors, student groups and private companies of all sizes in aerospace research and development; and find the most innovative solutions to technical challenges through competition and cooperation.

Contact

John Meech
UBC Centre for Environmental Research in Minerals, Metals and Materials
Tel: 604.822.3984
Cel: 604.761.0472
Email: jameech@dccnet.com

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

DATE: Friday, September 25, 2009
TIME: 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. (Okanagan College students)
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. (UBC Okanagan Engineering students)

LOCATION: UBC Okanagan Facilities yard, quonset garage

Campus map indicating the location of this event, and how to get there via the campus road system: View map [260 KB PDF]

Photo opportunity:

Students from UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College receive expert hands-on instruction in laying bricks.

This Friday, the third-year class from UBC Okanagan's School of Engineering and Concrete Design students from Okanagan College will receive expert instruction in masonry from industry partner Gracom Masonry of Kelowna, and Bill McEwen, Executive Director of the Masonry Institute of B.C.

Organized by UBC Okanagan Engineering Professor Solomon Tesfamariam, whose teaching interests include earthquake engineering and reinforced concrete design, this hands-on experience is intended to help students put theory into practical application.

Okanagan College students in the Concrete Design course taught by Civil Engineering Technology Chair Tom Guenther, will receive instruction from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday morning.

Half of the UBC Okanagan third-year Engineering class will receive instruction from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., while the other half will receive instruction from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

The training will take place in the Quonset garage in the Facilities yard at UBC Okanagan (PDF map attached). Media are welcome to visit, get photos, talk to the students, instructors and Professor Tesfamariam.

For information, contact:

Dr. Solomon Tesfamariam, P.Eng.
Assistant Professor
UBC Okanagan School of Engineering
Phone: 250-807-8185
E-mail: solomon.tesfamariam@ubc.ca

Information websites:

Masonry Institute of B.C.
http://www.masonrybc.org/

Gracom Masonry
http://www.gracommasonry.com/

Dr. Solomon Tesfamariam's website
https://people.ok.ubc.ca/stesfama/index.html

Labels: apsc, engineering, industry, students

Vancouver, Canada—September 18, 2009—A group of UBC Engineering alumni—Jonathan Tippett (BASc '99), Leigh Christie (BASc '04), and Charlie Brinson (BASc '04)—and their team begin a journey today with their creation “The Mondo Spider” that will end in New York with a guest appearance at Gadgetoff, an invitation-only event slated for Friday, September 25, 2009.

According to its website, Gadgetoff is a gathering of technological and artistic innovation where participants unveil the future with demonstrations, conversations, performances and pyrotechnics, and brings the world's most inventive minds and coolest devices to one amazing geek-a-thon-sneak-peek-a-thon.

“The Mondo Spider is triumph of art, engineering and inspired human perseverance,” says Jonathan Tippett. “We are floored by the honour of being invited to Gadgetoff and grateful for the support UBC has provided to enable us to attend. We are proud to be alumni of a faculty that produces free-minded creative thinkers with the motivation to conceive and execute radical projects like the Mondo Spider, well beyond the mandate of academia or industry.”

Stay tuned with the journey by following the blog and tweets at:
www.mondospider.com/blog
http://twitter.com/mondospider

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: alumni, apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—September 15, 2009—UBC Mechanical Engineering Professor Elizabeth Croft has been named Fellow of Engineers Canada (FEC) for her noteworthy achievement and service to the engineering profession. Engineers Canada is the national organization of the 12 provincial and territorial associations that regulate the practice of engineering in Canada and license the country's more than 160,000 professional engineers.
This is the second honour that Engineers Canada has bestowed on Croft. In 2006, she received its Award for the Support of Women in the Engineering Profession; and in 2005 she received the Professional Service Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. -- B.C.'s constituent member of Engineers Canada -- in large part for her work with its Division of the Advancement of Women in Engineering.

Croft is an internationally recognized expert in robotics, and leads research in human robot interaction applied to assistive technology and industrial automation in partnership with researchers across Canada, in Japan, and the European Union. For more information: http://www.mech.ubc.ca/~ecroft.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—September 14, 2009—Two UBC Applied Science researchers will receive fellowships from The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) for their climate change studies.

Dr. Duncan Cavens, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, received the only new post-doctoral fellowship award. Working with research supervisor Professor Ronald Kellett, Cavens’ research involves the development of a modelling methodology that will help local communities explore the relationship between their land use proposals and greenhouse gas emissions.

This method, called the Development Pattern approach, is based on a database of replicable patterns, each representing a typical collection of buildings, lots and local streets. These patterns are used to quickly specify a planning scenario and are used as inputs for a variety of sub-models that evaluate the scenario's performance in a variety of areas, including building energy use and transportation. The method has been prototyped on a number of Canadian municipalities and is designed to allow local governments to quickly determine the likely implications of specific spatial changes to land use plans and transportation infrastructure. The PICS fellowship will allow Duncan to improve both the overall usability of the method for local governments and the modeling of transportation impacts.

MASc Candidate Sarah Kimball, working with research supervisor Professor John Meech of the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, received funding to study geothermal energy. This renewable form of energy is a base-load source of power that is virtually carbon and emissions-free. British Columbia is endowed with high geothermal gradients mainly associated with the Pacific Ring of Fire and the Rocky Mountain Trench leading to great potential for both conventional and Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS) geothermal projects.

EGS projects involve enhancing or engineering one or more component of a conventional geothermal system: supplying additional working fluid (water), enhancing permeability of the reservoir, and drilling to greater depths to access higher temperatures. These enhancements make it feasible to consider installing geothermal systems anywhere in the world, thus greatly extending the application of this renewable energy source.

PICS fellowships are worth up to $12,000 a year for master’s students, $18,000 a year for PhD students, and $50,000 a year for post-doctoral fellows, with factors such as other awards held determining the final value.

To view the PICS announcement visit: http://www.pics.uvic.ca/

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—September 12, 2009—Fourth-year Engineering student Aaron Coret was featured on the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet for the snowboard Landing Pad that he co-invented along with alumnus Stephen Slen.
Video: Daily Planet clip

Read more: Spotlight on Aaron Coret

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—September 11, 2009—UBC Mechanical Engineering Professor Emerita Martha Salcudean received a doctor of engineering degree and addressed convocation at the University of Waterloo on June 13, 2009.
Salcudean is the Weyerhaeuser Industrial Research Chair Emerita in Computational Fluid Dynamics. A member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, she has published widely in the area of heat transfer and fluid flow, especially in computational fluid mechanics and the modelling of transport phenomena in industrial processes.

View the original University of Waterloo media release.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—September 9, 2009—UBC spin-off company Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, co-founded by Civil Engineering Professor Don Mavinic, has been listed in the Guardian’s first global Cleantech 100. The alphabetical listing highlights companies with innovative low-carbon technologies and places them “among world's most promising contenders to propel the planet to a greener, safer place.” Ostara is the only Canadian company to make the list.

The Ostara technology removes polluting nutrients from wastewater treatment systems and produces environmentally friendly fertilizers.

Through a five-year development process at UBC, the researchers found a ‘green’ alternative to depleting the world’s dwindling supply of rock phosphate used for fertilizer. The result was equipment and expertise for recovering phosphorus and other resources from municipal wastewater treatment facilities and in doing so recycling the nutrients into sustainable products. A major benefit of the technology to municipalities was to solve the costly problem of blocked pipes and treatment costs in the plants caused by a buildup of phosphorus and other minerals.

“The world is running out of phosphorus and this chemical element is required for everything that lives on land and in our waters,” says Mavinic. “We cannot survive without it and there is no known substitute for it.”

Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies was founded in 2005 and its flagship product Crystal Green, a slow release commercial fertilizer, is already in high demand by golf courses, parks, nurseries, and the forest industry, which can use the product to boost tree growth. The B.C. Conservation Foundation that works closely with the B.C. Ministry of Environment Fish and Wildlife Branch, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan, is now using Crystal Green pellets to replace the nutrient value of dead salmon carcasses missing from rivers as a result of low salmon stocks.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, industry

Vancouver, Canada—August 25, 2009—UBC Materials Engineering professor Anoush Poursartip has won the 2009 Medal of Excellence in Composite Materials from the University of Delaware’s Center for Composite Materials.
The highest international recognition one can receive in the field of composite materials, recognizing outstanding leadership in the field, Poursartip is the first Canadian to win this prestigious award.

For the past 30 years, Poursartip has been researching composites, relating primarily to curing and subsequent residual stresses and deformation. A co-founder of the company Convergent Manufacturing Technologies in 1998, he has a strong interest in bridging the gap between academia and industry. He is president of the International Committee on Composite Materials (ICCM), a non-governmental, not-for-profit, scientific and engineering organization promoting international cooperation and education in composite materials science and technology. He is also an ICCM Life Member and one of a handful of ICCM World Fellows. Award Citation

To learn more about research in composite materials, contact:

Professor Anoush Poursartip
Tel: 604 822-3665
Email: anoush.poursartip@ubc.ca

Poursartip will receive his medal on the evening of September 16, 2009, during the 24th Annual Technical Conference of the American Society for Composites / Canadian Association for Composite Structures and Materials in Newark, Delaware, USA.

About the Medal
Established in 1984 in conjunction with the Decennial Celebration of the Center for Composite Materials, the Medal of Excellence in Composite Materials was created to honour those who have achieved outstanding leadership in the field of composites. It recognizes those who have maintained and demonstrated scholarly endeavour, invention and/or economic enterprise over a sustained period of time. The previous winners are a who’s who of the composites world. For more information, visit http://www.ccm.udel.edu/Intro/medalofexc.html.

Media Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca


Award Citation
2009 Medal of Excellence in Composites Materials

Dr. Anoush Poursartip has played an international leadership role in the advancement of composites processing science and technologies in academe and the aerospace industry. He is a Professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He joined UBC in 1984 after gaining a B.A. and Ph.D. from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. Working closely with two colleagues, he directs the Composites Group at UBC, an interdisciplinary research group from Materials Engineering and Civil Engineering, with facilities in the state-of-the-art Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory.

His research interests include both the processing and in-service behaviour of composites. Always trying to closely couple experiments and modelling, he has a particular interest in problems of engineering of applied significance. In this context, process simulation software and associated methodologies created by The UBC Composites Group over the last 20 years have been successfully transitioned to industry and are increasingly used in designing the manufacturing of composite aerospace structures.

Dr. Poursartip has been a long-standing member of the Executive Council of the International Committee on Composite Materials, including serving as Executive Secretary and President. He has been a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Composite Materials and Composites Part A. He is also a World Fellow and Life Member of ICCM, and has won two Outstanding Performance Awards from The Boeing Company.

“I am truly humbled and honoured by this award,” said Dr. Poursartip. “I remember clearly the creation of the award in 1984, as I was a freshly minted PhD and had just started at UBC. I was in awe of the original four winners, and over the ensuing years always admired the subsequent winners. I would never have thought that 25 years later I would have the privilege of joining this group, particularly on the 35th anniversary of the CCM, which itself has played such an important role in the history of composite materials research. As we stand at a very important stage in the evolution of composite materials, it is important that we be aware of our history so that we can create a better future.”

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—August 12, 2009—UBC’s ASHRAE Design Team—Ara Beittoei, Brent Kavelaars, Chu Lin, Jensen Metchie and Tapio Pikkarainen—placed third in the 2009 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Student Design Project Competition.

The UBC team competed against 14 others in the HVAC System Design category and tied with University of Central Florida as the third-place winner.

The prize includes a trip for one team representative to attend ASHRAE's January 2010 meeting in Orlando, Florida where the award will be presented.

The team is affiliated with the Mechanical Engineering Design Project (MECH 457) course, where students work on a variety of design projects including HVAC design.

The project was supervised by Department of Mechanical Engineering Instructor Nima Atabaki, Ph.D., P.Eng., and Omicron’s Geoff McDonell, P.Eng., served as industrial mentor to the team.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—August 11, 2009—University of British Columbia researchers have developed a new way to extract DNA and RNA from small or heavily contaminated samples that could help forensic investigators and molecular biologists get to "the truth."

"By exploiting the physical traits of DNA - electric charge, length and flexibility - we've been able to extract DNA from samples that would otherwise not produce enough clean DNA for analysis," says UBC Biophysics Prof. Andre Marziali, P.Eng., Director of the Engineering Physics Program.

The technique is being commercialized through Boreal Genomics, a UBC spin-off company, and is expected to have broad applications from basic life-science research to forensic sample analysis, bio-defence and pathogen detection for food safety and clinical diagnostics.

The research team, which includes scientists from UBC and BC Cancer Agency's Genome Science Centre, details the technique in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Extracting DNA by conventional methods - which rely on the molecules' chemical properties - has proven challenging when there are only trace amounts of DNA or when the source sample has contaminants with similar chemical traits.

"We've found that DNA and RNA respond to electric fields in a way that is very different from other molecules," says Marziali. "By exploiting this unique property, we were able to extract high quality DNA from a highly contaminated sample from the Athabasca oil sands."

The team also successfully tested the technique on samples provided by the RCMP.

Contact:

Sean Sullivan
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.3213
Cell: 604.828.3867
Email: sean.sullivan@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, industry

Vancouver, Canada—July 14, 2009—UBC professors Peter Englezos (Chemical & Biological Engineering), André Ivanov (Electrical & Computer Engineering), and Resve Saleh (Electrical & Computer Engineering) have been inducted as Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) in recognition of their distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession. The induction ceremony took place yesterday in Calgary in conjunction with the Academy’s 2009 Annual General Meeting.

Inductee Citations

Peter Englezos is a very active researcher in several industrial and academic areas relevant to two important sectors of the Canadian economy: energy and paper. He is an international authority on gas hydrates, an important area in the development of innovative clean energy technologies. He has contributed significantly to the field – particularly his work on electrolytes in gas hydrate. He is also a well-recognized expert on several aspects of papermaking chemistry, contributing technology developments that enable high-value paper manufacturing. His honours include Keio University’s Tokyo Electric Power Company Endowed Chair and UBC’s Professorship in Advanced Papermaking. He is an expert for the Council of the Canadian Academies in assessing gas hydrates as an energy resource and will chair the 6th International Conference on Gas Hydrates.

André Ivanov, Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UBC, is an expert and innovator in the field of the design and testing of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits. His achievements have led to numerous new and advanced technologies that have greatly impacted the shape of VLSI test technology processes worldwide affecting the entire semiconductor industry. He is Fellow of the IEEE and was recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Contribution Award of the IEEE Computer Society Test Technology Technical Council for achievement of major value and significance to the IEEE Computer Society.

Resve Saleh, NSERC/PMC-Sierra Chair in High Speed Microelectronic Circuits and Fellow of the IEEE, was one of the pioneers of mixed-mode simulation, described in his seminal book “Mixed-Mode Simulation and Analog Multilevel Simulation.” He has also contributed pioneering work toward the development of voltage drop analysis in power distribution networks now used throughout the industry to improve the quality of integrated circuit designs. This technology was brought to the market place in 1995 as part of his company Simplex Solutions, and garnered him the 2008 Industrial Quality Award at the International Symposium on Quality Electronic Design Conference.

About the CAE
The Canadian Academy of Engineering comprises many of the country's most accomplished engineers, who have expressed their dedication to the application of science and engineering principles in the interests of the country and its enterprises. Nominated and elected by their peers, Fellows of the Academy are committed to ensuring that Canada's engineering expertise is applied to the benefit of all Canadians.

For more information: http://www.acad-eng-gen.ca/

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—July 9, 2009—Professor Philippe Kruchten has been appointed as a Senior Chairholder of the NSERC Chair in Design Engineering program. Professor Antony Hodgson has been named an Associate Chairholder.

The primary focus of this Chair is to eliminate barriers between engineering disciplines and enhance connectivity between engineering and other fields, particularly medicine and commerce, to better serve society. This Chair builds on the first NSERC Chair in Design Engineering awarded to UBC in 2002, which was held by Dr. Peter Lawrence.

The Chair will initially focus on interdisciplinary design of innovative intelligent equipment to improve treatment and quality of life for people with debilitating diseases or disabilities.

“During the term of this Chair, we expect to significantly increase the number of students who have a truly interdisciplinary design experience and who are trained in the skills needed to move ideas from conception to product,” says Kruchten.

For example, recently students involved with a pilot project affiliated with the Chair have created award winning designs for the ALS Society of B.C. [Read more...]. Plans are underway for collaborations with the Tetra Society of North America and the Disability Foundation.

“At NSERC, we want to make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators,” said NSERC president Suzanne Fortier. “The Chair in Design Engineering program helps us achieve that vision. Drs. Kruchten and Hodgson exemplify the high level of excellence we expect from our Chairs. Together they will provide a superb environment to train the next generations of discoverers and innovators.”

In future, the Chair’s focus will expand to address interdisciplinary solutions in areas such as energy and sustainability.

The Chair will also endeavour to enhance the design experience of graduate students in the Biomedical Engineering Program; foster relationships between local industry and junior engineering faculty members through student capstone projects; simplify industry-university collaborations; and oversee the newly-created Centre for Design Engineering.

“In addition to the interdisciplinary design experience students will receive, the Chair will play a significant role in enhancing the profile of design activities at UBC and in the broader community,” says Kruchten. “Our industrial partners will be involved in sponsoring student design projects and mentoring senior students in their critical final year and will benefit from graduates trained with an interdisciplinary perspective.”

The Chair is valued at $2 million over five years. In addition to NSERC funding, Jeppesen Sanderson; WorleyParsons Westmar Division; ALS Society of BC and Ensemble Systems have generously contributed to the Chair, and have provided the necessary industry support to secure the NSERC Chair.

Dr. Kruchten is a mechanical engineer and computer scientist. Before joining UBC in 2004, he spent 33 years in industry developing systems in telecommunications, defense, transportation and software tools and methods.

Dr. Hodgson is a medical engineer whose research focuses on computer-assisted orthopaedic surgery, medical robotics, surgical process modeling, and sensorimotor control. He is affiliated with the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility at Vancouver Hospital and serves on the board of the Medical Device Development Centre.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

About The University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is one of Canada's largest and most prestigious public research and teaching institutions. Located in the Pacific Rim gateway of Vancouver, one of the world's great cities, and in the Interior city of Kelowna, UBC is a global centre of research and learning. It offers more than 50,000 students a range of innovative undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in the arts, sciences, medicine, law, commerce and other faculties. UBC consistently attracts more than $450 million per year in research funding from government, non-profit organizations and industry for about 7,000 projects.

UBC is consistently ranked among the world’s 40 best universities, one of only two Canadian universities in this category. It is ranked within the top 10 North American universities, and first among Canadian universities, in terms of the number of U.S. life sciences patents and the quality of activity generated from those patents, including spin-off company creation.

About the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

NSERC is a federal agency that invests in excellent Canadian science and technology. NSERC promotes discovery by supporting some 26,500 university students and postdoctoral fellows and more than 11,800 university professors every year. NSERC also fosters innovation by working with 1,400 Canadian companies that participate and invest in postsecondary research.

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, entrepreneur

Vancouver, Canada—July 8, 2009—Jim Sibley, Manager of the Centre for Instructional Support, has been awarded the 2009 UBC Spencer Award for IT Innovation.

During the presentation of the award, Dr. Spencer noted:

"Jim Sibley has a long track record of IT innovation at UBC. One prominent example is his open source, online peer evaluation service called iPeer. iPeer has significantly improved workflow, and removed a major logistical hurdle for faculty who use teams in their courses.

The iPeer system allows students to evaluate their team mates and the system is now being used at UBC and many other institutions around the world. 4,000 downloads pretty well tells the success story there.

Jim has actively supported UBC’s mission to provide the best possible resources and conditions for learning and research. He has shown his support for this mission through the Faculty of Applied Science and campus-wide to implement novel approaches for optimal use of IT in the classroom.

His Untethered Computing Initiative allows instructors with tablet PCs to use wireless technology as they walk about the classroom and engage their students.

Jim Sibley contributes to a wide range of faculty, campus, and international committees and initiatives. He has shown innovation, vision, and leadership in his many years at UBC. He is a worthy recipient of the 2009 Spencer Award for IT Innovation,” said Spencer.

The Spencer Award for IT Innovation recognizes outstanding IT innovation and leadership at the University of British Columbia. The award and $1,000 prize is presented annually at the e-Strategy Town Hall.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc

Vancouver, Canada—June 26, 2009—UBC Engineering graduate student Alex Forrest is part of a team supporting the use of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to collect scientific data for Canada's Arctic submission to the United Nations.

Forrest, a civil engineering PhD candidate, has been working with International Submarine Engineering Ltd. as a support engineer and will assist in AUV operations next year when two AUVs operate thousands of metres under the ice to survey the seabed.

Canada, the U.S., Denmark and other northern nations are collecting scientific data to establish sovereign rights to parts of the Arctic Ocean under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Canada has until 2013 to provide its submission to the United Nations.

The six-metre-long, untethered AUV is designed to dive up to 5,000 metres under water and is capable of operating 400 kilometre missions that could take three to five days. It will collect depth data using single-beam and multi-beam sonars to confirm and complete information compiled over the past 30 years.

Forrest is also part of the Pavilion Lake Research Project, an international exploration of the freshwater microbialites in Pavilion Lake, BC, headed by UBC Civil Engineering Prof. Bernard Laval.

Reprinted with permission from UBC This Week—Thu 25 Jun 2009 edition.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 25, 2009—Energy Aware Technology Inc. developed by a team of UBC engineering and business alumni has won the "Most Promising Start-Up" Technology Impact Award from the British Columbia Technology Industry Association (BCTIA).
Energy Aware Technology designed their flagship PowerTab In Home Display product, to enable homeowners to closely track their energy use and costs. The PowerTab receives real-time electricity consumption data wirelessly and presents it in an easy to understand manner. The product has been included in each unit of the Vancouver 2010 Athlete’s Olympic Village, and is in trials with electric utilities in North America and internationally.

“We are all very pleased to have received this award and thank BCTIA for this honor," said Lauren Kulokas, Vice President of Operations.

The Energy Aware team includes UBC Applied Science alumni Lauren Kulokas, Colby Gore, Jon Hallam and Adrian Black, Sauder School of Business alumni Janice Cheam and Colin McKerracher, as well as SFU Applied Sciences graduate Troy Tyler.

Their company was formed during a unique collaborative UBC course called New Venture Design, which brings together fourth-year engineering and commerce students to design and market a new consumer product.

For more information on the award, please visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/BCTIA/Awards/prweb2550344.htm.

The BCTIA is British Columbia’s leading member-based industry association that represents start-ups to established technology companies across the province. As the voice of the technology industry, the BCTIA is committed to the ongoing growth, sustainability and prosperity of the technology industry and the transformation of British Columbia to a knowledge-based economy.

For more information, visit http://www.bctia.org/

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 24, 2009—Parisa Bastani (BASc Mechanical Engineering ’09) is the recipient of the 2009 Queen Elizabeth II British Columbia Centennial Scholarship. Only one major scholarship with a total value of $60,000 is awarded in the province of British Columbia each year. The scholarship recognizes B.C.'s top post-secondary student in order to help him/her pursue graduate studies in other Commonwealth countries.

“I am deeply honoured and humbled to have been selected from numerous outstanding candidates as the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship. It will enable me to pursue my passion at one of the oldest and most academically and intellectually recognized universities in the world, University of Oxford or Cambridge University in London, UK,” says Bastani. “I intend to leverage my future education to serve the global community to the highest degree by seeking solutions to current social technological issues facing the world."

The scholarship was established by the Province of British Columbia to commemorate the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in May 1971, and is administered by StudentAid BC. An advisory committee evaluates candidates for the scholarship and advises the government of its recommendations. The advisory committee consists of representatives of the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development and B.C.’s public universities.

For more information on the scholarship, visit: http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/studentaidbc

For more information about Parisa's experience at UBC, visit: http://www.apsc.ubc.ca/stars/congregation09/bastani.php

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 24, 2009—Keith Martin, UBC Engineering Physics Co-op student specializing in the Mechatronics Option, has been awarded one of three British Columbia Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) Scholarship Grants for $2,500.
Martin received the annual scholarship for his work in fuel cell research during his eight-month Engineering Co-op work placement at Ballard Power Corporation. After working with Ballard’s fuel cell products in the lab, he approached a senior engineer about an idea for improving the sealing capability of the hardware design he was working with and was encouraged to pursue it. As a result of the engineer’s decision and Keith’s initial work on the concept, he now has his name listed on a Ballard U.S. patent for a special sealant used on fuel-cell stacks.

“I was so surprised to hear from Ballard in December that they'd taken my idea to patent stage," says Martin. "I didn't think anything would come of it, but it's pretty cool, and it says a lot about Ballard to recognize the work of a Co-op student. I’m honoured that BCTIA has recognized the innovation and delighted to receive the scholarship."

About the BCTIA Scholarship
Over four hundred public schools and universities across British Columbia were notified about the scholarship program, where only three applicants were chosen to receive the grant. The scholarship program awards hard-working and accomplished young people in their pursuit of technology-related education.
For more information on BCTIA visit: www.bctia.org.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Event: Media demonstration of the UBC Thunderbots robotics team

Date/Time: 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., Wednesday June 24, 2009

Place: Fred Kaiser Building, Room 1180, 2332 Main Mall, UBC Vancouver
For map, visit: www.maps.ubc.ca?313
It's not quite the World Cup, but UBC engineering students and their soccer-playing robots are preparing to test their mettle at an international robotics competition next week.

Engineering students from UBC will join more than 3,000 competitors representing 40 countries at the 2009 International Robocup Competition in Graz, Austria, from June 29 to July 5.

The UBC Thunderbots are the only Canadian team competing in the Small Sized Robot Soccer League. The competition will see 23 teams from 11 countries pitting teams of five fully autonomous robots against each other.

The robots, each roughly the size of a soccer ball, collaborate based on wireless commands received from their "coach" - a computer that analyzes the match through a camera mounted above the field.

Media are invited to a demonstration of the soccer-playing robots on Wednesday, June 24, from 10 a.m. - noon. To attend the demonstration, contact Sean Sullivan at 604.822.3213.

The competition gives students the opportunity to learn team management and technical design skills as part of an international learning experience. These students are the first engineering student team to represent UBC outside of North America.

For more info about the team and their revival, please visit Bringing back the Thunder.

Contact

Sean Sullivan
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.3213
E-mail: sean.sullivan@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 18, 2009—Applied Science leading-edge research in laser-ultrasonics; biomedical technologies, emergency decision-support, and global communications systems will receive funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation under its Leading Edge Fund (LEF).

Materials Engineering Professor Matthias Militzer is the primary investigator responsible for the project “Laser-Ultrasonic System for Innovative Microstructure Design” that has been granted $436,911 in CFI funding. With matching funds from the BC Knowledge Development Fund and other sources, the total funding is just over $1.2 million. The principal investigators include Warren Poole (Materials Engineering), Chad Sinclair (Materials Engineering), Mary Wells (University of Waterloo), Stephen Yue (McGill), Hatem Zurob (McMaster) and Matthias Militzer (Materials Engineering). In addition, an international user group is being formed with researchers and industry from nine countries.

Laser-ultrasonics is the generation and detection of ultrasound using lasers. Laser-ultrasonics for metallurgy (LUMet) is an emerging Canadian technology that is a non-destructive technique for fast and precise measurements of microstructures — the “fingerprints” that give a metal or alloy its unique properties. Currently, standard metallography — the study of the microscopic structure of metals — uses slow and labour-intensive techniques. LUMet offers the potential to transform the nature of metal and alloy processing by driving the design of microstructures with highly desirable properties — those needed to produce the innovative materials and products that will put Canada at the forefront of the metallurgical industry worldwide.

The research programs supported by the new infrastructure funding for “Laser-Ultrasonic System for Innovative Microstructure Design” are unique in Canada and primarily aimed at developing process models for advanced sheet metals. The funding will enable the education and training of more than 40 highly skilled engineers and scientists over the next five years. For details visit www.cmpe.ubc.ca.

“Expansion of The Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems Facilities in Biomedical Technologies, Emergency Decision-Support, and Global Communications Systems,” led by Director of The Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS) Nimal Rajapakse, has been granted $5.177 million in CFI funding. With matching funds from the BC Knowledge Development Fund and in-kind support, total funding equals just over $13 million. The principal investigators include Elizabeth Croft (Mechanical Engineering), Sheldon (Larry) Goldenberg (Urologic Sciences), Alan Mackworth (CS), Jose Marti (Electrical & Computer Engineering), Martin McKeown (Medicine/Neurology), Raymond Ng (CS), Dinesh Pai (CS), Nimal Rajapakse (Mechanical Engineering), Tim Salcudean (Electrical & Computer Engineering), and Rabab Ward (Electrical & Computer Engineering).

The grant builds on a CFI New Initiatives Fund grant awarded in 2000 that enabled ICICS to double its research space and acquire state-of-the-art equipment necessary for human-centred systems research. The new LEF grant will allow ICICS to equip new and existing laboratories with a range of specialized equipment to further innovations in five theme areas—Anatomical Models for Image; Guidance in Medical Procedures; Human Sensorimotor Systems; Assistive Technologies; Decision Support Across Critical Infrastructures; Global Communications Systems. For details visit www.icics.ubc.ca.

The CFI announcement and a complete list of projects funded can be found at: www.innovation.ca.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians.

To view UBC’s original announcement, visit: http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/media/releases/2009/mr-09-075.html.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—June 12, 2009—Mac MacLaclan, Administrator in the UBC Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, Michael Kingsmill, Designer with the Alma Mater Society, and fourth-year civil engineering student Andrew Carne have each received a UBC Just Desserts Award this year.

A tradition since 1985, the Just Desserts Awards recognize individual contributions to student growth and success at UBC. These three 2009 winners were nominated by the Engineering Undergraduate Society for their extraordinary service to engineering students. To learn more about each individual’s particular contribution, you can read the Award Citations.

This year’s award ceremony was held on March 26, 2009 at Cecil Green Park, followed by an impressive dessert banquet.

The Just Desserts Awards are organized by the Alma Mater Society and each undergraduate society can nominate members of their faculty, staff or student body who have made a significant contribution—going above and beyond the call of duty.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Award Citations

Mac Maclachlan has been working for the Department of Mining Engineering since the summer of 2005 and has proved to be one of our most valuable assets. His main responsibility to students is to serve as the liaison for industry and student jobs, but this is only one of many services he offers students. Mac helps organize the graduating class field trip, and has secured a number of new student scholarships in his time at UBC. He also sits as a representative on the Undergraduate Executive to help create student and departmental projects that are mutually beneficial. Most importantly, though, Mac is the information superhighway of the department. Regardless of the question, “Ask Mac” is almost always the answer. Whether he is facilitating curriculum change or helping students with personal issues, he goes above and beyond in every single case to ensure that all students have the opportunity to gain the full experience of their university education.

During his time with the AMS Michael Kingsmill has worked with students on a number of projects to increase student space on campus, such as Science’s Abdul Ladha Centre. Over the past year Michael has taken on a role as an advisor and designer with the Engineering Undergraduate Society’s Engineering Student Centre project. He has spent time during his days, his evenings and surely on weekends designing concepts of the building, meeting with the team and brainstorming the next step in the process. He was also instrumental in all aspects of preparing for our incredibly successful fall referendum that will ensure that the building will become a reality for engineering students in the future.

Andrew Carne’s work for the Engineering Undergraduate Society and Engineering students as a whole will be very hard, if not impossible to parallel. He has worked tirelessly, and mostly behind the scenes, to make sure projects big and small get completed and done well. His work for the Engineering Student Space was instrumental in making it happen as he lead us into a highly successful referendum this fall. When our yearbook needed completion, Andrew stepped up and spent his reading week getting it done. Whenever there is work to be done, it seems that Andrew is there, working quietly, patiently, and persistently. He has been an EUS executive for three of his four years here at the university (every year he was eligible to run) and has performed his duties above and beyond. His dedication extends beyond the engineering undergraduate society to his fraternity, Sigma Phi Delta, to his Faculty, Applied Science, as a student member on the new Dean Search committee, to the AMS Council as a committee and board member and to the University as a whole, through his involvement in the Campus Plan process. We wish to thank Andrew for his determination to make things better, unwavering support of students, and his generosity with his time, energy and spirit.

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 5, 2009—UBC Electrical & Computer Engineering Associate Professor Lutz Lampe has been awarded the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award by the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation for his outstanding research record.
This award is given to internationally renowned scientists and scholars from abroad in recognition of their past research and future promise.

As the winner, Lampe will be invited to spend a period of up to one year cooperating on a long-term research project with specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany—an award valued at 45,000 EUR.

Lutz Lampe is an expert in the areas of communications and information theory applied to wireless and power-line transmission. His research revolves around technologies for versatile, low power and reliable data communication for a wide range of applications, from wireless sensor networks to “x-by-wire” automotive systems. He is also Editor of both the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications and the International Journal on Electronics and Communications.

Aside from the Bessel Research Award, other recent awards include the UBC Killam Research Prize (2008), and Best Paper Awards at the IEEE International Conference on Ultra-Wideband (2006) and the Eurasip Signal Processing Journal (2005).

About the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards
Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Humboldt Foundation grants up to 25 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually (across all disciplines). Scientists and scholars are eligible to be nominated if they have completed their doctorates less than 12 years ago and are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements of seminal influence on their discipline beyond their immediate field of work.

For more information: the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—June 4, 2009—UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering MASc Candidate Samuel Chua has received the Principal Award and $5,000 in the ALS Society of British Columbia’s Excellence in Engineering Design Competition. Chua is working under the supervision of Professor Philippe Kruchten.
Their project, Automated Speech Recognition and Intelligibility Enhancement System for PALS with BiPAP Assisted Breathing, was selected for its potential to improve the Quality of Life of Persons with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (PALS). Chua’s contributions and commitment to the needs of PALS impressed the award selection panel.

“In my honest opinion, knowing just how much effort my fellow engineers put into their projects, I do not think that my efforts are worthy of any special praise. But I am honoured that the panel would select this project as having great potential to help those living with ALS,” says Chua. “I am truly grateful for this opportunity to be a blessing to the ALS community and to serve their needs as an engineer.”

ALS is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor neurons that carry messages from the brain to muscles. It results in weakness, atrophy and immobilization; upon initial diagnosis, typical life-expectancy is two to five years.

“I’m so pleased with the recognition Samuel has received for the invention and the opportunity that ALSBC has provided for us to share our knowledge, skills and talents,” says Kruchten.

“This project Sam has been working on is a pilot for student engineering projects to be undertaken in the near future. UBC Engineering is a hotbed for inventive talent and we are delighted to partner with local societies and industry partners to truly make a difference.”

Building on the 2007-2008 award-winning Dynamic Neck Brace project in MECH 457, the ALS Society of British Columbia increased its support for neck brace design projects during 2008-2009, as well as for other projects at UBC, SFU, UVic and BCIT that promote the well-being of PALS. UBC submitted four of the 12 student projects for the design award competition this April.

The Award of Distinction and accompanying $2,500 prize went to the Motorized ALS Neck Brace project, an interdisciplinary collaboration between supervisor Dr. Van der Loos and students Eric Wen, Brad Neels, Anmy Ho, Sassan Nawabi Shirazi, Varun Rana Singh and Jay Liu, from UBC's MECH 451/2 mechatronics capstone design class, as well as Jayson Rupert from the Industrial Design program of Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Their project focused on achieving support and mobility of the head, incorporating motorized assistance. The PALS panel members were pleased after they tested the neck brace.

Michael Neufeld (Electrical and Computer Engineering student) received an Honourable Mention for his Text to Speech Program, which is a simple system innovatively combining commonly available components and programs, such as an inexpensive notebook computer and Bluetooth speaker capability. Michael’s project was carried out on his own initiative, independent from his UBC course work.

The ALS Society of BC was founded by ALS patients, their family members and health care professionals to meet the physical and emotional needs of people with ALS and their caregivers. To learn more about ALS BC, visit: http://www.alsbc.ca/

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 3, 2009—UBC Mechanical Engineering Professor Thomas Oxland has been elected Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) in recognition of his significant engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession.
Thomas Oxland holds a Canada Research Chair in Spine Biomechanics and a joint appointment with the UBC Department of Orthopaedics. An expert in biomechanical aspects of the spine, spinal injury, orthopaedic implants and surgical techniques, the scope of his work includes bio-engineering research studies and medical product development. He and his colleagues have characterized various aspects of the normal, diseased and injured human spine and documented novel surgical approaches to treating these potentially devastating conditions.

His 120 journal publications have been cited over 2,200 times according to Web of Science. Furthermore, he was the main research and development engineer for novel spinal implants that remain in clinical use today, more than ten years after the initial surgeries.

About the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Founded in 1880, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that promotes the art, science and practice of mechanical and multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences throughout the world. The core values of ASME are rooted in its mission to better enable mechanical engineering practitioners to contribute to the well-being of humankind.

For more information: ASME Fellows

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—June 1, 2009—UBC Civil Engineering Ph.D. student Kazi Parvez Fattah, M.A.Sc. student Ying (Melissa) Zhang, professor Don Mavinic and research associate Fred Koch have been awarded the Donald R. Stanley Award from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) for the best paper in 2008 on a civil engineering subject in the area of environmental engineering.

The winning paper proved to be an excellent example of pilot-scale work that has field transferability of significant value to the practitioner. Written in an easy to understand style, the paper clearly shows that CO₂ stripping can raise the liquid pH, improve struvite crystallization and, hence, fertilizer recovery, while simultaneously saving significant chemical costs by reducing/eliminating the use of caustic chemicals. This was the first time this had ever been shown to work at the pilot scale.

The paper "Application of carbon dioxide stripping for struvite crystallization – 1: Development of a carbon dioxide stripper model to predict CO₂ removal and pH changes” was published in the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2008. Abstract

Fattah accepted the honour on behalf of his co-authors at the 2009 CSCE annual conference in St. John's, Newfoundland on May 30, 2009.

About the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering
Founded in 1887, the CSCE is a learned society intended to develop and maintain high standards of civil engineering practice in Canada and to enhance the public image of the civil engineering profession. The society has local sections across Canada that provides regular technical programs, supplemented with special technical workshops and seminars of special interest to that community.

For more information: CSCE Honours, Awards and Fellowships

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca


“Application of carbon dioxide stripping for struvite crystallization – 1: Development of a carbon dioxide stripper model to predict CO₂ removal and pH changes,” the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2008

Abstract:
This research investigated the feasibility of stripping CO₂ from the digester supernatant to raise the pH, thereby reducing the caustic chemical usage. In this study, a cascade CO₂ stripper was first designed and tested, with three difference synthetic solutions in a struvite recovery, crystal reactor: (1) tap water saturated with CO₂; (2) NaHCO₃ solution saturated with CO₂; and (3) NaHCO₂ + NH₂C1 solution saturated with CO₂. It was found that the removal efficiency of the CO₂ stripper was dependant on several parameters, such as the characteristics of the influent, including total alkalinity, temperature, and initial concentration of dissolved CO₂ gas, influent flow rate, effluent recycle rate, aeration rate and baffle numbers in the stripper. Based on performance of the stripper on the three synthetic solutions, a CO₂ stripping model was developed using these parameters. This model was subsequently tested in a pilot-scale facility, to predict the amount of CO₂ removal possible.

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—May 29, 2009—UBC Materials Engineering professor David Dreisinger has been elected Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) in recognition of over 30 years of service to the CIM Metallurgical Society and to the metallurgical community at large through his dedication to teaching, research, innovation and industrial support.
He will be honoured at the 48th annual Conference of Metallurgists in Sudbury, Ontario from August 23-26, 2009.

David Dreisinger holds an endowed Industrial Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy and is an international authority in the field. His achievements have led to numerous new and advanced technologies that have greatly impacted the shape of hydrometallurgical processes worldwide. His tireless efforts to bridge high-calibre university research with industrial practice have mobilized industry, and he is constantly invited to speak at industrial sites around the world.

Last year CIM awarded Dreisinger the Inco Medal for his meritorious and practical contribution of outstanding importance to the mining and metallurgical industry of Canada. Other recent honours include being elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (2007), the Meritorious Achievement Award of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. (2007), and the Extractive and Processing Science Award of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (2005).

The CIM Fellowship award was established by CIM Council in November 1986 to recognize members who have distinguished themselves through outstanding contributions to the mining, metallurgical and petroleum industries.

About the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum
Founded in 1898, CIM is the leading technical society of professionals in the Canadian minerals, metals, materials and energy industries. CIM’s 12,000 national members are drawn from every major region of the country. These men and women work in industry, government and academia, and are dedicated to the discovery, production and economics of Canada's minerals, metals, materials and energy resources.

For more information: http://www.cim.org/Awards/fellowshipOrigin.cfm

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—May 28, 2009—UBC Associate Professor of Mining Engineering Marcello Veiga has been recognized as one of the Top 25 immigrants in Canada by Canadian Immigrant magazine. More than 300 candidates were nominated for this award.
Veiga received a commemorative certificate, a lapel pin and a $250 donation toward the Canadian charity of his choice during the first annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrants award ceremony held in Vancouver on May 25, 2009.

Nominated by Rodolfo Sousa—one of his graduate students at the UBC Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, Veiga was a popular choice among the 10,000 people who voted in the competition.

Veiga has worked for the past 31 years, as a metallurgical engineer and environmental geochemist for mining and consulting companies in Brazil, Canada, the U.S., Venezuela, Chile and Peru. He has worked extensively on environmental and social issues related to mining, including a six-year appointment as the Chief Technical Advisor of the GEF/UNDP/UNIDO Global Mercury Project for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna. During this appointment, UNIDO implemented the Environmental and Health Assessment of mercury pollution in artisanal gold mining in Asia, Africa and South America. His research and teaching at UBC focus on topics that lead to improving the image of mining and contribute to sustainable mining communities.

Award Citation
Marcello Veiga came to Canada as a visiting researcher in the field of environmental geochemistry in the 1980s, but, after returning home to Brazil, he found his connection to Canada kept cropping back up. He worked with a company that had dealings in Canada, then his wife, Sonia, wanted to come here to do her PhD. He followed suit, doing his own doctorate in mining and mineral process engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Back in Brazil, the poor economic situation and violence he saw growing in his homeland was reason enough to make a permanent move to Canada. He started a mining consulting company working in northern B.C., and was hired as a UBC professor in 1998 in Vancouver. Believing that poverty is the main cause for the environmental problems of the planet, Veiga works actively in the education of artisanal gold miners worldwide, in partnership with the United Nations.

View the original Canadian Immigrant article.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—May 26, 2009—Wendy Hall, Professor in the School of Nursing, Carol Jaeger, Senior Instructor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Dusko Posarac, Senior Instructor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering each received UBC Killam Teaching Prizes during convocation ceremonies today at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts.

During the presentation the following award citations were read, detailing the winners’ unique contributions to teaching at UBC:
Wendy Hall is an outstanding and charismatic teacher who combines the rigorous approach of a researcher with a tremendous warmth and empathy for her students, and through them, for the mothers and babies who will be in their care. It is impossible to sit in her class and not be literally blown away by her passionate, articulate, and organized presentation of Maternal Child Nursing, Transition to Parenting and related areas of Infant Sleep and Breastfeeding; topics she has dedicated her research to. Wendy creates a supportive learning environment where students feel safe to explore and learn. She has the gift of stimulating students thinking and problem solving while remaining sensitive to their needs.
Carol Jaeger is a remarkable, passionate, shoot-from-the-hip, no-nonsense teacher. She combines successfully proven teaching methodologies with high-tech delivery, mixing pre-made material with in-class live development into a memorable set of lectures. A tough-mission instructor, she has been assigned some of our most challenging courses, heavy in mathematics, physics and low in glamorous technology. Under her gifted guidance and leadership, students have navigated these tricky waters successfully and emerged from it with a strong respect and appreciation for her as a teacher, as a mentor and as an engineer. She is a credit to her department, to her faculty, and to our university.
Dusko Posarac is an excellent and dedicated teacher. He creates a learning environment for his students that is both interactive and iterative; a learning environment which his students state extends beyond the walls of his classroom into every laboratory, office hour, corridor and reading room. He ensures continuity of his guidance in every course that he teaches in second, third and fourth year. His dedication to students who put their share of effort into their own learning is legendary in his department. Even with an open-door office policy, Dr. Posarac has found the time to have a radical effect on a spectrum of new and old courses.

The highest teaching distinction at UBC, the UBC Killam Teaching Prizes are awarded annually from the Killam Endowment Fund to faculty nominated by students, colleagues, and alumni in recognition of excellence in teaching.

For more information about the award, visit: www.vpacademic.ubc.ca/awards/killam.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—May 11, 2009—Kerry Black has been selected to receive Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation (CEMF)’s 2009 AMEC Masters Scholarship in Engineering. Along with the $10,000 award, the scholarship includes the opportunity for a summer job at an AMEC office in Canada.
Ms. Black is currently enrolled in the Masters of Applied Science program in the Department of Civil Engineering. She is investigating innovative technology for drinking water treatment. Passionate about working overseas in developing countries, Ms. Black has volunteered in Cambodia helping to provide safe drinking water in small and rural communities.

She has played an instrumental role in a revitalization project for the Faculty of Applied Science’s Women in Engineering program by assessing the current program and making recommendations to increase student involvement. She coordinates UBC Engineering’s outreach efforts through an on-going campus conference for female high-school students. She has been selected as a volunteer for the upcoming 2010 Olympics, and in her free time plays the piano and enjoys ballet.

“I feel very honoured and proud to have received this award from AMEC and CEMF. The Women in Engineering program at UBC has been very important to me over the past year, and I’m excited to continue our efforts,” says Ms. Black. “This scholarship will encourage me to continue promoting engineering to young girls across the country, and hopefully inspire girls to pursue engineering as a career.

This scholarship will afford me the ability to continue my studies towards the completion of my MASc and to hopefully continue working overseas in developing countries. I hope that the opportunities presented by CEMF and AMEC will allow me to continue in my efforts of working as an engineer both at home and abroad on the global issue of access to safe drinking water.”

CEMF scholarships are awarded to women engineering students who are leaders, volunteers, involved in numerous community activities and willing to go out of their way to inspire others.

“Kerry has a strong history and vision of helping others both locally and globally,” says UBC Faculty of Applied Science Dean Tyseer Aboulnasr. “I am very pleased that her efforts have been recognized by CEMF with the AMEC scholarship, and I am certain that she will continue to inspire young women to study engineering so that they too can help make a positive difference in our world.”

“Kerry is an outstanding woman and we are lucky to have her representing the Foundation and the profession of engineering as a whole,” says Suzelle Barrington, P.Eng., CEMF president. “She is bright, and hardworking and committed to her profession. Our goal is to attract more women to engineering; Kerry is a role model for other young women and she is already serving as an inspiration to others.”

Along with the $10,000 scholarship, Ms. Black will receive an AMEC expense-paid trip to the CEMF Annual Awards Luncheon being held in Montreal at the Annual General Meeting of Engineers Canada being held on May 22, 2009.

“At AMEC our goal is to engage and encourage a new generation of engineers,” says PJ Healey, Human Resources Director with AMEC. “The AMEC scholarships are a way for us to show our continued commitment to the education and development of young Canadian engineering talent. AMEC is proud to join with CEMF in celebrating and supporting women engineers of the future. The AMEC scholarships create opportunities – it’s about investing in people’s future and helping them fulfill their aspirations to become leaders in their field. Ms. Black’s dream of utilizing her engineering knowledge to help communities around the world achieve a higher standard of living and access to safe drinking water is to be admired, and I hope that with the help of this scholarship she continues to aspire to excellence in all that she does.”

The Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation was founded in 1990 and honours the memory of the 14 women from École Polytechnique in Montreal who lost their lives on December 6, 1989.

CEMF is committed to creating a world where engineering meets the needs and challenges of Canadians by utilizing the skills and talents of men and women alike, promoting engineering as a career choice with the generous support of Canadian corporations and many individual engineers from coast to coast.

The Foundation provides a total of 13 scholarships at the undergraduate, Masters and PhD levels of study and promotes engineering as a career choice for women through their website, press releases, Annual Awards Luncheon and scholarship winner presentations to high school students.

AMEC formed a partnership with the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation in 2006 to encourage more women and Aboriginals to pursue a career in engineering.

For more information on the CEMF scholarships, visit: www.cemf.ca

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—May 11, 2009—Third-year Chemical Engineering student Lin Watt has been named the recipient of the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation (CEMF) scholarship for the British Columbia region. She is one of five top undergraduate women engineering students across Canada acknowledged by CEMF and will receive a $5,000 CEMF Undergraduate Engineering Scholarship in recognition of her accomplishments.
Originally from Nova Scotia, Ms. Watt has actively volunteered with many organizations. She designed and implemented an applied reading program for children age five to seven called Experiment With Reading. She has also demonstrated her leadership abilities through her representation and advocacy for engineers at UBC and her recruitment efforts for Engineers Without Borders. She has recently been elected by her peers to serve as the 2009–2010 Engineering Undergraduate Society President at UBC.

“I am very grateful to the CEMF for their generosity,” says Ms. Watt. “This scholarship will enable me to better focus on my studies and continue my extracurricular involvement both at UBC Engineering and in the broader community.”

Successful nominees of the CEMF scholarships must be women engineering students who are leaders, volunteers, involved in numerous community activities and willing to go out of their way to inspire others.

“Lin Watt is a strong young woman attempting to make the engineering student culture more inclusive and respectful of all people,” says UBC Faculty of Applied Science Dean Tyseer Aboulnasr. “I am pleased that her efforts to make a difference have been recognized by the CEMF and hope that she will continue to provide a positive example for young women to follow.”

Along with the $5,000, each award recipient will receive an expense-paid trip to the CEMF Awards Luncheon held as part of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers annual general meeting. The event is being held in Montreal, Quebec on May 22, 2009.

“The Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation is proud to present these students with these well-deserved scholarships, and we have every confidence that each one of them will succeed in their future endeavours,” says Suzelle Barrington, P.Eng., CEMF President. “There is no doubt that they are Canada’s future engineering leaders.”

The Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation was founded in 1990 to develop scholarship and award programs that encourage women to choose engineering as a career to honour the memory of the 14 women at École Polytechnique whose contributions to Canada ended on December 6, 1989.

CEMF is committed to creating a world where engineering meets the needs and challenges of Canadians by utilizing the skills and talents of men and women alike, promoting engineering as a career choice with the generous support of Canadian corporations and many individual engineers from coast to coast. The Foundation provides a total of 13 scholarships at the undergraduate, Masters and PhD levels of study and promotes engineering as a career choice for women through their website, press releases, Annual Awards Luncheon and scholarship winner presentations to high school students.

For more information on the CEMF scholarships, visit: www.cemf.ca

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—May 5, 2009—Annelies Tjebbes finished up her second year of Electrical Engineering studies in true style—and with a new style to boot. In preparation for her Engineers Without Borders overseas volunteer placement in Burkina Faso Annelies cut her cascade of strawberry blonde locks that she’s been growing for more than 15 years.
“I haven’t had my hair short since I was five years old,” says 20-year-old Annelies. “But it feels amazing and light, and will be much easier to care for in 40 degree weather in Burkina Faso!!”

In her Engineers Without Borders overseas placement, Annelies will be working with the Bogandé local government to help incorporate Water and Sanitation into its mandate.

True to Annelies’ giving nature, she is donating her hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths wigs, which are distributed free through select American Cancer Society wig banks.

Follow Annelies’ Engineers Without Borders volunteer placement in Burkina Faso at www.anneliesinburkina.blogspot.com

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—April 30, 2009—On May 15, five UBC Engineering students will arrive in Lesotho as part of the Go Global and Applied Science (APSC) International Service Learning Program. They will work with local community members there to implement a sanitation system, including supporting community efforts in building Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) Latrines in Qacha’s Neck, a rural area of Lesotho.
The Engineering students—Dan Boland (fourth-year Mechanical Engineering), Ross Coleman (fourth-year Integrated Engineering), Sam Bailey (third-year Integrated Engineering), Ricardo Segovia (third-year Geological Engineering) and Laura Jones (second-year Mechanical Engineering)—each bring with them a range of knowledge, enthusiasm and new ideas that they will draw upon during their service learning experience.

Without proper sanitation facilities, water can become contaminated leading to increases in water-borne diseases such as cholera. Since only 32% of the rural population of Lesotho has access to acceptable sanitation facilities (Unicef 2004), the latrine project has been identified as a priority by the Qacha’s Nek, Lesotho community partner organization Mohoma Temeng, which will continue the work after the departure of the UBC group.

“This will be an amazing learning opportunity,” says Ricardo Segovia, “I’m looking forward to applying my studies in groundwater contaminates to a real-life situation, a situation in which my education can immediately help people.”

After months of pre-trip preparation in areas such as geographical context, team-building, history of development and intercultural communication, the Engineering students will fly to Maseru and have an orientation at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) in Roma. From there they will travel approximately four hours to the Qacha’s Nek region and spend six weeks in the rural areas. They have a weekend retreat together scheduled midway through the learning experience.

“All of us are pretty keen on living out of a backpack,” says Sam Bailey. “The simplicity of rural living will be fantastic, and nothing will be taken for granted.”

The students will live with a host family, eat with the family and participate in daily life in the region, where the housing does not have electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. Although language may be a challenge in the countryside, many of the school children speak English as will most of the shopkeepers in town.

“The team is nervous but excited for the full immersion into Basotho culture,” says Dan Boland. “The experience will be challenging at times, but in challenge is growth. The language barrier will be an issue when connecting with people, and although the team has started learning the basics, it will take a lot of work to get a grasp of even the basics in six weeks. However, learning the language will be a great way to integrate with the community, and hopefully make some friends!”

The UBC students will also be coordinated by one of the Mohoma Temeng members, UBC alumni, Mathabo Tsepa who teaches at NUL. Mathabo has arranged for three NUL students to join our UBC students over the course of the project.

“This APSC International Service Learning Project developed from an identified need to provide our students with more experiential service learning opportunities,” says Robert Hall, Associate Dean Engineering Students. “This program, along with the elective course APSC 263 that developed from an Engineers Without Borders initiative, have been added to our curriculum to provide students with greater opportunities for service learning.”

International service learning is a form of experiential education with predetermined learning objectives achieved through a combination of preparatory learning sessions, volunteerism and facilitated reflection. The goals are: to help students to become global citizens, to promote the values of a civil and sustainable society; to increase awareness of the interconnected, interdisciplinary nature of the complex and subtle issues facing our world; and to contribute to the understanding of the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context. Students will continue to develop critical thinking, communication, teamwork and leadership skills.

To apply for the Go Global International Service Learning, you must be an undergraduate or graduate student in good academic standing, and be successful in the application and interview process. The application deadline for January 2010 programs is June 26, 2009 and applications for summer 2010 programs will open in early August. The deadline to apply to the summer 2010 program will be early October 2009. Interested individuals should review the available options at http://www.students.ubc.ca/global/isl/.

For more information on the APSC International Service Learning opportunities, contact:

Erin Biddlecombe
Student Development Officer
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-6720
E-mail: erin.biddlecombe@ubc.ca

Media contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—April 30, 2009—UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science and the Clean Energy Research Centre announce the launch of an innovative new master’s degree in Clean Energy Engineering—the first of its kind in Canada and one of only a handful worldwide.

The Masters of Engineering in Clean Energy Engineering is intended for those with an undergraduate degree in engineering who are interested in advanced training related to environmentally-advantageous energy efficient technologies—technologies that will help meet the global need for energy while reducing electricity and greenhouse gases and other emissions.

Special focus on energy conservation, social change concepts, efficient use of electricity and methods for comparing and evaluating alternative energy scenarios will be areas of focus. In addition, attention will be devoted to sustainable energy sources such as biomass, solar, wind and small-scale hydro.

The Master of Engineering in Clean Energy Engineering will take approximately 16 months to complete and includes a co-operative work term in which students gain technical, paid work experience. The professional degree program comprises coursework and a project. From the core courses and broad range of electives, students acquire new skills and build on their knowledge base to advance their career goals. Unlike research-focused advanced degrees, the Master of Engineering program provides the unique opportunity to focus on areas such as management, business and leadership in the engineering profession.

Through a partnership involving the UBC Sustainability Office and the Faculty of Applied Science, BC Hydro Power Smart will be supporting the program with a focus on energy conservation by providing expertise, co-funding Engineering Co-op work placements related to energy efficiency, supporting the BC Hydro Power Smart Instructional Fellowship and program curriculum development.

The Master of Engineering in Clean Energy Engineering will be offered for the first time beginning September 2009, subject to final approval. Applications are now being accepted. For more information on the Master of Engineering in Clean Energy Engineering, the application process and to download forms, please visit www.cerc.ubc.ca or contact:

Deb Feduik
Manager, Master of Engineering
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.8386
E-Mail: deb.feduik@ubc.ca

Media contact:
ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—April 24, 2009—A University of British Columbia student is unveiling the latest model of his ski and snowboard Landing Pad with the hopes of setting a new standard in safety for freestyle skiing and snowboarding.
After a 2005 snowboarding accident that left him a quadriplegic, Aaron Coret, a fourth-year UBC engineering student and snowboard enthusiast partnered with recent graduate Stephen Slen to develop a freestyle ski and snowboard safety device as part of their Integrated Engineering course work. The result is a patent-pending invention set to make its public debut at Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta next week.

NB: Videos and photos of snowboarders testing the Landing Pad last year at Blackcomb Glacier are available at www.katalinnovations.com.

Unlike sports such as diving and gymnastics, freestyle snowboarding - where athletes do tricks as high as three to seven metre in the air - has no standardized training facilities that allow athletes to safely perfect their skills.

"One of the biggest threats to snowboarders' safety is landing on icy terrain while attempting new tricks," says Coret. "This is the risk we want to remove." Coret and Slen have created Katal Innovations to develop and market the Landing Pad.

What sets the duo's invention apart from existing safety devices that simply serve as a "giant pillow" is its unique design that simulates a perfectly shaped terrain park jump with a powder landing. Now in its third and largest iteration, at 15 metres by 27 metres in size, the Landing Pad features two independent air chambers to allow riders to continue movement downhill but cushions the fall in case the rider lands on anything other than their feet, making training safer.

"Over the past 20 years, snowboarding has evolved from a small group of riders crowded around early generation half-pipes to a mainstream industry with terrain parks at every resort, and a large following of people who are absolutely obsessed with it," says Coret.

"Terrain parks at ski resorts are like a fantasy land for riders who crave the adrenaline rush of defying gravity while flying through the air upside down," says Coret. "But these jumps can deal out nasty consequences in less than perfect landing conditions."

"By creating a safer environment in which to learn new tricks, I hope to take some of the risk out of progressing this sport and continue to contribute to the sport I love so much," says Coret.

Coret is available for interviews at UBC campus on Friday, April 24 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Please contact Brian Lin at 604.822.2234.

Contact

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell : 604.818.5685
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—April 21, 2009—Finning (Canada) has announced a $125,000 pledge toward the Mining and Communities Outreach Program within the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering.

“We are very proud to support such a progressive and important program of research and education,” said Gordon Finlay, Finning (Canada)’s vice-president of mining. “The more we understand the issues between mining sites and neighboring communities, the better we can develop long-term sustainable relationships with all stakeholders.”

The Mining and Communities Outreach Program is part of a larger effort on behalf of the Keevil Institute to address social, economic, and environmental issues facing the mining industry today and in the future. This program aims to bring together the communities that are most affected by mining and mine sites – including First Nations communities – with students of mining engineering and the mining industry to ensure that mining operations are conducted in a way which respects the rights and needs of the communities, and provides education to members of the community on mine operations and employment opportunities. Currently the focus of this program is on research and development in British Columbia, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories, but as the program develops, its research and curricula will be applicable to other communities and other resource areas worldwide.

“Social connections and community development are extremely important aspects of our lives as engineers,” said Dean Tyseer Aboulnasr. “This program ably brings together technology and society to enhance both our industries and our communities. We are very pleased and privileged to be able to work with Finning (Canada) towards this program’s realization.”

The Keevil Institute has worked closely with neighboring communities in their development of this program, and has received letters of support from such communities as the Treaty 8 Tribal Association of Fort St. John, the Tahltan Central Council and the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association.

The Keevil Institute is now seeking partners within the mining industry to build and sustain the Mining and Communities Outreach Program. If you would like more information about this program, or would like to make a contribution, please contact:

Emma Z. Starritt
Major Gift Officer
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-6197
Email: emma.starritt@ubc.ca

For media inquiries, please contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada—April 14, 2009—Computer and Electronics Manager Alan Steeves in the Department of Mechanical Engineering is one of five members of the university community to receive the 2009 President's Service Award for Excellence in recognition of his outstanding contributions to campus life and for his personal achievements.
Alan has provided nearly 30 years of dedicated IT support to the department—from the department's first PDP11 to facilitating the 2003 in-kind donation valued at approximately $240 million to the department from the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE). The largest in-kind contribution in UBC's history, it consisted of computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering software, hardware and training.

Since then Alan has attracted several more high value PACE donations, and in 2008 he received the Distinguished PACE Integrator Award for promoting global collaboration among PACE institutions.

Alan is also a founding member of Trout Unlimited British Columbia and is part of the group that helped to resolve the impasse regarding the Pacific Salmon Treaty Commission in 1999.

A recognized first nations artist, Alan has donated his works to a number of charitable causes, and one of his pieces was presented to outgoing APSC Dean Michael Isaacson by the department.

A true, kind, soft spoken gentleman, Alan has always provided our department with the best in IT services with a friendly and helpful manner.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—April 7, 2009—The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. (APEGBC) and BC Hydro have enabled the APEGBC Foundation Trustees to award eleven $1,000 APEG-MAPS scholarships and fifteen $1,500 BC Hydro/APEGBC fourth-year scholarships to 26 university engineering and geoscience students.

UBC Engineering students recognized for their exemplary achievements and contributions to the advancement of the engineering and geoscience professions include:

APEG-MAPS Scholarships
Anja Lanz, Fifth-year UBC Engineering Physics
Winnie Yan Kei Lai, Fourth-year UBC Engineering Physics
Adam Rucker, Fourth-year UBC Chemical & Biological Engineering
Keith Martin, Fifth-year UBC Engineering Physics
Maxime Crystal Chin, Second-year UBC Mechanical Engineering
Adnan Siddiqui, Fourth-year UBC Mechanical Engineering
Christopher Michael Collier, UBC Okanagan 2-ELEC
Rachael L'Orsa, Third-year UBC Mechanical Engineering
Jason Currie, Fourth-year UBC Mechanical Engineering
Ross Richardsen, Fourth-year UBC Civil Engineering

BC Hydro/APEGBC Fourth-year Scholarships
Marisol Valerio, UBC Geological Engineering
Stacey Shkuratoff, UBC Computer Engineering
Merick Moritz, UBC Civil Engineering
Ross Richardsen, UBC Civil Engineering
Juliana Martin, UBC Geological Engineering
Ameer Balouch, UBC Mechanical Engineering

For more information: http://www.apeg.bc.ca/students

Contact:

Amit Plaha
Student Program Coordinator
Association of Professional Engineers & Geoscientists of B.C.
Tel: 1-888-430-8035 ext. 4891
Fax: 604-430-8085

or

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—April 2, 2009—The Kaiser Foundation for Higher Education recently pledged $1 million to establish The Fred Kaiser Alternative Energies Endowment Fund. The fund will support faculty members in the Faculty of Applied Science in their educational activities and research in alternative energies and is applicable across the engineering disciplines.

“Our founder, Fred Kaiser, has always been a strong advocate for green energy. In fact, one of the companies in the Alpha Group of companies is completely dedicated to finding green solutions for power needs. We are pleased to partner with UBC Applied Science to further important discoveries in this realm”, says Lynda Hogarth, Trustee.

This is not the first gift the Kaiser Foundation has made to Applied Science. In 2002 the Kaiser Foundation pledged $4 million towards the Fred Kaiser Building which opened in September 2005. The building houses the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and accommodates more than 600 new undergraduate students currently registered in electrical and computer engineering and mechatronics, doubling the number registered since 2001.

Since 2001, the Kaiser Foundation has maintained a close relationship with the Faculty, with Mr. Kaiser acting in an advising role as a member of the Dean’s Engineering Advisory Council. This latest gift to the Faculty arose when the Kaiser Foundation, through their relationship with the Faculty and former Dean Michael Isaacson, became aware of the Faculty’s goals and needs, and generously stepped forward to help promote and support this initiative.

“The Kaiser Foundation’s generous pledge will provide UBC Applied Science with much needed funding to bolster our leading-edge research and educational programs in alternative energies,” says Dean Tyseer Aboulnasr. “This fund will help our engineers provide real solutions for one of the fundamental challenges we are facing today, global warming. We are truly grateful to Mr. Fred Kaiser for his continued involvement in the Faculty and to the Kaiser Foundation for Higher Education for their support of this key area of research and learning within Applied Science.”

For more information about the Fred Kaiser Alternative Energies Endowment Fund, please contact:

Jeannie Scarfe, M.A.
Senior Writer
Development Office
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
2205 -- 6250 Applied Science Lane
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604-827-5572
Fax: 604-822-0688
Email: jeannie.scarfe@ubc.ca

For media inquiries, please contact :

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—April 1, 2009—UBC student team EasyPlug was the big winner of the TiEQuest Business Plan competition held this past weekend in Toronto. The team was honoured with the New Entrepreneur Award given to the best student team in the competition and received a $5,000 prize for its business plan.

The undergraduate team of UBC Engineering and Commerce students competed among approximately other 100 teams. The team was formed within the innovative class New Venture Design (APSC 486/COMM 486).

EasyPlug's venture involves the safe disconnection of plugs at the wall if there is an impact that would otherwise be dangerous to the user or damaging to the appliance. Team members are UBC Engineering’s Jay Jagpal, Shane Miller-Tait and Greg Wong, and Sauder’s Ryan Fetterly, Crystal Hung and Max Miller.

“We are extremely pleased with this result, especially considering most teams consisted of MBA and PhD students,” says fourth-year student Max Miller.

Established in 2005 by UBC Engineering and Sauder School of Business, New Venture Design focuses on supporting teams of engineering and commerce students to come up with a new business idea. The class continues to garner attention in both academic and industry circles.

“New Venture Design has really shown us how important it is to have a well-rounded team—the different perspectives the six of us brought to the table were instrumental in our success,” says Shane Miller-Tait. “I couldn't be more proud of the team we have, and I would encourage other engineers at UBC to take whatever opportunities they can to get involved in some kind of multi-disciplinary activity like the New Venture Design course."

This is not the first time APSC 486/COMM 486: New Venture Design has enjoyed a high level of success. Last year, one of the graduating teams, PeerFX, was offered $250,000 of venture capital funding on Dragon's Den.

And the energy monitoring product of another APSC 486/COMM 486 team, Energy Aware, will be showcased in the Olympic Village during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

For more information on the TiEQuest Business Plan competition, visit: http://www.tiequest.org/

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—March 31, 2009—MosaStore, a team of UBC Engineering and Sauder School of Business students, has won second place and a $10,000 prize in the IBK Capital - Ivey Business Plan Competition held this weekend in London, O.N.

The prestigious MBA business plan competition is the largest of its kind in Canada, and is notable for having launched several successful commercial enterprises.

MosaStore (www.MosaStore.com), founded by Samer Al-Kiswany (PhD, Computer Engineering) and Awaneesh Shatmanyu (MBA, Sauder), is an economical storage system that provides high performance, secure and reliable storage service. It adopts innovative techniques to build an efficient storage system by utilizing the unused disk space from commodity desktop machines and network resources of the enterprise, and in turn, reduces capital and operational IT expenditures.

MosaStore provides an attractive alternative to existing storage solutions in terms of cost and performance. Especially for small and medium-size businesses and post-secondary institutes that, in the midst of electronic data explosion, need to provide a low cost, yet high performance storage system for their applications.

With a total of $40,000 in cash prizes, Ivey's Business Plan Competition is designed to promote entrepreneurship at Canadian business schools. Competitors submit new-venture business plans and are judged by venture capitalists and experts in the field.

The IBK Capital - Ivey Business Plan Competition is organized by Ivey MBA students for graduate students across Canada. This year, in addition to team MosaStore, two other UBC teams competed with those from University of Toronto, Queens University, McMaster University, University of Alberta, University of New Brunswick and Western's Richard Ivey School of Business. UBC's teams accounted for three of the 12 teams that were invited to the final round.

Support for the competition has been received from IBK Capital as well as from Covington Capital. For more information on this year's competition please visit www.iveybpc.com.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—March 25, 2009—UBC Engineering student Davis Chiu has been selected to represent Canada in the 2009 G8 University Students’ Summit. He will be one of two students from Canada representing the nation at the summit to be held May 8–9 in Palermo Italy at the Istituto Siciliano di Storia Patria.

Chiu, a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, will join students from universities of G8 countries to actively participate in creating world-wide development strategies. The students will be called upon to participate in a debate revolving around the possibility of harmonious and sustainable growth world-wide with culture, lawfulness and dignity each playing a key role.

Chiu will bring with him extensive knowledge and a unique perspective on sustainable growth. His dissertation research investigates the development of a best management practice for stormwater treatment, specifically focusing on the development of a yard-waste, compost-based stormwater filter for the removal of dissolved heavy metals from roadway runoff.

His project has been supported greatly by the UBC SEEDS (Social, Ecological, Economic Development Studies) program in which students, staff and faculty work towards sustainability. Chiu has spoken on numerous panels for SEEDS including UBC ‘s Sustainability Conferences and the International Leadership Association Pre-Conference. As well, Chiu has helped prepare a SEEDS workshop for the Botany 2008 Conference held at UBC.

For more information on the UBC SEEDS program, visit: www.sustain.ubc.ca/seeds.html

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—March 19, 2009—The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) today announced funding for seven strategic research networks, including the Magnesium Network (MagNet) hosted by the University of British Columbia. Under the direction of Materials Engineering Professor Warren Poole, MagNet connects a team from industry, government and five Canadian universities to focus on reducing vehicle weight using wrought magnesium alloys.

Magnesium is a remarkable metal having a density 75% lower than steel and 33% lower than aluminum. By extensive use of magnesium components in an automobile, the net weight of an average car or light truck could be reduced by 20-25% or approximately 400 kg. It is estimated that a 10% reduction in vehicle weight increases fuel economy by 6-8% and each kilogram of weight reduction leads to a reduction of 17-20 kg of carbon dioxide over the life of a vehicle. Furthermore, magnesium technology is viewed by industry as a key enabling technology of the next generation of electric, hybrid or fuel cell vehicles.

MagNet supports the objective of the North American automotive industry to reduce carbon dioxide emissions produced by the transportation sector, which currently represent 25% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

"Our government supports science and technology because it creates jobs, improves Canadians' quality of life and strengthens the economy for future generations," said The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), when making the funding announcement. "These projects will increase research and training in areas that will benefit Canadians, such as the economy, the environment, biotechnology and sustainable energy."

MagNet will receive $4.8 million in NSERC funding and $0.425 million from industry over five years.

“The NSERC and industry funding will enable us to establish Canada as a world leader in magnesium technology. Our team will work with the automotive industry to develop the knowledge necessary to produce magnesium components, and to transfer this knowledge base to Canadian industry. In addition, it will allow us to educate many highly skilled engineers and scientists,” says Poole.

“As researchers involved with this project and as citizens dedicated to a cleaner future, we are extremely grateful to NSERC and to taxpayers for funding this initiative.”

In addition to a team of researchers from The University of British Columbia, the MagNet network includes researchers from École Polytechnique, McGill University, McMaster University and The University of Waterloo.

Click here for more information on MagNet.

Click here for more information on NSERC strategic research networks.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—March 10, 2009—A team from UBC Engineering and the Sauder School of Business has been invited to the IBK Capital - Ivey Business Plan Competition later this month.

The prestigious MBA business plan competition is the largest of its kind in Canada, and is notable for having launched several successful commercial enterprises.

Students Samer Al-Kiswany (PhD, Computer Engineering) and Awaneesh Shatmanyu (MBA, Sauder) will be entering MosaStore in the competition.

MosaStore (www.MosaStore.com) is an economical storage system that provides high performance, secure and reliable storage service. It adopts innovative techniques to build an efficient storage system by utilizing the unused disk space from commodity desktop machines and network resources of the enterprise, and in turn, reduces capital and operational IT expenditures.

MosaStore provides an attractive alternative to existing storage solutions in terms of cost and performance. Especially for small and medium-size businesses and post-secondary institutes that, in the midst of electronic data explosion, need to provide a low cost, yet high performance storage system for their applications.

With a total of $40,000 in cash prizes, Ivey's Business Plan Competition is designed to promote entrepreneurship at Canadian business schools. Competitors submit new-venture business plans and are judged by venture capitalists and experts in the field.

This year’s competition is taking place in London, Ontario on March 27 and 28. Winners go on to represent Canada at the Global MOOT Business Plan Competition, the world's largest student business plan competition held annually at the University of Texas.

The IBK Capital - Ivey Business Plan Competition is organized by Ivey MBA students for graduate students across Canada. This year, in addition to team MosaStore, there will be two others from UBC representing the Sauder School, as well as teams from University of Toronto, Queens University, McMaster University, University of Alberta, University of New Brunswick and Western's Richard Ivey School of Business. UBC's teams account for three of the 12 teams across Canada invited to the final round.

Support for the competition has been received from IBK Capital as well as from Covington Capital. For more information on this year's competition please visit www.iveybpc.com

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Kelowna, Canada—March 4, 2009—Kavish Bujun is one of three winners in 2008 of the International Student Community Achievement Award. Kavish, a 2nd-year engineering student, grew up in Mauritius and had a multitude of options to pursue when he began looking at the post-secondary opportunities available internationally. Having considered attending schools throughout Europe and the United States, he settled on UBC Okanagan -- intrigued by landscape, the easy-going vibe and a solid recommendation from his sister, a student at McGill University in Montreal.
"There's a theme with all three International Student Community Achievement Award winners this year -- they come to our campus for an excellent education, but also for a place that's easy-going, accessible, and provides an opportunity to make a difference," says International Student Advisor Terri Flanagan. "Kavish consistently lends a hand to fellow engineering and international students, either in class or while working at the Academic Resource Centre. He's keen to welcome new students at JumpStart and other orientation programs, and does all of this in a spirit of friendship and service."

Kavish can also be seen on one of UBCO.TV's latest stories showcasing the International Student Community Achievement award.

Contact

Chris Guenard
Assistant Communications Coordinator
Alumni & University Relations - UBC Okanagan
250 807-9932
chris.guenard@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—February 26, 2009—A University of British Columbia electrical engineer is one of eight Canadian researchers selected for the new International Research Chairs Initiative (IRCI), that pairs the nation's academics with their peers in the developing world to establish research partnerships.
Launched in December 2007, the IRCI is a collaboration between the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa and the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program.

UBC Prof. Robert Schober, a Canada Research Chair in Wireless Communications, will be working with Prof. Ranjan Mallik from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India to tackle some of the most pressing problems in wireless communication system design.

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), announced the first round of eight research partnerships last night in Ottawa. The research teams will receive up to $1 million over five years to address key development challenges in health, environmental sustainability, resource management and information technology.

"We are delighted that the IRCI is enabling leading researchers from Canada and developing countries to work together and generate new knowledge, inform policy and find solutions to real world problems," says John Hepburn, UBC's Vice-President Research.

"The demand for wireless communications will increase significantly over the next decade, especially in emerging industrial nations such as India," says Schober. "Collaborating with researchers in India will allow scientists to develop and apply the latest theories and technologies to this fast-growing industry." To accelerate fast technology transfer, Mallik and Schober will closely collaborate with Canadian (Bell Canada, Sierra Wireless, fSONA Systems) and Indian (Sasken, STMicroelectronics, GM India Science Laboratory) companies supporting their project.

Part of Schober and Mallik's work will involve ultra-wideband technologies, which offer data rates of hundreds of megabit per second, significantly faster than current wireless data transfer rates. Their work could help enable faster data transmission and improve power efficiency, battery life and range for billions of people using wireless devices.

The CRC program also announced earlier this week a total of $9.7 million in new and renewal positions for Canada Research Chairs at UBC. The university has appointed 149 of the 168 CRC positions allocated to UBC.

CONTACT

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell: 604.818.5685
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—February 26, 2009—UBC Mechanical Engineering Professor Clarence de Silva has been appointed a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Mechatronics and Industrial Automation. This seven-year, federally funded research position - valued at $1.4 million - is designed to build Canada's research capacity.
An expert in machine health monitoring, the prediction, detection and diagnosis of malfunctions in engineering systems and machines, de Silva is working to develop a unified framework for industrial systems and machinery that will integrate health monitoring with intelligent supervisory control.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) through its Leaders Opportunity Fund also provides funding for infrastructure associated with a Canada Research Chair.

De Silva has received an additional $121,413 from CFI towards a fully networked and integrated laboratory for research and industrial applications in machine health monitoring, intelligent supervisory control and automated design evolution.
As well, UBC Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Mu Chiao—CRC in MEMS and Nanotechnology for Biomedial Devices—has received $28,025 from CFI for a flip-chip bonder for his MEMS and microfluidic research.

The Faculty of Applied Science at UBC currently holds 16 Canada Research Chairs, as well as a large number of industrial research chairs. To learn more about these, visit: http://www.apsc.ubc.ca/research/chairs.php.

View the original CRC announcement.

View the original CFI announcement.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Kelowna, Canada—February 11, 2009—UBC Okanagan engineering students are raising funds to travel to California in June with a Formula-style race car they have designed and constructed for the Formula SAE® international student design competition.
Fourth-year Engineering student Scott Ghomeshi first discovered the competition during a trip to the UBC campus in Vancouver where, as a first-year student, he saw a very cool-looking car that was in the midst of being built for the contest.

“I told myself I wanted to build something like that,” says Ghomeshi. “And I kept it in the back of my mind until about January of last year, when I decided to recruit some people and enter us in to the event. We wrote up a proposal, and with the support of the School of Engineering and its faculty, UBCO Motorsports was formed.”

Already more than a year in the making, UBCO Motorsports consists of more than 20 students from Engineering as well as the Faculty of Management. The students have been the driving force behind every phase of the project – from the design and construction of the race car to the fundraising and marketing required to cover the expenses involved.

“It’s been really exciting,” says Ghomeshi. “We had practically no resources when we began and relied heavily on local industry to help us out. We wanted to design our car as we would have if we had access to unlimited funds. The budget has forced us to make some changes, however there are some things that aren’t going to get compromised. It may be our first time in the competition, but we are in it to win.”

And although the community, UBC Okanagan School of Engineering and its faculty have all stepped up in a big way for the students, many of them have purchased tools and supplies using their own money.

“We need to raise an additional $20,000 to $25,000 to finish our car and compete in California,” says Ghomeshi. “There are different levels of sponsorship for anyone who is interested in helping us out.”

And just like they do in the big leagues, sponsors have the opportunity to get their name and logo painted on the race car, which features a turbocharged Yamaha Genesis 80FI 500cc engine, Fox gas racing shocks and magnesium wheels.

“This project has helped me view things in a whole different light,” says Ghomeshi. “It has connected classroom work to practical application. We’re getting our hands dirty. You’re not just sitting at your desks, taking notes. We have made a design, worked out its calculations, and are seeing something come to life.”

The Formula SAE competition takes place in Fontana, California, from June 17 to 20. A series of events throughout the competition will test the cars for endurance, acceleration, and evaluate each team’s marketing and presentation.

Anyone interested in supporting this project can call Scott Ghomeshi at 250-870-3449. To learn more about the Formula SAE® competition visit http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/.

Contact:

Scott Ghomeshi
Team Leader, UBCO Motorsports
Phone: 250-870-3449
Email: scotthomeshi@hotmail.com

Rudolf Seethaler
Faculty Advisor for UBCO Motorsports
Assistant Professor, School of Engineering
UBC Okanagan
Phone: 250-807-8801
Rudolf.seethaler@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—February 10, 2009—Daniel Gelbart, Adjunct Professor in Mechanical Engineering, has been chosen to receive the honorary degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, at the convocation to be held at the Chan Centre at 1:30pm on Tuesday, May 26, 2009.
Dan Gelbart is a gifted inventor and entrepreneur with a remarkably fertile and prolific mind. He has over 100 patents to his name. Many of his main achievements have been made through his company Creo Products, Inc., which he co-founded with Dr. Ken Spencer in 1984. He developed revolutionary printing and imaging technology that set his company entirely apart from the prevailing techniques. Gelbart was also remarkably perceptive and innovative in his personnel policies with Creo, gaining numerous “best employer” awards both provincially and nationally. Through both his technical excellence and entrepreneurial skills, he grew the company to over 4,000 employees by the time of its purchase by Kodak in 2005 for $1 billion.

Dan Gelbart has now taken on entirely new challenges in the medical field and is the Technology Advisor for Kardium Inc., a developer of medical devices to address cardiovascular disease. His energy and inventive imagination are unabated, and we can expect that the same personal forces that caused Creo to grow to be the largest high-technology company in B.C. will cause Kardium to grow and become a major player on the world stage.

Gelbart has made many major contributions to UBC Mechanical Engineering and to several other UBC departments. In Mechanical Engineering, he is an active member of the departmental Industrial Advisory Committee. For several years he has lectured on technical design to the second-year undergraduate students. This year, he is teaching a graduate course about industrial sensors and actuators, for which he is freely giving his time and personally providing all needed equipment and material resources.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—February 9, 2009—UBC students from the innovative undergraduate class New Venture Design (APSC 486/COMM 486) were big winners at the Enterprize National Finals, held this weekend in downtown Vancouver.
One of the teams to come out of the class, EasyPlug, placed second overall, winning a $10,000 prize. The team's success means it is also guaranteed an audition with the venture capitalists from CBC Television's Dragon’s Den—where graduates of APSC/COMM 486 have made successful pitches before. Additionally, the team will have the chance to present to the pre-screening panelists of the Vancouver Angel Technology Networks (VANTEC).

“The Enterprize competition experience was amazing—it was our first opportunity to present to an impartial third party and the result is an excellent indication of the viability of our business plan and product,” says fourth-year engineering student and EasyPlug spokesperson Shane Miller-Tait (ELEC). “The experience and feedback we gained from Enterprize will be very valuable in preparation for Dragon's Den, but we will have to step it up a notch—this time the judges are investors and we are asking them to part with their own money. It will be a great opportunity for EasyPlug to get the initial financing we need to take our product to market.”

EasyPlug's venture involves the safe disconnection of plugs at the wall if there is an impact that would otherwise be dangerous to the user or damaging to the appliance. Team members are UBC Engineering’s Jay Jagpal, Shane Miller-Tait and Greg Wong, and Sauder’s Ryan Fetterly, Crystal Hung and Max Miller.

Established in 2005 by UBC Engineering and Sauder School of Business, New Venture Design focuses on supporting teams of engineering and commerce students to come up with a new business idea. The class continues to garner attention in both academic and industry circles.

"New Venture Design has really shown us how important it is to have a well-rounded team—the different perspectives the six of us brought to the table were instrumental in our success,” says Miller-Tait. “I couldn't be more proud of the team we have, and I would encourage other engineers at UBC to take whatever opportunities they can to get involved in some kind of multi-disciplinary activity like the New Venture Design course."

This year the team is being supervised by UBC Engineering Professors Peter Lawrence and Philippe Kruchten along with Sauder marketing instructor Paul Cubbon.

“Our country needs innovators, not just techies with smart ideas,” says Kruchten. “Getting interdisciplinary teams together, with a mix of technical, finance, marketing and communication skills is a great experience for the students, an effective way to prepare them for their careers, and can even result in enterprise creation.”

"Unlike many courses that involve business plans around theoretical ideas, this course requires that teams generate a patentable idea and take it forward as a real new business start up," says Cubbon. "This involves prototyping, seeking seed funding and much more."

Previous to the national finals, three of the four class teams competed in the Enterprize Western regional finals in Calgary. At the regionals, APSC 486/COMM 486 produced the winner and third-place teams, winning $3000 and $1000 respectively. The winning UBC team in Calgary was Purelito, whose business model revolves around a portable device to provide travelers with quick, convenient and safe water when travelling in areas with water quality or health risks. Team members are UBC Engineering’s Sherry Ding, Alastair McKee and Alex Zolpys, and Sauder’s Sherry Chen, Graham Smith and Anika De la Flor.

Cubbon notes that the coursework and competition can help propel students into entrepreneurial careers. "This gives student teams a real taste for the new venture start-up environment, and fuels their entrepreneurial drive," he says.

This is not the first time APSC 486/COMM 486: New Venture Design has enjoyed a high level of success. Last year, one of the graduating teams, PeerFX, was offered $250,000 of venture capital funding on Dragon's Den.

And the energy monitoring product of another APSC 486/COMM 486 team, Energy Aware, will be showcased in the Olympic Village during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

All four of this year’s class teams continue to work on their inventions, developing prototypes and moving their business plans forward. This progression will enable them to enter further competitions and seek early-stage financing, helping launch their ideas from the classroom to real-world businesses and entrepreneurships.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—January 30, 2009—UBC Materials Engineering PhD candidate Lars Rose has been recognized by National Research Council's Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI) for his outstanding leadership role in community outreach and fuel cell advocacy. Along with his doctoral studies, he performs his research at NRC-IFCI.
Rose leads in his selfless efforts and willingness to participate in community events. He has the keen ability to translate technical jargon and complex knowledge into fun and informative learning opportunities for a wide-ranging audience. In describing how fuel cells work in simple ways, he informs, inspires and awakens curiousity in others.

His demonstrations at science outreach and community events have successfully attracted media coverage, promoting further the value of fuel cell technology as well as science and engineering as attractive options of study. He is an active member of the NRC-IFCI National Science and Technology Week team, a coordinator of the UBC Let's Talk Science Partnership Program and a valued member of the Applied Science community.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—January 29, 2009—UBC has announced its annual research award winners, including three UBC engineering professors.
Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor Robert Schober has received the Charles A. McDowell Award for Excellence in Research. The award, which consists of a medal, is made to an outstanding young faculty member at UBC who has demonstrated excellence in pure or applied scientific research.

Schober holds a Canada Research Chair in Wireless Communication with a broad research goal of improving the speed and quality of wireless communication and enabling communication anytime and anywhere. Applications of his research include mobile communication systems, high-speed internet access, personal area networks and sensor networks. His algorithm on interference suppression has been commercialized and implemented in millions of GSM mobile phones.

UBC has also awarded ten UBC Killam Faculty Research Fellowships to assist promising faculty members—exhibiting a special distinction of intellect—who wish to devote full time to research and study in their field during a recognized study leave. Applied Science winners include:
Civil Engineering Associate Professor Loretta Li
Li is an expert in the environmental mobility of contaminants in soil, groundwater, surface water and sediment. The Killam funding will further her exploration into the nature of contaminant migration, an understanding of which will lead to the development of rational design of containment, remediation and treatment systems to prevent the pollution of water resources. Applications of this research could be critical to regulators, engineers and practitioners involved in contaminated site issues, helping to resolve environmental problems.
Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Peter Cripton
Cripton directs the UBC Injury Biomechanics Laboratory, working towards preventing traumatic injuries and consequences through improved, engineered safety devises, such as the Pro-Neck-Tor helmet, which was recently recognized as the Best of What's New by Popular Science magazine. The Killam funding will further Cripton’s investigations into novel devices to prevent severe neck factures and spinal cord injuries to children in severe frontal motor vehicle collusions, through such devices as advanced restraints or child-specific air bags.

The Killam awards are given annually from the Killam Endowment Fund to faculty nominated by students, colleagues and alumni in recognition of excellence in research.

Honourees will be profiled at the Celebrate Research Gala on March 12.

For more information: http://www.research.ubc.ca/FacultyAwards.aspx

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—January 27, 2009—The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) will honour three UBC engineering professors for their excellence in professional service at its annual awards gala in Ottawa on March 7, 2009.
Civil Engineering Professor Emeritus Peter Byrne will be awarded the Julian C. Smith Medal in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the development of Canada. In particular, Byrne has made significant contributions to the science of earthquake engineering, liquefaction and soil-structure interaction. As a recognized authority in improving earthquake engineering for major structures such as high dams, his work has resulted in structures that are safer for the public. He was first elected a Fellow of the institute in 2001.
Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Victor Leung will be inducted a Fellow of the institute for his exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada. His contributions have been in the development of protocols and management techniques for mobile communication systems, inspiring applications in satellite, mobile and personal communications and high speed networks. Leung is a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the inaugural holder of the TELUS Mobility Industrial Research Chair in Advanced Telecommunications Engineering. He also holds Guest/Adjunct Professor appointments at Jilin University and Beijing Jiaotong University, China.
Mechanical Engineering Professor Nimal Rajapakse will also be inducted a Fellow of the institute for his exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada. His contributions have been in the areas of computational mechanics, smart materials and solid mechanics, including improving the safety and stability of Canada’s underground storage of nuclear waste and controlling the vibrations of Manitoba’s transmission towers. Rajapakse is a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and currently the Director of UBC’s interdisciplinary Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems.

In all, 20 fellows will be recognized—less than .01% of the membership.

About the EIC
Established in 1887, the EIC is Canada's federation of engineering societies committed to engineering for a prosperous, safe and renewable Canada. The 12 member societies in the federation include: IEEE Canada, Canadian Nuclear Society, Canadian Dam Association, Canadian Geotechnical Society, Canadian Society for Bioengineering, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Canadian Society for Senior Engineers, Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Canadian Society for Engineering Management, Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society, and Canadian Maritime Section of the Marine Technology Society.

For more information: http://www.eic-ici.ca/

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—January 23, 2009—An innovative undergraduate class offered by UBC Engineering and the Sauder School of Business continues to garner attention in both academic and industry circles.

APSC 486: New Venture Design, is a two-term course comprising fourth-year engineering and commerce students.

Established in 2005, and designed by Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Peter Lawrence and Sauder Professor Darren Dahl (marketing), the course focuses on supporting teams—consisting of three engineering and three commerce students—to come up with a new business venture.

This year, UBC Engineering Professors Lawrence and Philippe Kruchten are teaching the course along with Sauder marketing instructor Paul Cubbon (Dahl is on sabbatical).

“Our country needs innovators, not just techies with smart ideas,” says Kruchten. “Getting interdisciplinary teams together, with a mix of technical, finance, marketing and communication skills is a great experience for the students, an effective way to prepare them for their careers, and can even result in enterprise creation.”

“Unlike many courses that involve business plans around theoretical ideas, this course requires that teams generate a patentable idea and take it forward as a real new business start up,” says Cubbon. “This involves prototyping, seeking seed funding and much more.”

This year, three of the four class teams entered Enterprize, the leading Canadian student business competition. All three teams made the cut to the final 10 in the Western regional finals, held in Calgary on January 17.

And from these entries, APSC 486 produced the first- and third-place teams, winning $3000 and $1000 respectively. They also qualify for the National Enterprize finals, to be held in Vancouver from February 6 to 8. The top prize at the Vancouver finals is $20,000, and the top five finalists from the National Competition are guaranteed auditions with the venture capitalist investors from the nationally televised Dragon's Den program.

The top three national teams and the top three teams from British Columbia will also have the chance to present to the pre-screening panelists of the Vancouver Angel Technology Networks (VANTEC).

“This gives student teams a real taste for the new venture start-up environment, and fuels their entrepreneurial drive,” says Cubbon.

The winning team in Calgary was Purelito, a portable device to provide travellers with quick, convenient and safe water when travelling in areas with quality/health risks. Team members are Engineering’s Sherry Ding, Alastair McKee and Alex Zolpys and Sauder’s Sherry Chen, Graham Smith and Anika De la Flor.

Safeplug, the third-place team from the regional finals, will also be at the Enterprize finals in Vancouver. This team's venture involves safe disconnection of plugs at the wall in case of impact that could be dangerous to the user or damaging to the appliance. Team members are Engineering’s Jay Jagpal, Shane Miller-Tait and Greg Wong, and Sauder’s Ryan Fetterly, Crystal Hung and Max Miller.

This is not the first time APSC 486: New Venture Design has enjoyed a high level of success. Last year, one of the class teams, PeerFX, garnered $250,000 of venture capital funding on CBC's Dragon's Den. And the energy monitoring product of another APSC 486 team, Energy Aware, will be included in the Olympic Village during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The New Venture Design Course is supported by ECE alumnus and Vancouver entrepreneur, Dr. Ken Spencer, co-founder of Creo. "I support this program because, to me, it is vital that business people and engineers get to know each other and appreciate the skill-sets each can bring to a business situation," says Dr. Spencer.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—January 21, 2009—Researchers at the University of British Columbia and its affiliated teaching hospitals received close to $3.45 million for 31 research projects from Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). Of that, Applied Science researchers received close to $850,000 for eight research projects -- a quarter of the UBC total.

The January 16 announcement by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), and Suzanne Corbeil, CFI Vice President, External Relations and Communications, was part of $45.4 million in new funds under the Leaders Opportunity Fund and supports 251 projects at 44 institutions across Canada.

"We welcome the Government of Canada's investment in research excellence and innovation at UBC," said John Hepburn, UBC Vice President, Research. "These investments demonstrate their ongoing commitment to an innovation agenda and will help ensure our researchers have access to state-of-the-art research and training facilities."

Applied Science projects include:

Biophotonics Laboratory for Developing Optical Imaging Systems for Biomedical Applications
$125 000
Tang, Shuo

Center for 3D Characterization of Micro/nano-Scale Dynamics
$161,767
Cretu, Edmond

Clean Fuels by Novel Thermochemical Processing of Biomass.
$80,953
Smith, Kevin

Instrumentation for Vadose Zone Gas Analyses
$31,068
Mayer, K Ulrich

Lightweight Manipulator for Human-Robot Interaction
$71,847
Croft, Elizabeth

Optical Switching Technologies for Photonic Processing and Communications
$267,086
Holzman, Jonathan

Optical, Rheological and Computing Equipment for Studying Selective Withdrawal of Polymeric Liquids
$16,000
Feng, James

The Advanced Actuator Research Lab: A Facility to Design High Performance Mechatronic Drives
$126,634
Seethaler, Rudolf

View the original UBC media release.

About CFI
The Canada Foundation for Innovation is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI's mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians. Since its creation in 1997, the CFI has committed $4.4 billion in support of 5,800 projects at 129 institutions in 64 municipalities across Canada.

CONTACT

Catherine Loiacono
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2644
E-mail: catherine.loiacono@ubc.ca

ErinRose Handy
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—January 2, 2009—UBC Electrical & Computer Engineering adjunct professor Gary Birch has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his outstanding achievements and lifetime of service to the country.

Birch earned a BASc in Electrical Engineering at UBC in 1983 and a PhD in Electrical Engineering (Biomedical Signal Processing) in 1988.

He is honored for his contributions to the development of the Neil Squire Society, an organization that develops programs, services and assistive technology for people with physical disabilities, and for his determination and ingenuity in helping Canadians with disabilities to achieve a higher quality of life.

Established in 1967, the Order of Canada is the highest honour that Canada can give its citizens for exceptional achievement, merit or service.

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, announced 60 new appointments to the Order of Canada on Dec. 30, 2008. For details, visit: www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5601.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—December 8, 2008—UBC Mechanical Engineering fourth-year student Parisa Bastani has been named one of this year's Wesbrook Scholars. Wesbrook Scholars must rank in the top 10 percent of their class and possess the ability to serve, work with and lead others.
In addition to being an outstanding academic student, Bastani is the Captain of the Formula UBC student team, which builds an open-wheeled race car for the Society of Automotive Engineers' annual collegiate competition. She is also Chair of the Engineering Student Team Council, and a member of many student committees. Her recent achievements include winning, with her collaborators, the Best Engineering Track Paper at the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) Global Annual Forum.

The Wesbrook Scholar awards are sponsored by the Wesbrook Society, an organization of the university's major benefactors. Reserved for no more than 20 students in the University each year, the prestigious Wesbrook Scholar designation recognizes outstanding achievement.

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—December 1, 2008—Meaningful service to society through comprehensive education and research excellence is the vision of Prof. Tyseer Aboulnasr, the newly appointed dean of UBC's Faculty of Applied Science.

Aboulnasr joins UBC from the University of Ottawa, where she was a professor and served as dean of the Faculty of Engineering from 1998 to 2004. Prior to that, she served as associate dean and became full professor in 1997.

"Dr. Aboulnasr led Engineering at the University of Ottawa through impressive growth in student enrolment, research funding and faculty recruitment," says David Farrar, Provost and Vice President, Academic at UBC. "Her leadership will help propel UBC Applied Science on its current trajectory of excellence."

"What attracted me to UBC is its clear mandate to prepare students to become exceptional global citizens and to contribute meaningfully to society through the creation of new knowledge," says Aboulnasr, 54.

"I was extremely impressed with the university community's commitment to achieving education and research excellence, not as a goal in and of itself, but as a tool to better the world we live in."

An electrical engineering professor, Aboulnasr is an expert in the processing of digital signals, with applications varying from cancellation of echo on telephone networks to the design of smart hearing aids that can automatically sense surrounding environments and adjust controls accordingly. She received her Bachelor of Engineering from Cairo University and MSc and PhD in Engineering from Queen's University.

Aboulnasr chaired the Council of Ontario Deans of Engineering from 2001 to 2002 and is a 2004 recipient of the Order of Ontario and a 1999 recipient of the Ottawa-Carleton YWCA Women of Distinction Award (Education). She is a mother of three young adults and has a first-degree black belt in TaeKwonDo.

Aboulnasr succeeds Michael Isaacson, who stepped down after 11 years of service. Her appointment for a six-year term began last month.

The UBC Faculty of Applied Science has more than 4,000 undergraduate and 1,400 graduate and professional students in engineering - on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses - nursing, architecture and landscape architecture. For more information, visit www.apsc.ubc.ca.

CONTACT

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell: 604.818.5685
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—November 17, 2008—UBC Professor of Mechanical Engineering Clarence de Silva was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) in Ottawa on Saturday, November 15, 2008.
Election to the RSC is the highest honour a Canadian scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences.

Award Citation
Through original fundamental research, analysis, design, technology development, authorship of educational material, keynote presentations, and organization of international conferences, Clarence de Silva has made significant seminal contributions to knowledge generation and dissemination, advanced education, and the practice of engineering in Canada and overseas.

Founded in 1882, RSC is Canada’s senior and most prestigious scholarly organization.

Read the original RSC press release.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

A sports helmet invented by UBC researchers has been named a Winner of a 2008 Popular Science Best of What's New award in the Personal Health category.

The Pro-Neck-Tor helmet, co-developed by Mechanical Engineering Prof. Peter Cripton and PhD candidate Tim Nelson, has been shown in preliminary testing to reduce direct impact to the neck by up to 56 per cent.

Revealed every December, the Popular Science magazine's Best of What's New awards are presented to 100 new products and technologies spanning 11 categories.

Link to UBC Pro-Neck-Tor press release
http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/media/releases/2008/mr-08-086.html

Link to Popular Science article
http://www.popsci.com/bown/2008/product/pro-neck-tor

Link to Pro-Neck-Tor web site: http://www.pronecktor.com/

Contact:

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell: 604.818.5685
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca

ErinRose Handy
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

The University of British Columbia announced today that it has received a pledge from Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to provide $1.15 million in funding to support research in High-Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging technologies.

HDR display technology replaces the single backlight in a typical LCD screen with hundreds of small light-emitting diodes providing outstanding contrast and crisp brightness to deliver picture quality that matches real-world visual perception of depth, detail, and color.

The core technology in HDR was invented by a team of researchers led by UBC physicist Lorne Whitehead and spun off Brightside Technologies, which was acquired by Dolby last year.

"We are grateful for Dolby's recognition and support of UBC's leadership in this eye-opening technology," says John Hepburn, UBC's Vice President, Research. "The partnership will accelerate the development of HDR for industry and consumers."

"Dolby aims to provide customers with technologies that improve the overall entertainment experience - whether it's with the highest quality audio or image technology solutions," said Steve Forshay, Senior Vice President, Research, Dolby Laboratories. "We're eager to see the innovation that results from our support of education and collaboration with the University of British Columbia."

The funding will establish the Dolby Computer Science Research Chair and the Dolby Professorship in Digital Multimedia Endowment in the faculties of Science and Applied Science, respectively. The Chair will support work underway by Computer Science Assoc. Prof. Wolfgang Heidrich, whose research has already resulted in the image processing algorithms that are a key part of Dolby's HDR display technology.

"HDR gets us much closer to the range of contrast we see in the real world," says Heidrich. "The brights get brighter, the darks darker. The results are simply striking."

Heidrich's research also includes development of new HDR applications - displays, content authoring tools, and software for converting legacy video to HDR - as well as fundamental research into how humans perceive extreme contrast and colour.

Dolby will also support UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering Assoc. Prof. Panos Nasiopoulos's research into devices capable of capturing, compressing and delivering HDR images.

"The multimedia and entertainment sectors depend heavily on highly qualified personnel, such as the students who will work on state-of-the-art HDR technologies in our labs," says Nasiopoulos. "Our close collaboration with Dolby will give us a distinct competitive advantage over other universities, and will provide the industry with a pool of scientific talent."

Dolby is a registered trademark of Dolby Laboratories.

Contact

Panos Nasiopoulos
Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Tel: 604.822.2646
Email: panosn@ece.ubc.ca

ErinRose Handy
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
Email: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada—October 17, 2008—The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. (APEGBC) recognizes three UBC Engineering professors with awards in recognition of their excellence in professional, technical and community service at its annual awards ceremony tonight.

Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering Philip Hill receives APEGBC’s highest honour—the R.A. McLachlan Memorial Award—for his outstanding professional and community service. Award Citation

Professor of Civil Engineering Jonathan Fannin receives the Award for Teaching Excellence in Engineering and Geoscience Education. Award Citation

Professor of Mechanical Engineering Robert Evans receives the Editorial Board Award for his article "Can We Make Our Energy Future More Sustainable" published in the November/December 2007 issue of Innovation magazine. This award is given for the best article written by an APEGBC member and published in Innovation during the previous year. As former Director of UBC’s Clean Energy Research Centre and author of the 2007 book Fueling Our Future: An Introduction to Sustainable Energy, Evans has played an important role in the research and development of energy conversion systems, particularly those that will be used to reduce our overwhelming reliance on fossil fuels.

APEGBC will be posting video vignettes on its website on Drs. Hill and Fannin in the next few days. We encourage you to check back at: http://www.apeg.bc.ca/services/awards/prezawards/pastwinners.html to view the 2008 President’s Award videos.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091



Award Citation: Dr. Philip Hill
As visionary as he is humble, Philip Hill is a remarkable individual whose pioneering work on the use of natural gas in diesel engines has inspired generations of engineers. Phil has been an influence in the engineering community for more than 40 years as a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, Queen’s and UBC; his exceptional leadership was recognized with the both the UBC Killam Teaching Award as well as the Walter H. Gage Award for Teaching Excellence. He has always strongly believed that his work should have a profound societal relevance, and began addressing our critical need for clean energy more than 20 years ago. His innovations in low-emission engine systems went beyond university research when they became the nucleus of Westport Innovations Inc., founded by David Demers in 1995. He went on to win several awards for his outstanding technical achievements, including the Province of British Columbia’s Minister’s Environmental Award. Phil has also been an invaluable presence in his community and has given much of his time to several faith-based organizations, including Regent College, a theological school association with UBC, and Langham Trust, a charitable society that provides financial support to third-world scholars. Phil is respected and admired not only as a visionary engineer, but also as an exceptional human being, and is an outstanding recipient of the 2008 R.A. McLachlan Memorial Award.

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Award Citation: Dr. Jonathan Fannin
Jonathan Fannin is a caring and dedicated mentor to his students and an innovative leader of curriculum and program enhancements at the University of British Columbia. A professor of soil mechanics and geosynthetics, Jonathan encourages students to develop sound decision-making skills and reinforces the concept of uncertainty in engineering analysis and design. He has enhanced student learning by redesigning courses, creating custom course notes, and developing unique assessment methods that emphasize both qualitative and quantitative reasoning. With an infectious enthusiasm for his work and the use of illustrative teaching materials from his own research and specialist technical advising, Jonathan is an accomplished instructor who has been recognized twice with the UBC Killam Teaching Prize. Jonathan is also active in several professional associations, including APEGBC, the North American Geosynthetics Society, and the Canadian Geotechnical Society. He has authored over 30 refereed journal publications and book chapters, and was a significant contributor to the latest edition of the Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual.

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Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—October 9, 2008—Dr. Ken Hall received the Murray A. Newman Award for Excellence in Aquatic Conservation from the Vancouver Aquarium during its 14th annual awards gala last night.

A professor emeritus jointly with the Department of Civil Engineering and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC, Hall is a world-renowned expert on environmental impacts on water quality.

Award Citation
Dr. Ken Hall is an environmental chemist/limnologist with 38 years of experience in research on water quality, environmental contaminants, wastewater treatment, and environmental impacts. As the Assistant Director (1972-1990) of the Westwater Research Centre at UBC, he coordinated field monitoring studies for an interdisciplinary program that involved land use, wastewater discharges, water quality, and biological studies on the lower Fraser River. Ken also coordinated a three year program to investigate the impacts of log handling and storage activities on a lake ecosystem in central BC. Ken has studied eutrophic, meromictic and coastal oligotrophic lakes, and was involved in lake restoration activities using aeration, chemical precipitation and fertilization techniques. His latest research is on the contaminants associated with non-point pollution from urban stormwater runoff, and impacts on the Greater Vancouver aquatic ecosystem.

Ken has mentored many graduate students on studies of a diversity of topics, ranging from the novel use of leeches to monitor pulp mill contaminants, to the measurement and impacts of microbial resistance to antibiotics in agricultural watersheds. A major contribution was the thesis of Ken’s student Y. Comeau, which resulted in a 1986 paper that was selected as one of the top ten papers from 1967 -2006 in the journal Water Research (2006).

Ken served on committees in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) liquid waste management program, including the Brunette Watershed task group that developed a plan as a template to manage urban watersheds in the region. Ken is also on the Environmental Monitoring Committee, which coordinates and evaluates the monitoring program for all of the GVRD waste discharges and impacts on the environment.

Ken is unusual because his research has ranged from specialized, fundamental topics of international significance, to issues that affect the day-to-day health and well-being of Vancouver and other B.C. residents.

About the Murray A. Newman Awards
The Murray A. Newman Awards were established as a tribute to Dr. Murray Newman, the founding director of the Vancouver Aquarium, in recognition of his contribution to public awareness and understanding of the aquatic world.

View the original Vancouver Aquarium announcement.

Contact

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—October 7, 2008—The British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) has bestowed the 2008 Lieutenant Governor’s Technology Innovation Award on the four-man team of:

- Robert Gooding, Vice President of Technology, Advanced Fiber Technologies
- Mark Martinez, Associate Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering, UBC
- Carl Ollivier-Gooch, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
- James Olson, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
"The Lieutenant Governor’s Technology Innovation Award recognizes new and highly innovative technologies that are based on applied research conducted in British Columbia," said Soren Harbel, VP Innovation Development, BCIC. “This team has demonstrated exemplary innovation with the new advanced pulp screen technology by taking an idea common in the field of aircraft design and applying it to the pulp and paper industry.”

The team’s advanced screen rotor technology is described in detail in the Award Citation.

“The highly innovated new pulp screen technology developed by this small group has had a substantial, nearly immediate, impact on the pulp and paper industry—one of Canada’s (and British Columbia’s) largest manufacturing and export industries,” says Dr. Elizabeth Croft, Professor and Associate Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC.

The team’s achievement is currently being featured on the Knowledge Network: video clip.

View the original BCIC press release and media kit.

About the British Columbia Innovation Council
British Columbia Innovation Council is the lead organization charged with advancing innovation and commercialization in British Columbia. It is focused on accelerating the growth of our science and technology communities and competitively positioning British Columbia in the global science and technology economy in order to provide significant employment opportunities and a high standard of living for British Columbians.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—October 6, 2008—UBC Professor Emeritus of Mining Engineering Janusz Laskowski received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Mineral Processing Council (IMPC) at its XXIV congress in Beijing on September 27, 2008.
The IMPC Medal, known as the Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizes a lifetime of distinguished achievement and outstanding contribution to the advancement of the art, science and industrial practice of mineral processing together with participation in and contribution to the IMPC.

To learn about Laskowski’s distinguished career achievements, view the original MEI Online news story.

About the International Mineral Processing Council
Established in 1952, the IMPC began honouring an eminent personality with a lifetime achievement award during each congress starting in 1995. Previous winners include Prof. Douglas Fuerstenau (1995), Prof K. Schonert (1997), Prof Jean Cases (2000), Prof. Peter King (2003) and Prof. H Schubert (2006). For more information, visit http://www.impc.org.za.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—October 2, 2008—Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) has recognized Mechanical Engineering professor Yusuf Altintas as one of six P&WC Research Fellows across Canada for his academic excellence and outstanding contribution to P&WC technology programs in the field of manufacturing.
"Dr. Altintas is playing a vital role in advancing the position of Canada's aerospace industry through his valuable work in developing new technologies in high-speed manufacturing," said Walter Di Bartolomeo, vice president, Engineering at P&WC. "We are proud to recognize his contributions and look forward to continue working with him in breaking new ground in aerospace technologies.”

The award was presented to Altintas during a special ceremony at the Annual General Meeting of the Aerospace Industry Association of Canada in Ottawa on September 17, 2008. View the original P&WC media release.

Recently, Altintas was also honoured when P&WC chose to renew his NSERC/P&WC Chair in Virtual High-performance Machining for an additional five years. As well, UBC Mechanical Engineering associate professor Steve Feng was appointed Associate Chair of the NSERC/P&WC Chair in Virtual High-performance Machining. Learn more about this industrial research chair.

About Pratt & Whitney Canada
Based in Longueuil, Quebec, P&WC is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines powering business, general aviation and regional aircraft, and helicopters. The company also offers auxiliary power units and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., USA, is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada—September 30, 2008—UBC Engineering’s Brace Team—students Paul Hahto, Angela Melnyk, Liz Arnott, Isaac Herscovitch and instructor Mike Van der Loos—has won the inaugural ALS Society of British Columbia’s Excellence in Engineering Design Competition for Flexi-Brace, a dynamic neck brace.
Flexi-Brace, developed within a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering capstone design course, gives those suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS—aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease) increased mobility and freedom. The team also addressed issues of aesthetic appeal and comfort in its award-winning design.

The ALS Society of BC gave the team first-place and $5,000 for winning its first design competition, which seeks innovations to improve the quality of life of people living with ALS. A neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor neurons that carry messages from the brain to muscles, ALS results in weakness, atrophy and immobilization; upon initial diagnosis, typical life-expectancy is two to five years.

In addition to Flexi-Brace, UBC Engineering’s Gaze Tracker Team—Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD student Craig Hennessey and Professor Peter Lawrence—won an Innovation Award and $1,000 prize. The Gaze Tracker technology may be used to improve the quality of life of people living with ALS, enabling patients without full mobility to better communicate with the outside world through computing by looking on a 2D computer screen or in 3D space.

The Flexi-Brace team also placed second in the 2008 Canadian Design Engineering Network student design competition, which endeavors to enhance the capacity for design and innovation in Canada.

The ALS Society of BC was founded by ALS patients, their family members and health care professionals to meet the physical and emotional needs of people with ALS and their caregivers. To learn more about ALS BC, visit: http://www.alsbc.ca/

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—September 19, 2008—Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students took second place in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Canada Telus Innovation Competition, held September 12th in Mississauga, ON.
Alexander J. Moss, Andrew C.H. Wong and Yuanyuan (Cherry) Yin earned a $5000 prize for dScrybe Digital Receipt System, a tool for helping people spend and save smarter.

A system that could replace paper receipts entirely, dScrybe captures transaction information using a unique (patent-pending) technology. And its web-based database provides a centralized resource for users to view all their spending over time. For example, a dScrybe user can see just how much their daily $4 coffee costs over the course of a month or year.

The competition provides IEEE student members the opportunity to present a significant Information and Communication Technology project (such as a final year undergraduate project in an engineering) to a panel of industrial, academic and media experts. Projects are evaluated on research and design components, emphasizing design that “embodies the spirit of innovation and has strong application in industry in the foreseeable future.” As well, the extent to which the students’ presentation demonstrates creativity and innovation; the practical application of engineering fundamentals and engineering judgment; and the quality of the written and oral reports are factored into the competition results.

The UBC project was originally undertaken along with three students from the Faculty of Commerce—Zhao (Michelle) Dong, Brandon Jang and Clive Chun-Yee Lau—as part of the New Venture Design course co-taught by Professors Peter Lawrence of ECE and Darren Dahl of the Sauder School of Business.

In addition to the UBC team, students from Lakehead and Queen’s Universities and the Universities of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan took part in this year’s competition. Queen's took first place with a system designed to allow paralyzed people to communicate by blinking and winking.

For competition details, visit: http://www.ieee.ca/students/telus_award/index.htm

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Vancouver, Canada—September 16, 2008—UBC Applied Science is among the beneficiaries of the Ministry of Forests and Range announcement today of $600,000 to help grow B.C.’s wood bioenergy sector.

“This funding will help our consortium of scientists continue their leading-edge research into new uses for wood biomass resources in the quickly emerging bio-industry,” said UBC biomass and bioenergy research group principal Dr. Shahab Sokhansanj from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Link to Ministry’s announcement.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—August 31, 2008—The University of British Columbia has appointed Dr. Tyseer Aboulnasr, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Ottawa, to the position of Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science. She was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa. Her six-year appointment begins September 1, 2008.

Aboulnasr succeeds Michael Isaacson, who stepped down in June after serving as Dean since 1997. She will be the 11th Dean of Applied Science, one of UBC’s three founding Faculties. Applied Science enrolls over 4,000 undergraduate and 1,400 graduate and professional students in the fields of architecture and landscape architecture, engineering and nursing. It also includes the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan. Applied Science is the only engineering faculty in British Columbia that provides engineering programs and research across the full range of engineering disciplines.

The appointment of Dean Aboulnasr follows a vigorous international and national search. UBC Provost and Vice President Academic David Farrar and Doug Owram, Deputy Vice Chancellor, UBC Okanagan, chaired the thirteen-member search committee.

“Under Dr. Aboulnasr’s leadership, the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa experienced impressive growth in student enrolment, research funding and the professorial body,” said Farrar. “Her professional accomplishments and experience combined with a keen interest in further developing relationships with key stakeholders—students, alumni, faculty, staff and external partners—will propel UBC Applied Science on its current trajectory of excellence in education and research.”

“At this critical stage in UBC Okanagan’s development, it is essential to have an experienced leader to oversee and connect the School of Engineering in Kelowna with the Faculty of Applied Science in Vancouver,” said Owram. “Dr. Aboulnasr brings with her the experience and vision to foster growth within the School and ensure its success.”

Aboulnasr joined the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa in 1987 as Assistant Professor and became Full Professor in 1997. She served as Associate Dean from 1996–1998 and as Dean from 1998–2004.

During her decanal term Aboulnasr stewarded the Faculty of Engineering through a major expansion and unprecedented growth, reflected in significant increases in the number of undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty. As well, she oversaw the School of Information Technology and Engineering (bringing together computer scientists and software/computer/electrical engineers) through its developmental years. During Aboulnasr’s term as Dean, the Faculty of Engineering raised over $27 million to finance the expansion.

While serving as Associate Dean at University of Ottawa, she coordinated an overhaul of the engineering curriculum and started a number of orientation initiatives to facilitate the transition for students to university and to improve student retention.

Aboulnasr’s research is in the area of signal processing algorithms and applications. She helped establish a research group in Signal Processing Oriented Technologies in collaboration with colleagues in the School of Information Technology and Engineering and Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa and colleagues at Carleton University. She is the Principal Investigator of a research project funded by a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)-Siemens collaborative grant. Aboulnasr has published over 100 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. In addition to the NSERC and Siemens–funded research, her research has also been funded by Communications and Information Technology Ontario (CITO), National Capital Institute for Telecommunications (NCIT) and Nortel.

Aboulnasr has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses as well as short courses for industry in English and French; she is known for her excellent rapport with students and consistently achieved evaluations in the top band of her Faculty.

“I am extremely pleased to join the University of British Columbia and be associated with one of the top-ranked universities in the world,” said Aboulnasr. “UBC’s appeal to me extends well beyond its excellence. I was drawn to it because of its mission statement and how the university sees its responsibilities towards society.

As Dean, my responsibility is to ensure that the Faculty of Applied Science upholds the university’s vision to ‘prepare students to become exceptional global citizens, promote the values of a civil and sustainable society, and conduct outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.’ I am grateful to have the opportunity to work towards this vision and am very excited to be part of the UBC team.”

As part of her teaching responsibilities at University of Ottawa, Aboulnasr recently developed a course on Professional Practice of Engineering, which exposed students to a broad spectrum of topics emphasizing the social and ethical responsibility of engineers, legal and business issues affecting engineering, the importance of communication skills and teamwork and an appreciation for all the disciplines that contribute to the success of an engineering project.

Throughout her distinguished career, Aboulnasr has served on several national and international committees for grants, awards, journals and curriculum review, including chairing the Council of Ontario Deans of Engineering. At UBC, she chaired the Strategic Plan review team for the Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems (ICICS) in 2006 and was a member of the Faculty of Applied Science Review Committee in 2002.

Aboulnasr is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Engineering Institute of Canada. She received the Ottawa-Carleton YWCA Women of Distinction Award (Education) in 1999 and was named one of the top 100 influential people in Ottawa in 2001. In 2005, she was named to the prestigious Order of Ontario—the province’s highest official honour, recognizing those who have made an outstanding contribution to society in Ontario and around the world.

Aboulnasr has been active in several community groups aimed at fostering understanding amongst Canadians of all backgrounds—specifically Jewish, Arab and Muslim Canadians. She was also actively involved with the RCMP national security community advisory committee for the National capital region. Aboulnasr has served on the board of Leadership Ottawa, an organization dedicated to nurturing community-oriented leaders; the Ottawa Talent Initiative, an organization providing assistance to high-technology professionals; and the Renaud-Foster Network for Executive Women.

Before joining the University of Ottawa, she earned doctoral and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Queen’s University and a bachelor of engineering degree from Cairo University in Egypt.

Aboulnasr holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has three adult children.



View the Dean's message.


View Dr. Aboulnasr's biography.


Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—August 26, 2008—Energy supply and the environment—intimately inter-related topics—are arguably the most important issues currently facing society. The UBC Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) is dedicated to developing knowledge and solutions which can help reduce the environmental impact of energy use. Through its state-of-the-art and unique research facilities, investigators work towards developing clean energy and environmentally-friendly solutions through collaborative research projects, seminars, shared equipment, courses and other means to address the current challenges.

During fall 2008, CERC will be hosting the following seminars:

Wed Sept 24, 3:00 PM
Biomass and biofuels—truths, lies and promises
Professor Roland Clift
Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, UK
Chemical and Biological Engineering Building
Room 103, 2360 East Mall Vancouver (UBC Campus)

Wed Oct 29, 3:00 PM
Sustainable Opportunities for the Clean Energy Sector
Dr. Walter V. Cicha
Technical Business Analyst, NRC – CISTI, Canada
Chemical and Biological Engineering Building
Room 103, 2360 East Mall Vancouver (UBC Campus)

Wed Nov 26, 3pm
Biohydrogen and BioFuel Cell
Dr. Madjid Mohseni
CERC, UBC Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Chemical and Biological Engineering Building
Room 103, 2360 East Mall Vancouver (UBC Campus)

For more information, please visit: http://www.cerc.ubc.ca/Events.htm

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—August 20, 2008—The Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, Koeppern Machinery Australia and BC Mining Research launched the newly commissioned High Pressure Grinding Roll (HPGR) pilot testing and research facility today. It is located at the Center for Coal and Mineral Processing, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, 2332 West Mall, UBC. The HPGR facility at UBC, the first of its kind in North or South America, provides an opportunity for advanced learning and research to benefit industry. HPGR is emerging as an important new comminution (reducing to small fragments) technology in mineral processing because it offers substantial energy savings over conventional semi-autogenus grinding. HPGR has been widely used in the cement industry and is also the main technology used in the diamond industry. The technology has been recently used in large scale copper mines which is the main reason for the strong interest from the metal mining industry. UBC’s HPGR facility will be used to test a wider range of minerals including copper, iron, gold, zinc, nickel and diamonds among others.

To learn more about the facility, please contact:

Dr. Bern Klein
Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering
Tel: 604 822-3986
Email: bklein@interchange.ubc.ca

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, industry, students

Vancouver, Canada—August 8, 2008—The UBC Department of Mechanical Engineering has won four awards at the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) Global Annual Forum held recently in Detroit, Michigan U.S.A.
UBC won the first-annual PACE Laboratory Competition. Entries were evaluated on visual appearance of the outside entrance and interior of the laboratory; laboratory layout for student use; equipment; network and infrastructure; PACE software; and student and faculty usage.

PACE, a corporate alliance between General Motors, Autodesk, HP, Siemens PLM Software, EDS and Sun Microsystems, has worked together since 1999 to support academic institutions worldwide with computer-based engineering tools to prepare industrial/mechanical designers, engineers and analysts with the skills to compete in the future.

In 2003, PACE gave UBC Faculty of Applied Science an in-kind contribution worth approximately $240 million, consisting of computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering software, hardware and training, to form the UBC PACE Laboratory.

“I knew our lab would score well and I knew we had a chance of winning, but it was still a bit of a shock when they started to present the details of the wining lab and I realized they were talking about our lab,” said Alan Steeves P.Eng, Manager Computing/Electronics, Department of Mechanical Engineering.

In addition to the PACE Laboratory Competition, Mechanical Engineering also won three other awards at the forum.

Fourth-year student Parisa Bastani and her collaborators at the University of Toronto won the "Best Engineering Track Paper,” selected from a field including faculty as well as students.

Alan Steeves took home the "Best Curriculum Paper Award" and he was also recognized with the "Distinguished PACE Integrator Award” for setting up a global collaborative design network.

“I am very honoured to be recognized with both awards,” said Steeves. “The Integrator Award is not given out annually and has only been given twice before.”

In addition to international recognition, UBC Mechanical Engineering will receive generous gifts from PACE partners including Hewlett Packard, Siemens, Sun Microsystems, Autodesk and GM.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—August 5, 2008—UBC’s Centre for Environmental Research in Minerals, Metals and Materials (CERM3) has been selected as one of 15 innovative clean energy projects in B.C. to receive funding from the Province’s Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund.

CERM3 researchers, led by Adjunct Professor of Earth Energy Systems Mory Ghomshei, will partner with Fairfield Propagators Limited in Chilliwack, the largest lily and chrysanthemum grower in B.C. Together they will create a demonstration low-temperature geothermal energy system to heat and cool a 12-acre greenhouse facility.

The project is expected to save the company over $300,000 per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 2,500 tonnes annually. The collaboration with Fairfield Propagators presents UBC with a unique opportunity to develop a facility to demonstrate all types of geothermal energy systems to the public and other potential users.

In addition to this project, CERM3 has successfully installed a geothermal system at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver and is working on additional geothermal system projects in B.C. and Canada.

Contact:

Mory Ghomshei, P.Eng., P.Geo., Ph.D.
Professor (Adjunct) of Mining Engineering and Earth Energy Systems
The Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering,
Tel: 604.822.6217
Email: mory@interchange.ubc.ca

John Meech, P.Eng., Ph.D.
Professor of Mining Engineering and Director of CERM3
The Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering,
Tel: 604.822.3984
Email: jameech@dccnet.com

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—July 31, 2008—Team 2Fast2Fourier won the 8th Annual Engineering Physics 253 Final Competition by successfully designing and building the robot with the best record for identifying and apprehending “criminals” during four rounds of heated competition. The team beat a dozen others for bragging rights and prizes.
The top finishers were—
1st place: 2Fast2Fourier
2nd place: Eigen-A Win
3rd place: Pikachu
4th place: Burn Hard

This year’s competition theme was drawn straight from news headlines and challenged students to design—and build from scratch—safe alternatives to tasers as a means to track, apprehend, and “detain” suspects while avoiding innocent bystanders.

The competition—the final exam of a 13-week course in practical engineering design, similar to courses offered at MIT and Stanford—provides students with the opportunity to learn the basics of electronics and mechanical design using innovative fabrication techniques during the first six weeks. Students spend the remainder of the course applying the knowledge to construct the autonomous robots and preparing for the final competition.

For more information on the course visit:
http://www.engphys.ubc.ca/phys253/

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-822-1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Event: Students in summer engineering physics course go head-to-head with their autonomous police-robots

Time: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 10 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (setup begins 9:30 a.m.)

Location: Hennings Bldg., Rm. 200, 6224 Agricultural Road, UBC For a map and closest parking, visit http://www.maps.ubc.ca?652

Visuals: Student-designed automated robots capturing stationary and moving "thiefs" on an 8 foot x 8 foot playing surface. Students and instructor will be available for interviews and set up space will be available for TV cameras.

See video of test run at: http://www.vimeo.com/1392255

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Thirteen teams of UBC engineering students will pit prototype police robots against each other for prizes and bragging rights in the 8th UBC Engineering Physics Robot Competition.

This year's competition theme, proposed by Dr. Andrew Irvine, is intended to raise awareness and interest in safe alternatives to Tasers as a means to detain suspects. UBC Engineering Physics students have been challenged to invent and built robots that will demonstrate non-hazardous methods to track, apprehend, and "detain" suspects.

The second-year students have built autonomous police bots to capture and detain "thieves" which have been distributed on a playing surface. Stationary thieves must be identified, discriminated from innocent bystanders, and "arrested". In the meantime, a remote-control mobile thief (driven by the opposing team) will attempt to steal as much money as possibly before it is tracked down and immobilized.

Robots will be displaying the innovative detainment solutions engineered by the students - they will be completely preprogrammed and will operate without remote control.

The competition is the final exam of a 13-week course in practical engineering design, similar to courses offered at MIT, Stanford and other engineering schools. Students learn the basics of electronics and mechanical design using innovative fabrication techniques, then spend the last six weeks applying the knowledge to construct autonomous robots.

Contact

Jon Nakane, Course Instructor
UBC Engineering Physics
Tel: 604.822.2110
Cell: 604.505.8187
E-mail: jnakane@physics.ubc.ca

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell: 604.818.5685
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 30, 2008—As of July 1 several UBC Faculty of Applied Science engineering departments will undergo a change in leadership. The Departments of Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Engineering and the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering will each have a new department head.

The Department of Civil Engineering will be led by Professor Reza Vaziri (P.Eng), a professor at UBC since 1993. With a PhD in Civil (Structural) Engineering, Vaziri’s research focuses on the development of analytical and numerical modelling techniques to solve a variety of inter-disciplinary problems in materials and structures. His research has focused on modelling the response of structures, notably those made of composite materials, to high intensity impact loading as well as process modelling of composite structures. The recipient of a wide range of research support from both government and industry, Vaziri’s funding totals more than $4.4 million. Teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, his courses focus on mechanics and materials; he teaches computational mechanics and the only dedicated course on composite materials offered at UBC, both of which attract students from a wide range of disciplines. For a full list of Professor Vaziri’s publications and professional achievements, please visit: http://www.civil.ubc.ca/people/faculty/faculty-vaziri.php

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will be led by Professor André Ivanov (P.Eng), UBC professor since 1989. An expert in very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits design, Ivanov collaborates on several major UBC and Canadian research efforts in the area of system on a chip (SoC) integration technology. He has received more than 50 grants from both government and private sector sources for his research for funding, totalling over $66 million. He holds four U.S. patents. At the undergraduate level, Ivanov teaches courses on electronics and integrated circuits and at the graduate level focuses primarily on VLSI circuits design and test. For a full list of Professor Ivanov’s publications and professional achievements, please visit:
http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~ivanov/

The Department of Materials Engineering will be led by Professor Warren Poole (P.Eng), a UBC professor since 1994 and Alcan Chair in Materials Process Engineering. Poole concentrates on research that addresses gaps in scientific knowledge but also meets industry needs; he is particularly keen on transferring academic research to industry for improved materials including aluminum and steel. Poole has formed strong research collaborations with both academic and industry partners; in total, his grants as principle researcher or partner have totalled more than $13 million. Poole has taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses on materials engineering and has devised new web and student-based approaches to learning. For a full list of Professor Poole’s publications and professional achievements, please visit: http://www.mtrl.ubc.ca/faculty_&_staff/poole.php

The Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering will be led by Professor Bern Klein (P.Eng), UBC professor since 1997. Klein’s research spans an array of mining topics—rheology of mineral suspensions, ultrafine grinding, hydraulic transport of non-Newtonian mineral slurries, industrial minerals, mine-mill integration, continuous centrifugal gravity concentration, improved technologies for artisanal and small scale gold miners and metal leaching from waste rock. His extensive industry consultation and experience compliment Klein’s academic expertise; he has received a number of government and industry grants and in-kind support for his research work, totaling more than $6.5 million. Klein teaches courses on mineral process design for undergraduate and graduate students as well as part of the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering Life Long Learning program. For a full list of Professor Klein’s publications and professional achievements, please visit: http://www.mining.ubc.ca/BKlein.html

Each of the new Applied Science department heads has been appointed to serve through June 30, 2013.

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-822-1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering

Vancouver, Canada—June 27, 2008—The Government of Canada is investing in the University of British Columbia (UBC) to strengthen leading-edge wireless technology. The funding will help the university establish essential wireless channel models and system guidelines, and foster collaboration between academia and industry.

The announcement of $293,000 was made today by Russ Hiebert, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Member of Parliament for South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale.

"This important investment by the Government of Canada will help us address critical technical issues faced by industry, and will help wireless developers design, simulate, and test new types of wireless systems more effectively," said Prof. Dave Michelson, leader of the Radio Science Lab in UBC's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "It will also play an important role in helping the wireless industry develop more reliable and robust wireless systems."

View the complete Government of Canada media release.

For additional information, contact:

Kathy Liu
Communications Officer
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Tel: (604) 666-7542
Cell: (778) 671-0273

Brian Lin
Communications Coordinator
UBC Public Affairs Office
Tel: (604) 822-2234
Cell: (604) 818-5685

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada—June 24, 2008—University of British Columbia researchers have invented a sports helmet that reduces direct impact to the neck by up to 56 per cent, according to preliminary tests.

Dubbed Pro-Neck-TorTM, the patent-pending technology features a movable inner shell that guides the head to tilt slightly forward or backward in a head-on impact, thus allowing dissipation of direct loads to the cervical spine. The inner shell mechanism is deployed only when the wearer lands head-first with a certain speed and angle at impact. It works otherwise like existing sports helmets.

For an animation of how the helmet works, visit www.pronecktor.com.

"Existing helmets are not designed to protect the neck and the cervical region of the spine, which happens to be the weakest," says co-inventor Peter Cripton, a Mechanical Engineering assistant professor in the Faculty of Applied Science.

"Pro-Neck-Tor is designed to address potentially debilitating injuries to the neck and spine that often accompany head-first impacts," says Cripton, who is also director of the UBC Injury Biomechanics Laboratory, with facilities at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.

A head-first impact in sports such as hockey, football, mountain-biking and snowboarding could load the neck with as much force as the weight of five or more people. This force is comparable to that which can be produced in a car accident, such impact could result in spinal cord injury and permanent paralysis.

Approximately 12,000 people suffer spinal cord injuries annually in the U.S., with 10 per cent of these injuries occurring in activities that make use of a helmet. One thousand people suffer spinal cord injuries annually in Canada.

With help from surgeons from the UBC Dept. of Orthopedics' Spine Surgery Division at Vancouver General Hospital, and researchers from the Division of Orthopedic Engineering Research and the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), Cripton and PhD candidate and co-inventor Tim Nelson have conducted preliminary testing using a mechanical head and neck model.

Results show the Pro-Neck-Tor can reduce both torques and forces to the neck. The forces were reduced by 27 to 56 per cent and torques 19 to 72 per cent, depending on the angle of the impact.

Prof. Peter Cripton is also an associate faculty member in the Dept. of Orthopedics in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. The faculty provides innovative programs in the health and life sciences, teaching students at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels, and generates more than $200 million in research funding each year.

VCH Research Institute is the research body of Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. In academic partnership with UBC, the institute advances health research and innovation across B.C., Canada, and beyond. www.vchri.ca.

Contact:

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell: 604.818.5685
Email: brian.lin@ubc.ca

Lisa Carver
Communications
Vancouver Coastal Health/Research Institute
Tel: 604.875.4111 x 61777
Cell: 604.319.7533
Email: Lisa.Carver@vch.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—June 21, 2008—UBC Mech 2 received the 2008 Alan Blizzard Award for its “collaboratively designed and delivered program,” presented today at the 28th Annual Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference. Established to encourage, identify, and publicly recognize exemplary collaborations in university teaching that enhances student learning, the award seeks to make visible and disseminate scholarship of teaching and learning, based on values and practices of collaborative teaching.
Mech 2, the mandatory second-year program for UBC mechanical engineering undergraduate students, aims to develop analytical, practical and design skills. A radical departure from conventional curriculum, Mech 2 incorporates content from 15 previously disparate courses into four main courses taken consecutively. These four courses include thoughtfully integrated lectures, tutorials, labs, design projects, presentations, field trips and other activities. Integration, coordination and collaboration take place within courses as well as across the entire program.

“The project courses are absolutely amazing. After completing Mech 2, I definitely feel I have a better sense of what engineering is all about,” says a 2004 Mech 2 student. “Considering how much material second-year mechanical engineers are expected to cover, Mech 2 does a great job of teaching material as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

Mech 2 students work closely with other students, 14 core faculty, over 50 teaching assistants and six technicians, ensuring good communication within the student teams and between the teams and administrators. Student performance in senior year courses has greatly improved following the introduction of Mech 2, and students have indicated a strong preference for the Mech 2 format over the conventional approach. Nearly 500 students have experienced Mech 2 since it began in 2004.

“I love the personal interaction with professors, TAs, other staff and a broad range of students,” says a 2005 Mech 2 student. “On the whole we are one of the most cooperative groups at UBC. In Mech 2 the support network is amazing and the training is unique and powerful.”

For more information on Mech 2 visit:
http://www.mech.ubc.ca/prospectivestudents/undergraduate/mech2.html

To hear UBC’s President Toope speak on the award visit:
http://www.mech.ubc.ca/__shared/assets/Toope_Address-web6296.wmv

To learn more about the Alan Blizzard Award visit: http://www.mcmaster.ca/stlhe/awards/alan.blizzard.award.html


Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-822-1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 18, 2008—UBC professors Peter Lawrence (Electrical & Computer Engineering), Victor Leung (Electrical & Computer Engineering), and Malcolm Scoble (Mining Engineering) have been inducted as Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) in recognition of their distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession. The induction ceremony took place last night in Montreal in conjunction with the Academy’s 2008 Annual General Meeting.

Inductee Citations

Peter Lawrence is internationally recognized as a leading researcher in the area of robotics and telecontrol. His achievements have led to numerous new and advanced technologies that have greatly impacted the field of rehabilitation engineering. He has contributed significantly to the literature; and his research has led to 16 patents and seven technology transfers to industry. Professor Lawrence is a dedicated and excellent teacher. He is recipient of the 1997 UBC Killam Teaching Prize and the 2007 Teaching Award of Excellence from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geologists of B.C. He was also the inaugural the holder of NSERC Chair in Design Engineering from 2002-2007.
Victor Leung is a leader in the development of protocols and management techniques for mobile communication systems. His pioneering research on control algorithms and protocols for the management of user access, mobility, handoff, and quality of service in wireless networks has inspired the work of many researchers and influenced commercial product developments. He has provided strong mentorship to many students and budding researchers. Through his tireless volunteer work in many editorial boards and conference technical program committees, he has provided outstanding services to the international telecommunications research community.
Malcolm Scoble, inaugural holder of the Robert E. Hallbauer Chair in Mining and Sustainability at UBC, is a renowned expert in a number of areas related to mining engineering. Throughout his academic career, he has maintained close links with industry and has had extensive consulting experience in Canada and overseas. His tireless efforts to bridge high-calibre university research with industrial practice have led to numerous fruitful industry collaborations. He is recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Lecturer Award (1996) and Fellowship Award (1994) “for outstanding contributions to the Canadian minerals industry,” both from the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

The Canadian Academy of Engineering comprises many of the country's most accomplished engineers, who have expressed their dedication to the application of science and engineering principles in the interests of the country and its enterprises. Nominated and elected by their peers, Fellows of the Academy are committed to ensuring that Canada's engineering expertise is applied to the benefit of all Canadians.

For more information: http://www.acad-eng-gen.ca/

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—June 17, 2008—Women in Engineering (WIE) celebrates the completion of its first official year at UBC and an abundance of activities and progress. Evolving out of the former NEW @ UBC (Networking Engineering Women at UBC) program, WIE continually promotes engineering as a career path to the community at large, and serves to support current UBC women engineering students as they progress through their academic careers. “UBC Engineering is working to promote a welcoming and supportive environment for female students and for the past three years, NEW @ UBC and now WIE have been important initiatives through which this support has been focused and expanded,” says Elizabeth Croft, Professor and Associate Head External of Mechanical Engineering and WIE Faculty Advisor. Currently, 18% of undergraduate and 20% of graduate students are female. The Women in Engineering program illustrates the Faculty of Applied Science’s commitment to promote female enrolment and ensure a welcoming environment for all students.

Through the establishment of WIE, UBC Engineering recognizes women as leaders in engineering. Women students are attracted and supported by training and development programs that are career focused and provide networking opportunities as well as interaction with positive role models. Working with the Division for Advancement of Women in Engineering and Geoscience (DAWEG), a division of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists in British Columbia (APEGBC), WIE has partnered in a variety of professional and networking opportunities for women in engineering such as the Tri-mentoring program, the Annual Salary Seminar, and the highly successful 2007 Building Communities Symposium. .

On Wednesday April 30, WIE held its most recent event, an Engineering Day promoting UBC Engineering to Grade 10 and 11 female students from the Metro Vancouver region. With nearly 100 students travelling from as far as Chilliwack, the event hosted an array of bright young women eager to engage in the day’s interactive activities.

Elizabeth Croft spoke to the expansive interdisciplinary reach of engineering, addressing current issues such as climate change, food shortages, clean energy and overpopulation. She presented engineering as a “helping discipline”, which creates tangible results in everyday life with a positive impact on almost every aspect of our environment.

Other components of the outreach day included a load bearing competition. Led by graduate and undergraduate engineering students, the young women were challenged to build the strongest, tallest and most resource-friendly structure from the materials provided: 50 mini-marshmallows and 50 toothpicks. The winning team’s structure, roughly nine centimeters tall, impressively withstood the simultaneous weight of three pads of UBC post-its, one small box, a water bottle and a small paint container.

Students also engaged in laboratory tours to provide hands-on experiences of the work they could be doing as engineering students. In the Michael Smith Laboratories, Veronique LeCault, a PhD student specializing in microfluidic technology for hematopoietic stem cell research gave one student the opportunity to plug a micropump, moving fluids in a microfluidic device. Students were fascinated as the tiny device holding dozens of tiny compartments full of cells was illuminated on a monitor to reveal the reaction.

“Engineering is often misunderstood.” says Erin Biddlecombe, Student Development Officer and WIE Staff Coordinator. “The outreach day is just one example of how WIE works to clarify the question we hear so often, ‘What is engineering anyway?’ This past year, a number of our women students participated in a community service learning project at the Tillicum Elementary School teaching Kindergarten through Grade 4 students about science and engineering. These kinds of projects are vital to help the community at large better understand the professional realm of engineering. We know that women are attracted to “helping careers”— we want young women to recognize that as engineers they can directly work with people, that they can make the world a better place.”

The WIE program has big plans for 2008−2009, with efforts focused on supporting first-year women engineering students’ transition to UBC and developing networking opportunities for continuing students.

For more information on the WIE program, please visit: http://wie.apsc.ubc.ca

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-822-1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—June 12, 2008—A two-week expedition of a remote lake in interior British Columbia will help scientists and engineers search for evidence of early life on Mars.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia and McMaster University, along with astronauts and scientists from NASA will use single-person submersibles to explore the deepest parts of Pavilion Lake and collect samples of unique freshwater microbialites.

Microbialites are reef-like structures formed by bacteria. The living microbialites in Pavilion Lake resemble ancient microbialite fossils from the early Cambrian period, when life first formed on Earth. They provides rare insights into how "biological signatures" of early life forms may be preserved in rock structures.

"Better understanding of how ancient fossils on Earth were created will hone our ability to find and detect life - and remnants of life - on other planets," says UBC Civil Engineering Prof. Bernard Laval, co-principal investigator of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP).

Laval is an expert in physical limnology and fluid mechanics. He and colleagues first reported the discovery of microbialites in Pavilion Lake in 2000 and has since studied how nutrients are carried by water flows to and from the microbialites using unmanned autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV).

Situated between Cache Creek and Lillooet, about five hours north of Vancouver, Pavilion Lake is recognized as an analogue for ancient Earth and space exploration for its depth and unique freshwater microbialites.

PLRP researchers will use two DeepWorker submersibles, developed by North Vancouver company Nuytco Research Ltd. - and closely resembling manned rovers currently being designed for exploration of the Moon - to map and collect samples of microbialites in depths more than 60 metres.

Laval and UBC PhD candidate Alexander Forrest will also use an AUV, similar in function to the robotic rovers currently exploring Mars, to complement the DeepWorker exploration.

Media are invited to attend the PLRP Media Open House on June 27. For details visit www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/.

For photos of microbialites, visit www.PavilionLake.com. Photos of the DeepWorker are available at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/download.

Contact

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Email: brian.lin@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—June 6, 2008—UBC Engineering’s Supermileage team and alumnus MLA Ralph Sultan (MECH ’56) will be promoting sustainability in the West Vancouver Annual Community Day Celebration parade this Saturday. The entry will publicize the phenomenal fuel economy that Team Supermileage has achieved (3145 miles per gallon in 2006).

Attracting thousands of participants and visitors annually, the “Spirit of Green” celebration will focus on conservation and the environment. Highlights include floats by local schools, bands, gymnasts, exhibits at Ambleside Park, a salmon BBQ, rides and games.

West Vancouver Community Day Parade
Time: Saturday June 7, 9:50am
Location: Marine Drive and 22nd Street to 13th Street and Marine (Ambleside Park), West Vancouver.

For more information visit:
http://www.westvancouver.net/article.asp?a=2853&c=815

Contact

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-822-1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: alumni, apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—May 29, 2008—Ambrose Chan, PhD student in the UBC Department of Mechanical Engineering, has received the 2008 Gordon M. MacNabb Scholarship presented by Precarn Incorporated for his work titled, “Visual Servoing of Mobile Eye-In-Hand Manipulators to Objects with Model Uncertainties.”

In other words, he’s helping develop a robot that not only keeps its eye on the target, but minds its elbows.

Under the co-supervision of Professors Elizabeth Croft and Jim Little, Chan’s research intends to develop a vision-based robot controller capable of planning and updating robot motion for both target finding and target picking, while simultaneously refining its model of the target object and the environment through ongoing visual input.

Vision provides a robust sensing tool for robots moving in complex environments. The ability to control robot motion via visual commands has been of considerable interest to automotive/service robot manufacturers, hazardous materials handlers, and human-machine interface designers.

However, there are many challenges to implementing effective, collision-free vision-based robotic control in unstructured, environments where models of the world are imprecise. For example, picking jumbled objects out of a bin, where the environment itself changes as the parts are removed.

Chan’s research addresses these concerns.

The Gordon M. MacNabb Scholarship Foundation was founded in 1993 as a charitable organization to support graduate students studying and working in the area of robotics and intelligent systems. The Foundation has awarded $5,000 scholarship supplements each year since its inception.

For more information about the MacNabb Scholarhip Foundation, visit:
http://www.precarn.ca/products/Scholarships/index.html

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
604-822-1524
Erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—May 27, 2008—UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Rabab Ward is this year’s recipient of the YWCA Vancouver Women of Distinction Award in the category of Technology, Science & Industry for her dedication to the advancement of technological, scientific and industrial discovery and application, and her efforts to forge new roles for women and create opportunities for future generations in applied science.
Rabab Ward, a visionary engineer and researcher, is a pioneer and role model for women in engineering. As the first female engineering professor at the University of British Columbia, she turned the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems into a world-class research facility. She is a world leader in the application of signal processing theory to cable and high-definition TV, breast cancer detection and medical and voice signals. Her research has been adopted by industry. Rabab also devotes time to advocating intercultural peace and mutual respect between peoples and is a previous president of the Arabic Educational Society.

Over 1,000 guests attended last night’s evening event at the Westin Bayshore to honour and celebrate the 10 winners and 41 nominees, all of whom make outstanding contributions in their communities.

The Women of Distinction Awards began in 1984 to honour, encourage and recognize women whose outstanding activities and achievements contribute to the health and future of the community. Since then, YWCA Vancouver has honoured over 200 deserving women and workplaces.

For more information: http://www.ywcavan.org

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-822-9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—May 27, 2008—Kathy O’Flynn-Magee, Lecturer in the School of Nursing, Jon Mikkelsen, Instructor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Shahriar Mirabbasi, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering each received UBC Killam Teaching Prizes during convocation ceremonies today at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts.

During the presentation the following award citations were read, detailing the winners’ unique contributions to teaching at UBC:
Kathy O'Flynn-Magee is an extraordinary teacher, who has a profound and positive influence on the students in her courses, both graduate and undergraduate. She is also heavily involved in educating and mentoring new clinical instructors in the School of Nursing, and is regularly asked to teach at the Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth. However, it is in the arena of educating future nurses and nurse educators where Kathy’s enactment of her beliefs about teaching truly shines. Kathy believes that the creation of a positive relationship between learners and teachers is essential to the learning process. The evaluations and endorsements that she has received show that she clearly embodies this ideal.
Jon Mikkelsen is a gifted teacher. His easy-going demeanor makes the bridge for students to approach and share in his knowledge and enthusiasm. His outstanding work in redeveloping and running his department's laboratory courses has made them a high point of the undergraduate curriculum. He has also worked tirelessly to support and improve the final-year design projects in mechanical engineering, emphasizing the importance of both realistic industrial design problems and uniformly high standards for student achievement. Finally, Jon devotes enormous time and energy in support of the department's award-winning Supermileage, Autonomous Yacht, and Human-powered Submarine student design competition teams.
Shahriar Mirabbasi is a remarkable and passionate teacher. His combination of prepared animated computer slides with live, on-the-screen action makes his lectures a memorable experience. In his own words: Shahriar believes in drawing on the disparity and richness of backgrounds and learning methods that students bring to the classroom and turning the experience into one in which students learn from the teacher, from themselves and from their classmates. This strategy enables the students to teach themselves, teach each other, and teach the teacher. Several years, tens of courses, and hundreds of students have piled up impressive teaching evaluations which bear witness to the validity of his approach and to his commitment to it and to his students.

The highest teaching distinction at UBC, the UBC Killam Teaching Prizes are awarded annually from the Killam Endowment Fund to faculty nominated by students, colleagues, and alumni in recognition of excellence in teaching.

For more information about the award, visit: www.vpacademic.ubc.ca/awards/killam.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, awards, engineering

Kelowna, Canada—May 23, 2008—Josh Schlenker, a third-year Electrical Engineering student, is the first-ever recipient of the FortisBC Scholarship in Engineering at UBC Okanagan. The $2,500 scholarship is awarded to a student entering their third or fourth year in the Electrical Engineering program at UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering.

Last fall, FortisBC also pledged $30,000 over the next three years to help create a new Power Engineering Option in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC Vancouver.

“Our industry is currently experiencing unprecedented electrical demand growth and many utilities are faced with the need to build more infrastructure,” said Doyle Sam, vice president, engineering and operations for FortisBC. “We are committed to being active partners with our communities to ensure a sustainable future for the region, and the province.”

-- 30 --

Contact:

Bud Mortenson
Communications Coordinator, Public Affairs
Alumni and University Relations
UBC Okanagan
Phone: 250-807-9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Aurora Bonin
Corporate Communications
FortisBC
Phone: 250-469-8120
E-mail: aurora.bonin@fortisbc.com

Labels: apsc, donor, engineering, industry, students

Vancouver, Canada—April 21, 2008—UBC Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate Christopher Michalak is this year’s winner of Interactive Brokers Group’s (IBG) third annual electronic trading Olympiad for colleges.

Michalak beat out 371 students from 32 countries around the world to garner the top prize of $100,000.

IBG created the Olympiad to highlight the growing need for engineers and computer science professionals in the financial services industry.

Each contestant submitted an automated trading plan to generate as much money as possible subject to a minimum of 25 trades. Starting with $1 million in phantom money, Michalak’s trading plan grew his account to a final balance of $3,135,104 by the end of the eight-week competition.

IBG also awarded two students second-place prizes of $50,000 each, 10 students third-place prizes of $10,000 each, and up to 100 students “placing prizes” of $1,000 each.

Competition results as well as Olympiad details are posted at: http://www.interactivebrokers.com.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Office of the Dean
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-822-9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

About Interactive Brokers
IBG is an automated global electronic market maker and broker specializing in routing orders and executing and processing trades in securities, futures and foreign exchange instruments as a member of more than 70 electronic exchanges and trading venues around the world. As a market maker, it provides liquidity at these marketplaces and, as a broker, it provides professional traders and investors with direct access to stocks, options, futures, forex and bonds from a single IB Universal AccountSM. Employing proprietary software on a global communications network, IBG continuously integrates its software with a growing number of exchanges and trading venues into one automatically functioning, computerized platform that requires minimal human intervention.

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—April 18, 2008—Twenty student-designed ice vehicles battled over speed, endurance and maneuverability at the UBC ice rink today.The race was part of a second-year mechanical engineering course, Mech 2, that challenged students to design and build in just three weeks air-powered vehicles that could travel on icy landscape, simulating conditions on moons and planets.

In addition to speed and agility, the winning entries were judged on the vehicle's ability to carry and tow cargo through five rounds of races.

Watch a qualifying heat of the ice explorer competition: video clip [3 MB MOV]

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Phone: 604-822-1524
Email: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—April 17, 2008—UBC Engineering’s Supermileage team placed first among Canadian teams and fourth overall by attaining 1864.9 miles per gallon in the 2008 Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition. Held April 11-13th at the California Speedway in Fontana, California, the UBC students competed against teams from across North and South America to determine who could engineer the most fuel efficient vehicle.
The Shell Eco-marathon™ Americas is an educational project featuring a line-up of futuristic, eco-friendly vehicles. Student teams build prototype vehicles with three or four wheels using conventional or alternative fuels or energy sources. The team with the vehicle that travels the farthest distance using the least amount of fuel wins a grand prize of $10,000 for their school.

To learn more about Supermileage’s innovative young engineers and their journey to discover fuel technologies for the future, please visit: www.supermileage.ca

Video from the competition can be viewed at: www.shell.com/us/media

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Phone: 604-822-1524
Email: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Kelowna, Canada—April 4, 2008—Two days of tough engineering challenges await first- and second-year students from UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering as the annual Engineering Design Competitions get underway next week.

On Thursday, April 10, second-year students will race their best hovercraft designs during the Engineering Two Design Competition, and on Monday, April 14, first-year students will tackle fruit and vegetable processing in the Engineering One Design Competition.

The public is welcome to attend the competitions and cheer on the teams.

Hovercraft Challenge for Engineering Two – Thursday, April 10

The 14 teams of second-year Engineering students competing in next Thursday’s hovercraft design challenge will be aiming for energy efficiency while maximizing straight-line speed for sprint racing and maintaining the agility to weave through an 88-foot-long series of pylons in the obstacle course.

Their task is to design and construct a moving platform – a hovercraft – that can carry 500 pennies (weighing about 1 kg.) while performing tasks such as racing across the UBC Okanagan Gymnasium floor at top speed. Each hovercraft must record how much energy it has used, because energy efficiency is as important as speed in the scoring.

“The competition is intended to showcase each team’s expertise in structural, fluid mechanics, computer programming, and instrumentation,” says Dr. Vladan Prodanovic, one of the instructors for this term’s Applied Science 258 Hovercraft Project course. “The teams will be evaluated by judges including professional engineers and Engineering faculty, who will consider a visual inspection of the designed product, an oral presentation and written reports.”

Performance testing – the actual racing and time trials -- gets underway at 9 a.m. in the UBC Okanagan Gymnasium, followed by poster presentations about each team’s project from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and award presentations at 1 p.m.

Fruit and Veggie Processing for Engineering One – Monday, April 14

Apples and pears beware. Okanagan fruit and veggies will be pulped, pureed, sliced, diced, or otherwise transformed from raw material to processed product as 28 teams of students unveil innovative processing machines in the Engineering One Design Competition, Monday, April 14.

“Each team is inventing and building a hand-operated machine to process Okanagan fruits or vegetables, separating the usable from unusable parts and presenting the usable parts in an advantageous size or configuration,” says Dr. Andrew Labun, Associate Professor of Engineering, whose Applied Science 170 course culminates with the year-end design competition.

The design testing and presentations take place between 1 and 4 p.m. in the Sunroom in UBC Okanagan’s Student Service Centre. Awards will be presented at 4:30 p.m.

Contact:

Bud Mortenson
Communications Coordinator, Public Affairs
Alumni & University Relations
UBC Okanagan
Phone: 250.807.9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—March 27, 2008—The Canadian Donner Foundation has chosen five books from an impressive field of 69 submissions as finalists for the Donner Prize. Among them is Fueling Our Future: An Introduction to Sustainable Energy by Robert L. Evans, UBC Mechanical Engineering Professor and Director of the Clean Energy Research Centre. The Donner Prize was established in 1998 to recognize and reward the best public policy thinking, writing and research in Canada.

“A truly sustainable energy system is entirely possible,” says Evans, whose book outlines a plan of action for weaning us off our reliance on fossil fuels over time while moving us to a much more sustainable energy system in the near future.

Written in a non-technical and accessible style, Evans shows why some proposed solutions are more sustainable than others and how the link between energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions can be broken.

The winner of this year’s Donner Prize will be announced at an awards ceremony at The Carlu in downtown Toronto on Wednesday, April 16, 2008.

The winner will receive $35,000, with $5,000 awarded to the other finalists.

View the complete Donner Book Prize press release.

CONTACT

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Backgrounder

About Dr. Robert L. Evans

Robert Evans, holder of the Methanex Professorship in Clean Energy Research, is the founding Director of the Clean Energy Research Centre at UBC. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the U.K. Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and the U.S. Society of Automotive Engineers. Prior to spending the last 25 years in academia, he worked in the U.K. at the Central Electricity Research Laboratory, for the British Columbia Energy Commission, and the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. He is the author or co-author of over 140 publications and holds four U.S. patents.

About the Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC)

CERC is Canada’s only interdisciplinary facility dedicated to improving existing energy technologies and developing new sustainable sources of energy. Housed in the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC, the facility supports 24 professors and more than 90 graduate students from the departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The $9-million, 1,160-square-metre facility provides state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories for UBC researchers and their industry partners to collaborate in advancing our energy alternatives.

Research at the centre includes investigations of clean burning engines, fuel cell systems, process emission reductions and new energy sources such as hydrogen and biofuels.

For more information, visit http://www.cerc.ubc.ca/

Labels: awards, engineering

Vancouver, Canada—March 26, 2008—Engineering Student Development Officer Erin Biddlecombe, Geological Engineering Program Assistant Teresa Woodley and fourth-year Chemical and Biological Engineering student Lindsay MacPhee have each received a UBC Just Desserts Award this year.

A tradition since 1985, the Just Desserts Awards recognize individual contributions to student growth and success at UBC. The Faculty’s 2008 winners were nominated by the Engineering Undergraduate Society for their extraordinary service to engineering students. To learn more about each individual’s particular contribution, you can read the award citations.

This year’s award ceremony was held on March 25, 2008 at 7:00 pm at Cecil Green Park, followed by an impressive dessert banquet.

The Just Desserts Awards are organized by the Alma Mater Society and each undergraduate society can nominate members of their faculty, staff or student body who have made a significant contribution—going above and beyond the call of duty.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Award Citations

Erin Biddlecombe was hired only as a temporary replacement for our permanent Student Development Officer and yet the impact she has made during her short time here has been tremendous. Perhaps it was that she knew exactly how long she would have as the Applied Sciences SDO to complete what she needed to do that allowed for her to pursue her duties with the passion and conviction she did, or maybe we say this because we're just trying to understand how one person could have had the heart and energy to do all that she did. Erin has been the shot of adrenaline Engineering has needed in the student services realm from the faculty's side and has provided the support the EUS has needed for years. We believe every student has benefited from her presence either directly or indirectly and will continue to benefit from her work in the future, regardless of whether she is still here physically or not. Erin has not only earned her Just Desserts…she deserves three or four helpings!

The EUS would like to recognize Teresa Woodley in appreciation for her willingness to give the students in Geological Engineering personal attention, guidance and for everything she has done throughout their respective degrees. Teresa's diligence, leadership, initiative, tact and understanding in dealing with the undergraduate students in Geological Engineering and Earth and Ocean Sciences, and for her excellent service over many years makes her an excellent candidate for the Just Desserts award. She is a valuable resource for new students and has efficiently handled the many often complex needs of a greatly increased undergraduate student population in the department of geological engineering. She has provided invaluable assistance and continued support for the Geological Engineering Program.

Lindsay MacPhee is a graduating student in chemical and biological engineering who, despite having a young family to build upon, took it upon herself to nurture another family: those students in the Engineering Undergraduate Society. Lindsay quit her job during the summer of 2007 so that she could focus on preparing and creating services for students who would barely know her name. Through her efforts, the EUS has managed to finally become the proud owner of its very own tutoring service—a program that had been talked about for years but had never been realized until now. Through much self sacrifice, Lindsay has paved the road for an EUS that is more relevant to students than ever before. It is our hope that we are able to continue on and expand on Lindsay's efforts thereby immortalizing her impact here. With this, we graciously ask that Lindsay be given her Just Desserts.

Labels: awards, engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—March 11, 2008—The UBC Faculties of Applied Science and Forestry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today with FPInnovations, marking the establishment of one of world’s strongest forest-related research, development and dissemination (RD&D) clusters. FP Innovations, created on 1 April 2007 through the amalgamation of Paprican (the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada), Forintek (Forestry Industry and Technology), FERIC (The Forest Research Engineering Institute of Canada) and the Fibre Centre of the Canadian Forest Service, is the largest private-sector forest-products institute in the world. It performs research and technical services relating to silviculture, wood harvesting, wood products, and pulp and paper manufacturing, covering the full range of technologies of the forest-products industry.

UBC, through its Faculties of Applied Science and Forestry, engages in a diverse range of engineering, technological and scientific research in areas pertinent to FPInnovations. The partners possess complementary resources, skills, competence, and expertise in forest-products research. Since 1978 FPInnovations (through its former component organizations) and UBC have been working cooperatively on joint research initiatives.

UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science offers a full range of engineering education and research through its programs and research centres, one of which is the Pulp and Paper Centre. The Faculty also administers the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Applied Science research programs relevant to the forest sector include pulp and paper process technology, process control, combustion, clean energy, materials engineering, waste-water treatment, earthquake engineering, and building design.

This collaboration positions the partners to effectively pursue ongoing research initiatives in forestry—the largest manufacturing industry in British Columbia and Canada—and to compete globally. The MOU will assist the government and forest sector in realizing the shared vision of an internationally competitive industry, abundant sustainable forests and stable communities.

For more information, contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Phone: 604-822-1524
Email: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering

Vancouver, Canada—March 7, 2008—In celebration of the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Applied Science and the National Research Council Canada Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI), the partners co-hosted Recent Advances and Future Directions for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research. The event showcased accomplishments and highlighted future opportunities of the partnership.

The March 6 celebration commenced with tours of the NRC facility and laboratory located on UBC’s south campus.

Speaking at the event, NRC-IFCI Director Yoga Yogendran gave an overview of NRC and its role with fuel cells and the energy sector. UBC Professor Dave Wilkinson (Canada Research Chair and NRC-IFCI Senior Advisor) provided a brief summary of UBC collaborative activities, and future opportunities. Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Advanced Education Brent Sauder addressed the role of research and innovation, making British Columbia the best place on earth and singled out undergraduate and graduate students as key elements of the partnership.

Applied Science Dean Michael Isaacson and NRC-IFCI Director General Maja Veljkovic provided comments on the partnership and its benefits, and signed the new five-year memorandum.

Initially signed in November 2002, the memorandum established a partnership between Applied Science and NRC for fuel cell development. The partners collaborate in fuel cell, hydrogen and clean energy research and development activities; in the training of highly-skilled personnel; and in additional activities for the improvement of the environment and economy through science and technology. Research and education stemming from this partnership has benefited British Columbia, Canada and the world.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Tel: 604-822-1524
Email: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering

Dr. Michael Isaacson, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC since 1997, announced his intention to end his term effective June 30, 2008. He will step down after 16 years of continuous administrative service—11 as Dean of Applied Science and five as Head of the Department of Civil Engineering. Isaacson plans an administrative leave following his term and will continue as Professor of Civil Engineering at UBC. The university has initiated a search for his successor.

UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science—UBC’s only dual-campus Faculty—includes the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, the School of Nursing, the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan, and all engineering activities at UBC Vancouver. It is the only engineering Faculty in British Columbia that provides engineering programs and research across the full range of engineering disciplines.

“Michael Isaacson has made enormous contributions to the University of British Columbia, both through his service as Dean and throughout his 30-year career at UBC,” says UBC President Stephen Toope. “In particular, the growth of Applied Science—its increased stature, program expansion, quality of education and strength in research—as well as Dean Isaacson’s ability to lead an ambitious building program to support these developments, have been truly remarkable. He has been a visionary leader and a tireless champion for Applied Science and UBC. We are most grateful for his service.”

“It takes an individual with stamina and outstanding leadership skills to bring about the growth and advancement that has taken place in the Faculty over the past decade. Michael Isaacson is one such individual,” says David Farrar, UBC’s Provost and Vice President Academic. “Under his stewardship the Faculty has seen major accomplishments and has significantly enhanced its reputation as a leading centre of education and research; the Faculty has been remarkably successful in fundraising and the development of capital projects; and Michael has contributed effectively to a range of University-wide activities.”

Under Isaacson’s leadership, the Faculty has introduced a range of new programs and collaborations. In Engineering, these have included the dual Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc)/Bachelor of Arts degree; BASc in Integrated Engineering; BASc in Environmental Engineering (with the University of Northern British Columbia); Commerce and IT Minors available in all BASc programs; the Biomedical Engineering Initiative that includes masters and doctoral degrees as well as two undergraduate options; and a full suite of new programs at UBC Okanagan—BASc, MASc, MEng and PhD programs in Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.

“We—the engineering profession, BC’s southern interior region and society at large—owe a great deal of thanks to Michael for his vision, determination and leadership in establishing advanced engineering education and research at UBC Okanagan,” says Dick Fletcher P.Eng, President-elect of Engineers Canada and Principal with Urban Systems Ltd. “The UBCO School of Engineering will have extensive positive repercussions including addressing the provincial shortfall of engineers and providing the educated people who are imperative to B.C.’s economy.”

Beyond Engineering, Isaacson has supported the expansion of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to accommodate 120 new students each year; the expansion of the Master of Science in Nursing program in support of the provincial Nurse Educator initiative; the introduction of the new Nurse Practitioner Program; the establishment of the Bachelor of Environmental Design; and the merger of Architecture and Landscape Architecture to form the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

During Isaacson’s term, Applied Science enrolment overall has expanded from 3,800 to more than 5,700. In part, this has arisen through the provincial Doubling the Opportunity (DTO) initiative, entailing a doubling of the number of graduates in electrical and computer engineering and computer science. Isaacson played a key role in founding this provincial initiative and implementing it at UBC. As part of its investment across the province, DTO has provided UBC with capital funding of approximately $50 million and funding for 1,310 student spaces.

Isaacson has encouraged a shift of pedagogy and greater program support in Engineering, increasing emphasis on communication, business and meta-skills and project-based learning through both curricula and extra-curricula activities. This includes the establishment of: two major project-based learning programs—the Project Integration Program in Electrical and Computer Engineering and the MECH 2 Program in Mechanical Engineering; the Centre for Instructional Support dedicated to faculty teaching; and the Centre for Professional Skills Development in support of student learning through communication and soft skills. The Faculty has introduced broad-based admissions for a portion of the incoming class; and Engineering Co-op has expanded from 400 placements a year to over 1,500, including 12% international. All BASc programs have been accredited as appropriate by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board.

To increase communication with engineering students and to better cater to their needs, Isaacson established the Student Advisory Council; appointed an Associate Dean Engineering Students; and introduced a Professional Activities Fee that supports student-centred projects and other student-support initiatives.

A champion of research, Isaacson’s strategy has been to recruit the very best faculty members and provide them with the most supportive environment possible. He has overseen the recruitment of numerous faculty members and has helped the faculty complement grow from 160 to 290. Improved support for faculty have related to increased salaries, new facilities and infrastructure, mentoring and career development, increased administrative support and enhancements to the intellectual property climate.

During Isaacson’s term, Applied Science has established over 33 named research chairs and professorships and has established several research centres and initiatives, including the Clean Energy Research Centre. Applied Science has received over $50 million in Canada Foundation for Innovation/British Columbia Knowledge Development Funds (including matching funds) and attracts approximately $25 million per year in research funding.

Isaacson has placed a strong focus on outreach, alumni relations, industry relations, advocacy for the professions and enhancing the profile of the disciplines. In Engineering, he established the Engineering Advisory Council and corresponding industry advisory committees for each of its departments.

In order to support Applied Science’s strategic growth in programs and advancements in research, Isaacson has helped increase resources and capital. During his term, Applied Science’s annual operating budget has increased from $22 million to $47 million per year. He has seen the completion of over $100 million in capital construction, including the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility; the Institute of Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems expansion; the Chemical and Biological Engineering Building; the Clean Energy Research Centre; and the Fred Kaiser Building. The Faculty’s fundraising activities have increased from approximately $1 million to over $12 million per year, and its fundraising campaign has brought in over $90 million, including $15 million for the establishment of the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering.

Beyond his leadership in Applied Science, Isaacson has made many university-wide contributions. These have included key roles in the establishment of UBC’s Okanagan Senate and the Council of Senates, and the evolution of UBC’s two Senates, in part through his role as chair of a number of Senate Committees. Additionally, for two years he served as Special Advisor to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, UBC Okanagan with respect to such areas as academic planning, capital planning, budgeting and governance.

Throughout his career, Isaacson has won a number of national and international awards for his research in the field of coastal and ocean engineering and for his service contributions. These have included the R.A. McLachlan Award by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia; the Camille A. Dagenais Award from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering for “outstanding contribution to the development and practice of hydrotechnical engineering in Canada,” and the Julian C. Smith Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada for “achievement in the development of Canada.” Most recently, Isaacson received B.C. Innovation Council’s 2007 Chairman’s Award for Career Achievement for “continued contributions to the advancement of the province’s scientific and engineering communities.” For over 30 years he has been dedicated to teaching, research, university administration and professional service. Dr. Isaacson’s career achievements have recently been featured on the Knowledge Network.

“It has been a great privilege and pleasure to contribute to the expansion and development of the Faculty of Applied Science over the past decade,” says Isaacson. “With the support of many colleagues in the Faculty, at UBC and in our professions, we have accomplished a great deal in advancing Applied Science. I have every confidence that the Faculty of Applied Science is poised to see even greater success in the future.”

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Phone: 604-822-1524
Email: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Event: 18th Annual Canadian Mining Games

Mine Rescue competition:
Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Kaiser Atrium, UBC Vancouver [map] [closest parking]

Jackleg Drilling Competition:
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Frank Forward Parking Lot, UBC Vancouver [map] [closest parking]

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A simulated mine rescue and jackleg drilling competitions are just two of the challenges faced by mining engineering student teams from all across Canada in the 18th Annual Canadian Mining Games, taking place this Friday and Saturday at The University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus.

Competitors will be required to demonstrate proper rescue procedures in an unspecified mining accident while master drillers are judged on accuracy in the jackleg drilling contest. A jackleg drill is a six-foot-long hand-held rock drill with a four-foot, extendable telescope leg.

Originated in Montreal in 1991, the Canadian Mining Games is an annual academic and hands-on competition between students from major mining engineering programs across Canada.

For more information and to cover the competitions, visit http://mininggames.mining.ubc.ca/ or contact Glenn Finlay at 778.389.9297.

Labels: apsc, engineering, students

Event: Mechanical Engineering Student Design Competition

Date/Time: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Location: Room 1180 Kaiser Bldg, 2332 Main Mall, UBC Vancouver

For a map and closest parking, visit http://maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index_detail.php?locat1=313

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Second-year UBC mechanical engineering students are racing to recover energy wasted when vehicles grind to a halt.

As part of the MECH 2 course, students have been working in teams for the past four weeks to design and construct model vehicles that incorporate regenerative brakes, which recovers, stores, and reuses energy that would otherwise be lost when bringing the vehicle to a stop.

Regenerative brakes are currently outfitted in hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius and are estimated to recover 20-50 per cent of the energy wasted when braking.

Model cars will be released from the top of an elevated test course and must use energy recovered from braking at the bottom of the slope to complete the rest of the racetrack. Entries are also judged on their ability to travel efficiently over long distances, to stop reliably and to use regenerative braking to propel the vehicle after stopping.

A rendering of the track is available at http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/download/

To cover the competition, please contact Prof. Peter Ostafichuk at 604.341.6434 (cell) or ostafichuk@mech.ubc.ca

CONTACT

Dr. Peter Ostafichuk
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.9614
Cell: 604.341.6434
E-mail: ostafichuk@mech.ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Mr. Richard Ott, P.Eng (BASc’57), recently donated $53,000 to establish the Walter Gage Memorial Bursary in Engineering in appreciation of the mentorship and support provided to him by Professor Gage when he was an engineering student. Professor Gage served UBC for more than 50 years, including as Dean of Administrative and Inter-Faculty Affairs, Dean of Inter-Faculty and Student Affairs, and acting President and President (1969–1975).

The bursaries are available to engineering students in the Faculty of Applied Science beginning winter session 2007/08.

Read more about Mr. Ott remembering the kindness of Dean Walter Gage.

For more information about the Walter Gage Memorial Bursary or to make a contribution to the bursary, please contact:

Jeannie Scarfe
Development Writer
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia

2205 -- 6250 Applied Science Lane
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Tel: 604-827-5572
Fax: 604-822-0688
Email: jeannie.scarfe@ubc.ca

Labels: alumni, donor, engineering, students

A memorial service to commemorate the 14 female victims of the 1989 Montreal Massacre at L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal was held today in the circular garden in front of the Frank Forward Building. Organized by the Faculty of Applied Science’s Women in Engineering (WIE) program, in collaboration with the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), Alma Mater Society (AMS) and Access & Diversity, the service was held on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

“Gender-based violence continues today. It exists daily within our own society and it is unacceptable.” said Bowinn Ma, EUS President and emcee of the event. “Together, however, through education, compassion and engagement, we can learn to recognize gender-based violence as a community and stop it.”

Mechanical Engineering Professor Elizabeth Croft P. Eng., shared her memories of that dreadful day.

“On December 6th, 1989 a very disturbed young man, carrying a semiautomatic rifle, interrupted an engineering class, told the men to leave, and opened fire on the remaining women engineering students. After all the chaos, fourteen young women, mostly engineering students, were killed.

I was a recent engineering graduate at that time, and I still remember the shock, horror and sadness, and terrible isolation I felt hearing the news. In an engineering office full of people, I was suddenly very, very alone….

…One of the things that we can take from this tragedy is that we must learn to stand together as a community regardless of our differences. Stand together, respect each other, care about each other, support each other. By doing so you will be part of a living memorial to 14 wonderful young members of our Canadian engineering community,” said Croft.

Additional speakers for the day’s event included Janet Mee, Director of Access & Diversity; Kristi Engle Folchert, graduate student, Women's and Gender Studies Department; and Susan Boyd, Professor of Law and Chair in Feminist Legal Studies.

The garden will become the permanent site of the UBC December 6th Memorial and will feature a design by UBC students.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-1524
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Two UBC Okanagan students from the South Okanagan have been selected for scholarships of $2,500 each from the Rick and Yasmin Thorpe and Friends “Our Students, Our Future” Entrance Scholarship.
Jonathan Palmer, a graduate of Summerland Secondary School, is enrolled in the first year engineering program at UBC Okanagan. David Carlton graduated from Penticton’s Princess Margaret Secondary and is enrolled in the first-year Bachelor of Arts program at UBC Okanagan.

“Receiving a scholarship like this really encourages you,” says Palmer, who plans to study electrical engineering. “It reminds me that I have the ability to excel, and a responsibility to pursue excellence in my studies.”

“This scholarship is an investment in our youth, who are the future entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders who will see the Okanagan prosper and grow,” says Rick Thorpe. “We can help our students achieve their dreams and at the same time help ensure our communities stay strong and vibrant for generations to come.”

View the complete media release.

Contacts

Bud Mortenson
UBC Okanagan Public Affairs
Tel: 250.807.9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Chris Guenard
UBC Okanagan Public Affairs
Tel: 250.807.9932
E-mail: chris.guenard@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Engineering students at UBC Okanagan will benefit directly from a new scholarship initiative created this week by CTQ Consultants Ltd., an engineering, planning and design firm with headquarters in Kelowna. CTQ Consultants is helping students pursue engineering education at UBC Okanagan with two $5,000 scholarships a year for the next three years. One scholarship will be awarded to a student entering the first year of the engineering program. The other scholarship will go to a student entering third-year civil engineering.

"CTQ Consulting and our industry in general need engineers desperately," says Matt Cameron, a professional engineer and managing partner at CTQ Consultants. "Our company is growing rapidly within the industry, and success has created a need for engineers now and into the future to meet our clients' expectations and our corporate goals."

"By providing funding for student scholarships, CTQ hopes to support UBC Okanagan's School of Engineering to develop extremely well-prepared engineering graduates," says Cameron. "We believe helping students achieve their educational goals will help build future success for our firm and the entire region."

View the complete media release.

Contact

Bud Mortenson
Communications Coordinator, Public Affairs
Alumni and University Relations
UBC Okanagan
Tel: 250.807.9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, industry, students

Vancouver, Canada – October 31, 2007 – UBC Dean of Applied Science and Civil Engineering Professor Michael Isaacson is the recipient of BC Innovation Council 's Chairman’s Award for Career Achievement in recognition of his continued contributions to the advancement of B.C.'s scientific and engineering communities.
“In the span of Michael’s career, he has pioneered and developed a diverse range of methodologies and innovative approaches to a variety of problems in the fields of coastal and offshore hydrodynamics, garnering him recognition as a leader in his field and one of Canada’s foremost coastal engineers,” says Stanley R. Cowdell, President of Westmar Consultants Inc. “B.C. has greatly benefited from his presence in the province over the past 30 years and from the contribution that he continues to make.”

Isaacson's contributions are described in detail in the Award Citation.

“I am particularly proud of this award because it highlights something I am passionate about—the critical importance of the engineering profession for British Columbia in enhancing our economic prosperity and quality of life,” says Isaacson. “These enhancements arise both through engineering R & D and through engineering education leading to graduates entering and working in the profession.”

Engineering education in B.C. has seen significant expansion under Isaacson’s leadership of the Faculty of Applied Science over the past 10 years. Notably, he was a key player in realizing the Doubling the Opportunity initiative and establishing the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan—the latter of which he was recognized in 2006 through the Science and Technology Community Leadership Award by the Okanagan Science and Technology Council.

Isaacson’s achievements are currently being featured on the Knowledge Network: video vignette (9 MB).

View the original BC Innovation Council press release and media kit (2 MB PDF)

About BC Innovation Council
BC Innovation Council is a Crown Agency of the Province of British Columbia that creates the conditions for top-tier innovation and commercialization within British Columbia in partnership with government, industry and academia.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604-822-9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: awards, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada – October 30, 2007 -- The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. (APEGBC) honours Professor David Dreisinger with the 2007 Meritorious Achievement Award in recognition of his distinctive and outstanding career achievements.Award Citation
Dreisinger is a leading researcher of international acclaim at UBC and holds an endowed Industrial Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy. The recipient of the 2005 Extractive and Processing Science Award from the International Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, his achievements have led to numerous new and advanced technologies that have impacted metallurgic practices worldwide.

Due to his expertise in the diverse field of hydrometallurgy and his reputation as a teacher and disseminator of novel research ideas, he is considered to be one of Canada’s finest engineers in terms of his professional achievements.

His steady perseverance towards the achievement of challenging technical objectives over a long period of time make David Dreisinger a respected researcher and consultant in hydrometallurgy whose work has made a tremendous impact in the field of hydrometallurgical engineering.

To watch a video interview of Dreisinger discussing his engineering career, view: video vignette

View the original APEGBC press release (42 KB PDF).

About APEGBC
Founded in 1920, APEGBC is the regulatory and licensing body for the professions of engineering and geoscience and is charged with protecting the public interest. With over 24,000 members, APEGBC is one of the larger professional associations in B.C. and maintains high academic, experience and professional practice standards. APEGBC members deliver real world solutions to meet the technological and social challenges of the 21st century. For more information: http://www.apeg.bc.ca/.

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: awards, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada – October 29, 2007 – Applied Science professors will receive two of seven awards at an Ottawa federal ceremony to be held today to honour innovation and successful partnerships between Canadian university researchers and leading Canadian companies.

The Synergy Awards for Innovation are given annually by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

"We're very pleased that our research continues to contribute to the success of the Canadian economy, while improving lives of people within and beyond Canada," says John Hepburn, UBC Vice-President, Research.

Investigators in each of the research partnerships will receive a $25,000 NSERC research grant. Their industry collaborators will receive the prestigious Synergy sculpture. The award recipients at UBC Applied Science are:

- Assoc. Prof. James Olson, UBC Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, and Advanced Fiber Technologies (AFT) Inc., BC Hydro Power Smart and Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership, for a new energy-saving design for the rotors used to separate impurities from wood pulp. Video Clip [38 MB]

- Martha Salcudean, UBC Prof. Emerita, Mechanical Engineering, and FPInnovations-Paprican, Weyerhaeuser Company and Process Simulations Ltd., for analysis of fluid dynamics in boilers at pulp mills that has led to reducing mill operating costs and greenhouse gases. Video Clip [38 MB]

In the last year, UBC has received $44 million in NSERC research grants to support 962 science and engineering projects.

NSERC is Canada's largest science and engineering granting agency. Over the past 10 years, NSERC has invested $6 billion in basic research, university-industry projects and the training of Canada's next generation of scientists and engineers. NSERC supports some 23,000 university students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding more than 11,000 university professors every year and helps make innovation happen by encouraging about 1,300 Canadian companies to invest in university research and training.

Contact:

ErinRose Handy
Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca

Lorraine Chan
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.3213
Cell: 604.828-3867
E-mail: lorraine.chan@ubc.ca

Labels: awards, engineering, industry

Vancouver, Canada—October 17, 2007—Florence Leung and Robert Dunlop graduated from UBC’s Sauder School of Business in May this year, each with a Bachelor of Commerce, and one month later had secured $200,000 to invest in their business. These young entrepreneurs, along with two fellow UBC engineering students -- Grant Ringham and Parham Yaghoobi -- secured financing when they pitched their business idea PeerFX on CBC TV’s venture capital reality television program Dragons' Den.

The format of Dragons' Den is for entrepreneurs to pitch business concepts or products to a panel of five Canadian business moguls. Leung and Dunlop were so successful that three of the five judges chose to put their own money behind this fledgling idea in return for a 51 per cent share of the business.

The idea behind PeerFX is people sharing a common need, in this case currency exchange. Working from the premise that at any point in time someone wants Canadian dollars and someone wants US dollars, these young UBC entrepreneurs created a online system that allows buyers and sellers to exchange currency at the same rate online and eliminate hefty bank transaction fees. Their idea is currently subject to provisional patent.

PeerFX grew from an innovative UBC interdisciplinary fourth-year course called New Venture Design.

“We had lots of entrepreneurs come to speak to us during class,” said Dunlop in an interview with UBC Public Affairs. “The energy and spirit in class was amazing.” A valuable part of the course was pitching their business ideas against hundreds of others across North America, gaining feedback and real world experience.

Established in 2005, the New Venture Design course aims to build practical skills for those with entrepreneurial spirit and acts as a catalyst to bring together outstanding students from business and engineering. Working in teams, students are asked to produce viable prototypes accompanied by business plans that will lead to marketplace success. The course is run by Assoc. Prof. Darren Dahl (UBC Sauder School of Business) and Prof. Peter Lawrence (UBC Engineering).

“I always wanted to start my own business and was really fortunate that this opportunity crossed my path,” said Leung.
When asked by the CBC how they felt about being in business with the Dragons' Den panelists Dunlops’ response showed a healthy respect for more experienced entrepreneurs, “You’ve got to learn from them … sometimes you need someone to get in there and fight for you.”

Dragons’ Den airs on CBC Television on Mondays at 8pm.

For more information go to:

* www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmbg-nLkDdw
* www.peerfx.com
* www.cbc.ca/dragonsden
* www.sauder.ubc.ca
* www.engineering.ubc.ca

Reprinted with permission from UBC Reports.

Labels: apsc, engineering, entrepreneur, students

Event: Media preview of space elevator climber prototype

When: Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007, 9 a.m. - Noon ONLY

Where: UBC Physics and Astronomy Extra-curricular Projects Laboratory, Rm 122 Hennings Building, 6224 Agricultural Rd., Vancouver. For a map and directions, visit http://www.maps.ubc.ca/?652. Signs will be posted to lead media from UBC Bookstore to the lab.

Please contact Lorraine Chan to confirm attendance. Space is limited.

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UBC Snowstar, a team of UBC engineering physics students, will unveil to the media the latest prototype of their solar-powered space elevator robot, set to compete in the 2007 NASA Beam Power Challenge.

Held in the Greater Salt Lake City Area, Utah, during Oct. 19-21, the NASA competition challenges entrants to design, build and race a space elevator "climber" capable of efficiently lifting a payload 120 metres (400 feet) straight up a cable using only power "beamed" from a remote source on the ground. Climbers must reach a minimum speed of two metres (6.6 feet) per second to qualify.

UBC Snowstar has been featured in The New York Times and on CNN. They will compete with more than 20 international teams for the US $500,000 grand prize and an opportunity to revolutionize space technology. UBC is one of only two teams that have qualified to compete in all three NASA Beam Power Challenges, meeting performance benchmarks that double each year. For example, the 2006 competition required teams to lift a payload 60 metres (200 feet) at a minimum speed of one metre (3.3 feet) per second.

"Currently, the cost of launching a space shuttle is so high partly due to the amount of fuel the shuttle carries in order to propel itself into space," says Snowstar team captain Damir Hot. "Using solar or other beamed power sources to efficiently fuel space vehicles could be the key to eventually providing space transport at significantly lower financial and environmental costs."

NB: UBC Snowstar will be available to display the space elevator on Thursday, Oct. 11 ONLY. Also available will be a DVD that provides footage of UBC's solar-powered climber in action.

Photos of the climber are available at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/download/

For more information on the competition, visit http://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov/cc_challenges.htm#beampower

CONTACT:

Lorraine Chan
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.3213
Cell: 604.828.3867
E-mail: lorraine.chan@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Vancouver, Canada—The BC Transmission Corporation (BCTC) has pledged $180,000 of support over the next three years to help create a new Power Engineering Option in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science.

“This new program will directly benefit all British Columbians,” commented Dean Michael Isaacson. “We are very appreciative of BCTC’s contribution to this new option within the Faculty.”

“The new B.C. energy plan directs BCTC to ensure our transmission technology and infrastructure remains at the leading edge and has the capacity to deliver power efficiently and reliably to meet growing demand,” said Jane Peverett, BCTC President and CEO. “Our investment in developing the future electrical engineering workforce will ensure that we have the technical and managerial capacity to operate, build and sustain one of the world’s most advanced energy networks.”

“This new option will help supply the much-needed skilled engineers for the electricity sector,” said Dr. Marti. “I am very pleased to have the partnership of BCTC as we develop this important program.”

Led by Dr. Jose Marti, the Power Engineering Option will be offered to students entering their third year of undergraduate work within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and will have room for 30 students each year. Students will concentrate their studies on the fundamentals of electrical engineering with a focus on power systems, specifically electric power transmission and distribution, power conversion, electromechanical devices and theory of control systems. The first class of students from this option will graduate in spring 2008.

BCTC’s contribution will be combined with contributions from the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, BC Hydro, and Fortis BC to fund the initial start-up of the option. The electricity sector in Canada is anticipating a labour shortage of up to 17,000 skilled technical positions over the next ten years, and the new graduates of this program will be essential for maintaining electricity supply and meeting growing demands for energy.

The BC Transmission Corporation is the Crown Corporation that plans, operates and maintains the province’s publicly owned electrical transmission system. It manages 18,000 km of high-voltage lines, underground and submarine cables, 20,500 steel towers, 75,000 wood poles and 287 substations throughout B.C., and is currently embarking on a 10-year, $3.2-billion capital plan that will expand the transmission system to meet B.C.’s growing electricity demand.

Contact:

Jeannie Scarfe
Development Writer
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
2205 - 6250 Applied Science Lane
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Tel: 604-827-5572
Fax: 604-822-0688
Email: jeannie.scarfe@ubc.ca

Labels: donor

Vancouver, Canada—BC Hydro has pledged $180,000 of support over the next three years to help create a new Power Engineering Option in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science. Dr. Jose Marti, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will pilot the new option for the Faculty.

“Power engineers are in great demand across B.C. and Canada,” commented Dean Michael Isaacson. “We are very appreciative of BC Hydro’s contribution to this new option within the Faculty.”

“The Energy Plan, released earlier this year, accelerates an already increasing capital program for generation, transmission and distribution at BC Hydro,” said Roy Grout, VP Engineering, BC Hydro. “We need power engineers to fulfill our clients’ expectations and meet the province’s expectations on the Plan. Our agreement with UBC is a positive step to ensure we have the required resources to get the work done.”

“This new option will help supply the much-needed skilled engineers for the electricity sector,” said Dr. Marti. “I am looking forward to working together with BC Hydro towards the realization of this important program of education.”

The Power Engineering Option will be offered to students entering their third year of undergraduate work within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and will have room for 30 students each year. Students will concentrate their studies on the fundamentals of electrical engineering with a focus on power systems, specifically electric power transmission and distribution, power conversion, electromechanical devices and theory of control systems. The first class of students from this option will graduate in spring 2008.

BC Hydro’s contribution will be combined with contributions from the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, the BC Transmission Corporation, and Fortis BC to fund the initial start-up of the option. The electricity sector in Canada is anticipating a labour shortage of up to 17,000 skilled technical positions over the next ten years, and the new graduates of this program will be essential for maintaining electricity supply and meeting growing demands for energy.

BC Hydro is a crown corporation of the province of British Columbia, and is one of the largest electric utilities in Canada, serving more than 1.7 million customers in an area containing over 94 per cent of British Columbia's population. It operates 30 hydroelectric facilities and three natural gas-fuelled thermal power plants.

Contact:

Jeannie Scarfe
Development Writer
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
2205 - 6250 Applied Science Lane
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Tel: 604-827-5572
Fax: 604-822-0688
Email: jeannie.scarfe@ubc.ca

Labels: donor

Vancouver, Canada – September 26, 2007 – Gemcom Software International Inc. (TSX:GCM), the largest global supplier of specialised mining productivity solutions, today announced its continued leadership in providing industry-based education to students in mining programs worldwide. In North America, Gemcom has long been an active participant in mining school programs, providing software, staff time, training and mining expertise to help equip mining students with real-world skills. As part of this ongoing initiative, over the next few weeks Gemcom mining professionals will be teaching the following classes at universities in Canada and Mexico:

• September 28, 2007 (every Friday for 6 weeks) – Mine Design Software
  Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada
  Instructor: Mohammad Dadmanesh, BASc Mining, Gemcom Senior Business Analyst

“It is critical that students are trained on the leading edge mine software design systems. By working with Gemcom, we have the potential for access to numerous kinds of mining software. There are the added benefits of ensuring that faculty and students are trained on how to use them, and to develop a richer learning environment,” said Malcolm Scoble, Professor and Head, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia. “For mining and exploration companies, this means that the students they are hiring will be able to start contributing more quickly and for students it means they already have valuable experience to add to their resumes after completing their degrees.” Gemcom is also supporting UBC, where Dr. Tony Diering, Gemcom’s Vice President of Advanced Technologies is an Adjunct Professor researching block caving design and providing expertise to support the Masters and PhD programs.

View the complete GENCOM release.

For more information contact:

Corporate Communications
Mark Bese, Marketing Communications Manager
+1 604 684 6550 ext. 4481
mbese@gemcomsoftware.com

Marina Percy, Principal
Fresh Strategy
+1 604 805 6864
marina@freshstrategy.com

Investor Communications
Garth Albright, Chief Financial Officer
+1 604 684 6550
galbright@gemcomsoftware.com

Nick Hurst, Vice President
The Equicom Group
+1 403 538 4845
nhurst@equicomgroup.com

Labels: donor, engineering, industry, students

Vancouver, BC – September 25, 2007 – FortisBC Inc. has pledged $30,000 of support over the next three years to help create a new Power Engineering Option in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of British Columbia. This new program will help answer the demand for power engineers across BC and Canada. “Our industry is currently experiencing unprecedented electrical demand growth and many utilities are faced with the need to build more infrastructure,” said Doyle Sam, Vice President, Transmission & Distribution, FortisBC. “This demand, combined with an aging skilled workforce, signifies the urgency of this kind of training.”

“We are extremely pleased to be the recipient of one of FortisBC’s largest community contributions,” commented Dean Michael Isaacson, “and we are very appreciative of FortisBC’s contribution to this new option within the Faculty.”

“This new option is crucial if we are to continue to meet increasing demands for energy in our communities,” noted Program Director Dr. Jose Marti. “FortisBC is one of BC’s largest electricity sector suppliers, and I am very pleased to have the opportunity to work with them to develop this program.”

The Power Engineering Option will be offered to students entering their third year of undergraduate work within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and will have room for thirty students each year. Students will concentrate their studies on the fundamentals of electrical engineering with a focus on power systems, specifically electric power transmission and distribution, power conversion, electromechanical devices and theory of control systems. The first class of students from this option will graduate in spring 2008.

FortisBC’s contribution will be combined with contributions from BC Hydro, the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and the BC Transmission Corporation to fund the initial start-up of the option. The electricity sector in Canada is anticipating a labour shortage of up to 17,000 skilled technical positions over the next ten years, and the new graduates of this program will be essential for maintaining electricity supply and meeting growing demands for energy.

FortisBC is an integrated electric utility based in Kelowna, British Columbia and operating in the southern interior of British Columbia. The Company serves approximately 152,000 customers directly and indirectly. The utility has four regulated hydroelectric generating plants with a combined capacity of 235 megawatts and approximately 6,750 kilometers of transmission and distribution power lines.

FortisBC employs over 570 people in British Columbia and is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Inc., the largest investor-owned distribution utility in Canada, which serves almost 2,000,000 gas and electric customers and has approximately $10 billion of assets. Fortis Inc. shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com or www.sedar.com.

For further information contact:

Ameera Shivji
Corporate Communications
FortisBC Inc.
Telephone: (250) 469-8007

Jeannie Scarfe
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
Telephone: (604) 827-5572

Labels: donor

Vancouver, Canada—A University of British Columbia professor has a plan of action for weaning us off our reliance on fossil fuels over time while moving us to a much more sustainable energy system in the near future.

“A truly sustainable energy system is entirely possible” says UBC Professor, and Director of the Clean Energy Research Centre, Robert L. Evans, author the book Fueling Our Future: An Introduction to Sustainable Energy.

Evans tackles one of the most important issues facing humanity today—the prospect of global climate change, brought about primarily by our prolific energy use and heavy dependence on fossil fuels. He shows how all of our energy needs are supplied from just three primary energy sources: fossil fuels, renewable energy, and nuclear power.

According to Evans, the transportation sector can be made sustainable by switching vehicles from fossil fuels to run on electricity from sustainable sources. This would result in an “Electricity Economy” rather than the “Hydrogen Economy” so often touted in the press.

According to one expert who conducted a double-blind review of the book, “the material is well written and the arguments are clearly expressed. The topics addressed are both timely and important. Chapter 9, concerning transportation issues, is particularly informative and interesting. I would like every member of the British Parliament and the U.S. Congress to read it.”

Written in a non-technical and accessible style, Evans shows why some proposed solutions are more sustainable than others and how the link between energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions can be broken.

Dr. Evans will be speaking on this topic at two upcoming events on the Point Grey campus:

Sept 15, 10:30–11:30am, Rm A202, 1866 Main Mall [map]

Oct 2, 3:00–4:00pm, Rm 310, 6245 Agronomy Road [map]

CONTACT

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Backgrounder

About Dr. Robert L. Evans

Robert Evans, holder of the Methanex Professorship in Clean Energy Research, is the founding Director of the Clean Energy Research Centre at UBC. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the U.K. Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and the U.S. Society of Automotive Engineers. Prior to spending the last 25 years in academia, he worked in the U.K. at the Central Electricity Research Laboratory, for the British Columbia Energy Commission, and the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. He is the author or co-author of over 140 publications and holds four U.S. patents.

About the Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC)

CERC is Canada’s only interdisciplinary facility dedicated to improving existing energy technologies and developing new sustainable sources of energy. Housed in the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC, the facility supports 24 professors and more than 90 graduate students from the departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The $9-million, 1,160-square-metre facility provides state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories for UBC researchers and their industry partners to collaborate in advancing our energy alternatives.

Research at the centre includes investigations of clean burning engines, fuel cell systems, process emission reductions and new energy sources such as hydrogen and biofuels.

For more information, visit http://www.cerc.ubc.ca/

Labels: alumni, engineering, industry, students

UBC researcher David Dixon has invented an environmentally friendly and cheaper way to produce high quality copper from low-grade concentrates, thus expanding potential copper reserves.

UBC has granted Bateman Engineering exclusive rights to market the new technology in 20 copper-producing countries. A number of international mining companies have requested detailed feasibility studies in anticipation of building full-scale Galvanox plants, and licensing negotiations are underway.

Dixon's co-inventor is UBC PhD recipient Alain Tshilombo. Their patented Galvanox copper-leaching process offers alternatives to the traditional method of smelting and other hydrometallurgical technologies.

Dixon and Tshilombo found that pyrite, when used as a galvanic catalyst, is able to break down the mineral chalcopyrite - the major source of copper. Pyrite facilitates the selective oxidation of chalcopyrite rapidly and completely at temperatures below the boiling point of water.

"This approach differs from other hydrometallurgical processes, all of which rely on some combination of high temperature, very fine or ultrafine grinding, and corrosive chemicals such as chloride to get the job done," says Dixon, an associate professor at the Dept. of Materials Engineering.

Galvanox will enable copper producers to significantly reduce sulfur dioxide gas emissions, eliminate the cost of transportation to the smelter and treat certain copper ores that smelters cannot.

"Producers can expect virtually complete copper recovery - 98 per cent or more - despite the mild process conditions," says Dixon.

Dixon adds, "As well, Galvanox can treat concentrates that are too low in copper content or too high in penalty elements such as arsenic to be considered suitable for smelting."

Recent studies conducted by Bateman show that Galvanox users can expect about a 23 per cent rate of return on investment compared to the traditional smelting option. With its ability to treat low-grade concentrates, Galvanox typically gives a 5-10 per cent advantage in overall copper recovery, which translates to significant extra revenue.

The studies also show that the Galvanox process generates the lowest capital and operating costs of any hydrometallurgical process by a significant margin, being the only one that exceeds a 15 per cent rate of return on investment over smelting.

Dixon will be presenting a paper on his research breakthrough at the 6th Copper 2007 International Conference held in Toronto August 26-29.

Last hosted by Canada in 1991, the conference is co-organized by six leading international professional societies in Chile, Germany, Japan, the United States and Canada. Held every four years, the event convenes global leaders in copper business, operations, technology and research.

CONTACT

Assoc. Prof. David Dixon
Dept. of Materials Engineering
Tel: 604.822.3679
Cell: 604.317.6036
E-mail: dixon@interchange.ubc.ca

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.9091
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Basil Waugh
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2048
Cell: 604.812.5936
E-mail: basil.waugh@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, industry

Event: Students in summer engineering physics course go head-to-head with their autonomous doctor-robots.

Time: Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, 10 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Location: Hennings Bldg., Rm. 200, 6224 Agricultural Road, UBC 
For a map and closest parking, visit Wayfinding at UBC.

Visuals: Student-designed automated robots removing "body parts" on a 2.4 x 2.4 m (8 x 8 ft.) operating table. See sample photo.

Students and instructor will be available for interviews. Set up space will be available for TV cameras.

Fourteen teams of UBC engineering students will pit prototype operation robots against each other for prizes and bragging rights in the 7th Annual Robot Competition.

Offering solutions to handle delicate body parts on a playing surface resembling the classic board game "Operation" (including the "shock" buzzer), the second-year engineering physics students have designed and built from scratch surgical robots to remove body organs reliably, quickly and autonomously on an 2.4 x 2.4 m (8 x 8 ft.) operating table.

The competition is the final exam of a 13-week course in practical design. Similar courses are offered at MIT and Stanford. Students learn the basics of electronics and mechanical design, then spend the last six weeks applying the knowledge to construct autonomous robots. The robots are preprogrammed and there will be no remote controls allowed in the competition.

Each match will last three minutes and the robot that successfully handles as many body organs as possible without "shocking" the patient wins. UBC Physics Prof. Andre Marziali, head competition judge and instructor of the course, will assume rescue duty to ensure that robots do not hastily remove incorrect body parts.

CONTACT

Jon Nakane, Course Instructor
Dept. of Physics
Tel: 604.822.2110
Cell: 604.505.8187
E-mail: jnakane@physics.ubc.ca

Lorraine Chan
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.3213
Cell: 604.828.3867
E-mail: lorraine.chan@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

UBC professors Yusuf Altintas (Mechanical Engineering), David Dreisinger (Materials Engineering), Alan Russell (Civil Engineering), and David Wilkinson (Chemical and Biological Engineering) have been inducted as Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) in recognition of their distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession. The ceremony took place in Toronto, in conjunction with the Academy’s 2007 Annual General Meeting on June 1.

Inductee Citations

Yusuf Altintas is internationally recognized as a leading engineering researcher in the field of machining. He has contributed significantly to the literature—particularly his theory of kinematics and chatter vibration stability in milling. He has also published the book “Manufacturing automation: Principles of Metal Cutting, Machine Tool Vibrations and CNC Design”, Cambridge University Press 2000. He holds the prestigious NSERC/Pratt & Whitney Industrial research Chair in Virtual High-Performance Machining; he is the Fellow of ASME, SME and CIRP, and he is Founder and President of MAL Manufacturing Automation Laboratories Inc., the UBC spin-off company that markets and distributes practical applications of his state-of-the-art research to more than 90 companies world-wide.

David Dreisinger holds an endowed Industrial Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy and is an international authority in the field. His achievements have led to numerous new and advanced technologies that have greatly impacted the shape of hydrometallurgical processes worldwide. His tireless efforts to bridge high-calibre university research with industrial practice have mobilized industry, and he is constantly invited to speaking at industrial sites around the world. He is recipient of the 2005 Extractive and Processing Science Award of international The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society for paper(s) representing a notable contribution to the scientific understanding of extraction and processing metallurgy.

Alan D. Russell, holder of the Chair in Computer Integrated Design and Construction, is a world-renowned expert in economic modeling and risk analysis of large engineering projects with special emphasis on public-private partnerships. His REPCON Construction Management System has been used on over $2 billion worth of notable projects in Canada, the U.S. and Hong Kong. As an academic he was responsible for creating the construction engineering and management concentrations at both Concordia University and UBC. He is a Fellow of the CSCE as well as recipient of both the E. Whitman Wright and the Walter Shanly Awards.

David Wilkinson has made major sustained contributions to the commercialization of fuel cells and other electrochemical devices, while at the same time advancing the basic understanding of electrochemical transfer reactions. His incisive research and talented leadership have resulted in closing the gaps in performance, reliability, durability and cost of fuel cells, particularly polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. He is internationally recognized as a leader in electrochemical engineering and fuel cell innovation. He is also a dedicated mentor and teacher, contributing actively to the training of the next generation of engineers who can maintain Canada in a leading position in fuel cell technology.

The Canadian Academy of Engineering comprises many of the country's most accomplished engineers, who have expressed their dedication to the application of science and engineering principles in the interests of the country and its enterprises. Nominated and elected by their peers, Fellows of the Academy are committed to ensuring that Canada's engineering expertise is applied to the benefit of all Canadians.

For more information: http://www.acad-eng-gen.ca/

Contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: awards, engineering

Labels: awards, engineering

The Province is providing $7.5 million to expand faculty and increase student spaces at the internationally renowned Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.

“British Columbia has the largest concentration of mining and related service companies in the world, and is a leading source of investment financing for the global mining industry. It is worth $5 billion to the provincial economy,” said Campbell. “The funding for this institute will help expand UBC’s teaching and research capacity and ensure the long-term success of the mining industry and its contribution to the B.C. economy.”

The Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering is the only school of mining engineering and research in British Columbia. It has a world-class reputation for producing talented, versatile and dedicated graduates with the ability to address the multiple issues related to mining, including the development of resources to maintain B.C.’s position as a global mining leader.

View the complete Province of B.C. media release.

Labels: donor, engineering, industry

Vancouver – Paul Geyer (BASc ’88) recently established the Paul Geyer Graduate Award in Biomedical Engineering through a contribution of $52,000 to the Faculty of Applied Science. This new award will provide $2,500 annually to a graduate student in the Biomedical Engineering Program who shows “an entrepreneurial spirit, an interest in the local biomedical engineering industry and demonstrated leadership and communications skills.”

Mr. Geyer is the President and CEO of Medical Ventures Corporation, a medical device and technology company actively developing and commercializing medical devices for the cardiovascular and surgical fields. “Biomedical Engineering has an essential part to play in improving health care and quality of life of people worldwide,” he says. “Graduates of this program have the potential to make a significant, positive impact on many lives. I am very pleased to be able to lend my support to students.”

“The Paul Geyer Graduate Award will be instrumental in promoting this emerging program at UBC by providing support for students wishing to pursue graduate work in this important area,” said UBC Dean of Applied Science Michael Isaacson. “We sincerely appreciate and thank Mr. Geyer for his generous support of the students of the Biomedical Engineering Program.”

The first recipient of the Paul Geyer Graduate Award in Biomedical Engineering will be announced in fall 2007.

The Biomedical Engineering program at the University of British Columbia was officially established in September 2006, welcoming its first cohort of graduate students that fall. The establishment of the program allowed the Faculty to consolidate the wide array of biomedical engineering research already in progress in various departments within Applied Science, facilitating further collaboration among faculty members and providing a wider profile for their research.

To learn more about the UBC Biomedical Engineering Program, visit: http://www.bme.ubc.ca/

For more information, please contact:

Jeannie Scarfe
Development Writer
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
2205 -- 6250 Applied Science Lane
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604-827-5572
Fax: 604-822-0688
Email: jeannie.scarfe@ubc.ca

Labels: alumni, donor, engineering, industry, students

UBC Mechanical Engineering students are helping FormaShape – one of North America’s largest manufacturers of composite fibreglass and fibre-reinforced plastic – find innovative ways to make manufacturing simpler.

Partnering with UBC's Faculty of Applied Science and the UBC University-Industry Liaison Office, FormaShape has invited five students enrolled in UBC's fourth-year Capstone Design Project course to help their manufacturing engineers develop new techniques for manipulating high-pressure molding gear.

"We're excited about collaborating with engineering students," says Peter Jeffrey, President of FormaShape. "This partnership allows us to work closely with talented students who are keen to learn and help develop innovative manufacturing methods. We see this project as an important step in establishing a strong relationship with UBC."

At the company's 7,500-square-metre manufacturing facility in Lake Country, massive two-piece molds shape very large fibreglass and composite plastic parts for waterparks, architectural fascia and cladding, and other uses. At the start of their 13-week course in January, students Brandon Proc, Sabrina Lin, Brendan Jay, Jon Leskowich, and Mike Schatkoske visited the company to see how the molds work.

Since then, they've been working with Faculty of Applied Science Senior Instructor Emeritus Don McAdam and Instructor Jon Mikkelsen to devise a way to move the top and bottom halves of a heavy mold so workers can easily access the inside surfaces of the two halves.

The students' solution, says McAdam, was to automate the bottom of the mold to slide away, then lower the top half to floor level while automating the turning of it. Using this method, the mold operators can apply coatings or perform maintenance at floor level, without having to work upside down and underneath the suspended top half of the mold. Key to this automation, he says, is the exact mating of the two mould halves, especially when the lower half has been loaded with the fibreglass material.

"We do our best to solicit projects from outside the university," McAdam notes. "Companies provide us with unique projects like this, and we can help them. The concept the students have come up with seems to work pretty well and I think they've done an admirable job."

The students are developing a scaled-down prototype of their solution, and it will be presented later this month at a year-end show in Vancouver with 18 other student projects developed over the past term.

David Jones, Associate Director of the UBC University-Industry Liaison Office, says that as UBC Okanagan's School of Engineering expands in coming years, with a capstone design course of its own, engineering students from UBC Okanagan can look forward to similar collaborative learning opportunities with industry partners.

"One of the big benefits of having a UBC campus in the Okanagan is the assistance we can provide to our region's industries," he says. "We hope to encourage much more collaboration between industry innovators like FormaShape and students from both UBC Okanagan and UBC's Vancouver campus."

Contact

Bud Mortenson
Communications Coordinator
UBC Okanagan Public Affairs
Tel: 250-807-9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, industry, students

Hovercraft will race across the floor and cable-suspended inventions will travel through the air at the UBC Okanagan Gymnasium next Wednesday (April 11), as the UBC Okanagan School of Engineering holds its second-annual student challenge—the Engineering Design Awards.

Wednesday morning, second-year Engineering Two students will be displaying and racing hovercraft they have developed over the past term studying fluid dynamics with Professor Emeritus Sander Calisal, and solid mechanics with Asst. Professor Dr. Rudolf Seethaler.

"Nine teams of students will demonstrate how they have integrated the knowledge from these two courses into a project," says Dr. Seethaler. "They're looking for optimum designs with the right shape, dimensions and structure."

The craft are made primarily from balsa wood and range in size from half a metre to one metre across. Judges from the School of Engineering faculty and local industry will be checking a variety of criteria, including how quickly the craft manage a straight-course, how they maneuver around pylons in an obstacle course, and how much weight they can carry at best speed.

Straight-track races will be held from 9:10 to 9:35 a.m., with obstacle-course racing from 9:40 to 10:30 a.m. Structural testing and team presentations to judges take place from 9:50 to 11:45 a.m.

Then it's on to the Engineering One class for the afternoon competition. This year, students have been challenged in their Engineering Fundamentals course to develop machines that can transport a two-pound weight from one pedestal to another while traveling like a cable-car along a cable sloping from the gym's upper mezzanine gallery to the gym floor nearly 6 metres below. The gravity-powered machines must pick up the weight from one pedestal and place it on another as they traverse the 30 metres between the cable's elevated start and floor-level end points.

In their introduction to engineering this year, Engineering One students have learned about many aspects of the engineering profession—design, planning, teamwork, professional ethics, and much more, says Assoc. Professor Dr. Andrew Labun, who devised the cable machine challenge. "During the year in classes they learn about these topics and apply them in this project," he notes. "We hope it makes what students have learned all the more real for them."

Presentations by student teams and static displays of the machines start at 1 p.m., with the cable machine competition running from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

All are welcome to attend the competitions throughout the day.

Contact

Bud Mortenson
Communications Coordinator
UBC Okanagan Public Affairs
Tel: 250.807.9255
E-mail: bud.mortenson@ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Engineering and commerce students are now better able to work together to conceive, develop and market novel products, thanks to the opening today of the Ken Spencer Entrepreneurship Project Room.
A long-time supporter of Applied Science and Chair of the UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Committee, Ken Spencer (BASc 1967, PhD 1972) recently donated $300,000 to create the project room for collaborative learning and to promote entrepreneurship among engineering and commerce students at UBC.

Equipped with the latest teaching resources and technologies, the room will host the New Venture Design Course taught jointly by Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Peter Lawrence and Sauder School of Business Professor Darren Dahl.

“It is befitting to have this collaborative endeavour between engineering and business studies in Dr. Spencer’s honour. He has a long and successful history in bridging engineering expertise with entrepreneurial savvy and finds this subject close to his heart,” says Lawrence.

In 1983 Spencer and Dan Gelbart co-founded Creo Products Inc., which went on to become the world’s leading supplier of computer-to-plate systems for the enormous graphic arts and printing industry and was eventually acquired by Kodak in 2005 for $998 million (USD).

Since retiring as CEO of Creo over ten years ago, Spencer has remained highly involved in the high-tech industry – helping organize important industry conferences and sharing his engineering expertise and keen business sense by serving on various boards of directors. He also contributes extensively to Vancouver’s Science World, where he is dedicated to expanding Science World’s impact in turning kids onto science.

“Applied Science is fortunate that Dr. Spencer uses his position of influence in the community to endorse the importance of post-secondary education and offers his support both financially and, more importantly, through his many years of involvement in the Faculty,” says UBC Applied Science Dean Michael Isaacson. “We are very grateful to Dr. Spencer for his many contributions to UBC and our students.”

Labels: donor, engineering, industry, students

A team of six UBC senior engineering students and 16 engineers from Fluor Canada Ltd. received three honours for their sculpture in the Vancouver Canstruction competition to combat hunger, held March 4–11, 2007, at Canada Place.
Their seven-and-a-half-foot structure—built on engineering principles—showed a ship headed for an open shark’s mouth. Called Attack Hunger, the project reminded viewers of the driving power of hunger, using 6,400 cans of food, all of which were later donated to the Food Bank. The project, which garnered Best Rookie Award and People’s Choice Award from the visiting public, also received Honourable Mention from the judges, qualifying them to proceed to the international judging round.

An international community service project of the design and construction industry, Canstruction combines the competitive spirit of a design/build competition with an initiative to help feed hungry people. More than 125,000 cans of food went to local food banks as a result of this year’s Vancouver competition.

Seventy-five competitions were held in cities throughout North America in 2006-07 and winners in the national categories will be entered for the Annual International Canstruction Awards held in San Antonio, Texas in May 2007. Judges will work from professional photos sent to them from the national competitions in several categories: Juror’s Favourite; Structural Ingenuity; Best Meal; Best Use of Labels, and Honourable Mention.

UBC Engineering students benefited from their participation on the team in many ways, according to Fluor’s Canstruction team co-captain and UBC Mechanical Engineering alumna Karine Lim-Kong. “They worked in all the different areas of engineering they might experience when employed that they can’t often get at university—all the way from concept and design, to project management, procurement and construction.”

“It was a great experience to work with professionals outside the office environment,” said fourth-year civil engineering student Michelle Murphy. “We had to work within deadlines and a budget in a short time span. It was a lot of fun. I’d do it again.” Other team members were fourth-year civil students Stefanie Bereti and Tanya Duamel; fourth-year mechanical student Ainaz Ghaleh-Molaee, third-year civil student Natasha Elliott; and third-year geological engineering student Heather Stewart.

Fluor Canada invited the UBC student team members to meet with them once a week in the Winter 2007 term at their Vancouver offices and the theme of their structure evolved through a round-table discussion and numerous emails. Students found tools and studio space for Fluor to use on campus and all team members worked on the structure supports.

The structure was one of the first to be completed at Canada Place, taking two and a half hours, and then the backdrop and water were added.

The company participated in this year’s Canstruction competition as a way to fulfil one of its corporate goals of a positive impact on the communities in which it operates, but also to build a positive relationship with UBC Engineering students, so they learn about the company.

“What a great way to come and give back to UBC,” Murphy said, noting that some of the engineers there are UBC alumni. “I didn’t know much about Fluor before, but I admire their sense of community and their corporate goals.”

For more information, please contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

How many pennies will a boat made from aluminum foil hold without sinking? What kind of hypothetical animal could live in a specific habitat? How does physics explain why an egg in a styrofoam cup did or did not crack when dropped?
These and similar questions, designed by UBC Engineering and Biology students as hands-on activities, inspired the K-4 children at East Vancouver’s Tillicum Elementary School to see math and science in a different way.

Fourth-year Civil Engineering student Nicole Babuick is the student Director of Outreach with Engineers without Borders, but on this occasion volunteered as leader of 14 other engineering students for a community project, arranged through the UBC Learning Exchange during Reading Week.

The Exchange creates environments where people from UBC and people from inner city communities can work together and learn from each other.

The Engineering team joined with a team of 15 students in Biology 121, who were fulfilling the Community Learning Initiative section of their course. Together, they created ideas for the activities and facilitated these at the school. UBC alumna Sarah Bourdon acted as biology student leader.

Comments from the UBC students at week’s end largely reflected how the experience differed in a positive way from their initial expectations. They found the children involved and eager and reluctant to see them leave.

“I expected far less than what the project provided. I did not expect the children to be so welcoming, outgoing and sincere.”

“My expectations were that the school would be a little more chaotic. The complete opposite was true. The vice-principal and teachers are amazing role models and demonstrate daily they are socially responsible.”

To coordinate the week’s activities, Engineering Student Development Officer Amy Vozel worked with Science International Student Coordinator Susan Peters and Vice-Principal of Tillicum Elementary Darren Mitzel.

Mitzel said this was the best year so far of their four-year involvement with the Exchange, as all the students of the school were involved. “The students loved it. In their age group of five to nine years’ old, it’s the ‘cool’ factor that counts,” he said, adding Tillicum is a “social responsibility” school where children are accountable for their behaviour towards one another.

“Students worked in multi-age teams and the greatest thing to watch was the grade three and grade four children helping those in kindergarten. They were right into it—very involved.”

Demonstrations included chemical reactions between every-day items (such as diet pop and Mentos candies, which exploded) and tests to illustrate different scientific concepts such as speed and drag.
Activities that excited the children most were any that offered an opportunity to get their hands dirty. Tower-building with recyclables, body building through tracing each others body on paper and creating a water filter were some of the other highlights.

“From comments about their expectations, memorable moments and challenges, we found the UBC students realized they had something to offer. They were in the instructor’s role for once and the school children related very well to them,” said Vozel.

Labels: engineering, students

VANCOUVER - Engineers Without Borders (EWB) volunteers will take Vancouver by storm on Thursday, March 1st as they reach out to thousands of Vancouverites through public transit networks with a simple message: extreme poverty can be eliminated, and we all have a part to play in making this a reality.

Volunteers from EWB chapters across the Lower Mainland will hand-distribute over 11,000 mock newspapers, dated 2025, at major transit stations. Articles in the “Canadian Horizon” detail the actions taken to end poverty, with a focus on the roles that Canada and individual Canadians can play in ending extreme poverty. The flyer challenges readers to take action by joining the movement to end extreme poverty at http://www.playyourpart.ca.

Canadians can play their part to end extreme poverty in many ways: as individuals, consumers and global citizens. They can ask their political representatives to provide more and better foreign aid, act as conscious consumers by purchasing fair trade coffee, or demand corporate social responsibility from employers.

Vancouverites can take a step towards ending poverty by buying fair trade coffee. A portion of fair trade coffee sales from participating coffee shops across the Lower Mainland will be donated to EWB to help fund our programs in Africa.

EWB works in developing communities in Africa to promote human development throughaccess to technology. Its 20 000 members across the country strive to make Canada a model global citizen.

Some highlights and photo opportunities include:

Newspaper distribution: Volunteers distributing newspapers to over 11 000 people throughout the Lower Mainland.
When: 6:30-8:30am, 4:00-6:00pm
Where: The following Skytrain stations: Broadway & Commercial, Metrotown, Granville, Lougheed, Burrard, Joyce, Main Street, Stadium and New Westminster

For More Information Contact:

Trevor Whitney, Director of Communication
University of British Columbia Chapter of EWB
(604) 315-4511
whitney.trevor@gmail.com

Labels: engineering, students

UBC Engineering students brought home two awards from the 2007 Engineers Without Borders (EWB) National Conference held in Calgary, Alberta from January 24-27, 2007.
The UBC chapter received Chapter of the Year honours, beating out approximately 25 other chapters across Canada; and the chapter's president Michelle Murphy, a fourth-year civil engineering student, was named Volunteer of the Year.

At the conference's gala banquet on January 27, EWB co-CEO Parker Mitchell said, "Michelle has shown tremendous dedication to the organization since the day she joined EWB. She has the qualities of a leader and is very deserving of this award."

He went on to say that when he found out that Murphy was going to be co-organizing the national conference in 2005 in Vancouver, he asked EWB co-CEO George Roter who she was and if she could handle such a position. According to Mitchell, Roter responded, 'don't worry; Michelle doesn't screw up!'

After graduating from a degree in journalism and working in the profession for a few years, Murphy returned to school to study civil engineering—a profession where she believes she can have positive impact on the world.

Before starting her first year, she researched the EWB chapter at UBC and became immediately involved. She has taken on a number of roles in the chapter over the years: speaker series director; director of curriculum change; and in the 2006-07 school year, chapter president. Through these roles she has helped to transform the UBC chapter into one of EWB's strongest.

The UBC chapter is currently organizing a fair trade coffee awareness campaign for March 1 and a local conference entitled Bridging the Gap on March 10, 2007.

To learn more about these and other UBC EWB initiatives, visit: http://ubc.ewb.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Sherry Green
Communications Manager
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
5000-2332 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-9091
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: sgreen@apsc.ubc.ca

Labels: engineering, students

Talisman Energy joined UBC Engineering staff and students today to celebrate the launch of the Talisman Energy Scholarships. Earlier this academic year, Talisman Energy, one of Canada’s senior oil and gas companies, endowed British Columbia’s largest engineering school with $280,000 to create the two largest scholarships available to students of Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering within the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of British Columbia.
With the support of the Faculty, the two $9,000 Talisman Energy Scholarships will be awarded annually to students with outstanding academic performance in these respective engineering disciplines as well as demonstrated interest in the energy industry.

“The Faculty is fortunate to have industry partners like Talisman Energy who are committed to investing in education and research in order to produce a talented workforce of future engineers,” says UBC Dean of Applied Science Michael Isaacson.

Third-year student Kyle Loutet is the inaugural Talisman Energy Scholarship recipient in Chemical Engineering. Having spent his first engineering co-op work term with Talisman Energy at the Grand Prairie field office Loutet says, “My work term at Talisman gave me the opportunity to learn from some truly outstanding people. It was an invaluable experience and it is, therefore, with great honour that I accept this scholarship.”

The inaugural Talisman Energy Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering was awarded to third-year student Troy Adebar for his outstanding academic performance and commitment to research. “This recognition is incredibly encouraging to me, and I deeply appreciate Talisman Energy’s support of my education,” says Adebar.

Talisman Energy has been a source of leadership and support for the Faculty of Applied Science and its students over the past 15 years. Talisman has also hired many UBC alumni many of whom are now at the helm of the successful international oil and gas company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.

About Talisman Energy
Talisman Energy Inc. is an independent upstream oil and gas company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Talisman has operations in Canada and its subsidiaries operate in the North Sea, Southeast Asia, Australia, North Africa, the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. Talisman’s subsidiaries are also active in a number of other international areas. Talisman is committed to conducting its business in an ethically, socially and environmentally responsible manner. The Company is a participant in the United Nations Global Compact and included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index. Talisman's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada and the New York Stock Exchange in the United States under the symbol TLM.

For more information, please contact:

Tracey Charette
Development Writer
Faculty of Applied Science
The University of British Columbia
2205 - 6250 Applied Science
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-827-5572
Fax: 604-822-7006
E-mail: tracey.charette@ubc.ca

Labels: donor, engineering, industry