January 2011
Engineers | Prank you very much
Ubyssey
Sun Jan 30 2011
By: Mike Dickson
Link to full text
Pranks. They are the result of engineers—mathematically gifted minds with a legendary reputation for consuming drink and a bent for problem-solving—getting together around E-week and unleashing their skills in creative ways.
But the art of the prank has been declining for some years within the Engineering faculty, both in number and execution. Past stunts have ranged from suspending future Prime Minister Kim Campbell in a tree with a hammock in 1964 to stealing the Speaker’s Chair out of the Victoria Legislature in 1978 and holding it for $1000 ransom to be paid to Children’s Hospital.
A common thread from past engineers to present has been their focus on charity. 2008 saw the creation of a gigantic red engineering jacket filled with clothes for the needy draped around the English Bay inukshuk, while in 2009 engineering students handed out red scarves to the homeless.
“Pranks have never been endorsed by the Engineering Undergraduate Society,” said EUS VP Communications Will Gallego. “The EUS does not condone pranks of any kind.”
It is teamwork that pulls off the spectacular, as the 1969 pranksters who stole Stanley Park’s 1800-pound Nine O’Clock Cannon can attest. Its ransom generated over $1200 for the Children’s Hospital.
Engineers | Forty brews and booby traps too
Ubyssey
Sun Jan 30 2011
By: Crystal Ngai
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They happen every year: engineering pranks, events, competitions and celebrations. But what about the outrageous things you hear about but don’t get to witness firsthand? These are the myths that get passed down from year to year. Are they more than myths, though?
Enter the 40 beer challenge. It’s not exactly a myth, but neither is it something you hear being promoted openly. To clarify, it is an “engineering thing,” isolated from the EUS, that occurs every term. Those who attempt the feat are given a time limit of 12 hours to down 40 cold ones. Victors are awarded bragging rights and a special “40 beer badge” for their red jacket. For lightweights, there is the one-fifth under 200 pounds challenge. This replaces 40 beers with a number of brews equivalent to one fifth of the participant’s body weight.
EUS VP Communications and administration representative William Gallego said, “You can find engineers around campus with the 40 beer patch, so it’s obvious that it still goes on, and people do actually finish it.” If you see an engineer bearing this remarkable symbol on their red jacket, ask them about their experience. They will probably be happy to tell you.
University students create robots to help around the farm
CTV Saskatchewan
Sat Jan 29 2011
A group of university students are putting their own stamp on some complex robots in Saskatoon. The latest invention from Devyn Farr [SoE student] and his senior engineering design team from the University of British Columbia is a miniature robotic tractor that can do more than meets the eye. The project is one of ten submitted by university students from across western Canada, who are testing their robotic skills in the Western Engineering Competition.
With the theme of the event surrounding agriculture, students were asked to build a device that could perform tasks seen on the farm. And although the ideas seem simple, in the future many of these electronic creations could be doing a lot more than sorting grain.
"You can have your robot go around your house and vacuum your floor. A friend of mine is working on a robot that can cook his dinner using robot arms that can stir the pot and chop up vegetables," says Farr.
Invention separates virus DNA from that of humans
The Gazette
Sat Jan 29 2011
By: A14
By: Carmen Chai
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A team of UBC scientists are developing a hand-held device that will help doctors diagnose sick patients in a quick test that identifies the virus patients are carrying by separating human DNA from virus DNA.
Andre Marziali, a physics professor at UBC (Engineering Physics alumnus and program director), and his team are working on a medical “tricorder” -a portable, battery-powered device that can pinpoint the specific DNA signature of the virus.
“Researchers often can’t identify viruses that are infecting someone because of the amount of human DNA in the background,” Marziali said. “What this can do is it can pick out specific DNA sequences for analysis. This is huge. We have an incredible ability to reject background DNA.”
The Survivors
BC Business
Wed Jan 26 2011
Page: 49-71
We talked to 13 high-achieving British Columbians who have constructed two, three or four-decade careers in the same profession. What continues to motivate them? One thing’s for certain: it’s not stability. Rather, it’s change, variety, learning and growth. According to their youthful enthusiasm, there’s a world of opportunities out there.
John Macdonald [BASc '59, DSc '89] is the Chairman and CEO of Day 4 Energy Inc and a co-founder of MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates ltd. “We decided to form a company and that was Day4 Energy, So I classify myself as a failed retiree,” says MacDonald. ”We’ve been at it for eight years now and in that process I’ve become a student of renewable energy because that’s the future. I find it exciting to, you know, do something useful.”
UBC biotech spinoff digging deep into DNA
Business in Vancouver
Mon Jan 24 2011
By: Curt Cherewayko
Page: 12
When you put DNA under a microscope, it looks much like a tangle of string. That tangle makes it difficult to extract quality DNA from other materials.
Six year ago, when University of British Columbia biophysics professor Andre Marziali [ENPH director] was looking to text the theory that certain molecules will react in unique ways when electric fields are applied to them, he thought a tangle of DNA would provide an adequate challenge.
Six years later, Boreal Genomics, founded by Marziali in 2007, has commercialized what it believes is a smaller, cheaper and faster DNA-extraction method than those on today’s market.
Industry Engagement
UILO Annual Report 2009/2010
Fri Jan 21 2011
Page: 6
Link to full text
As UBC seeks to increase the number and strength of its partnerships, it can look to a number of successful long-term collaborations, including that between BC company Ultrasonix Medical Corporation and UBC engineering professors Robert Rohling and Septimiu Salcudean, which received an NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation in October 2009. Ultrasonix’s innovative open architecture system gave the UBC researchers real-time access to the raw data required to develop capabilities for ultrasound machines that were not possible with proprietary models. They then developed novel imaging techniques for new clinical uses and provided technical input to Ultrasonix on the features suitable for research. The partnership has led to the acceptance of the Sonix RP series as the new standard of ultrasound for research labs worldwide.
Seeding Global Development
UILO Annual Report 2009/2010
Fri Jan 21 2011
Page: 11
Link to full text
UBC’s global access principles extend beyond medical technologies, and promote research and collaborations of relevance to developing nations. Under the direction of Professors Don Mavinic and Jim Atwater, Elizabeth Tilley did a master’s degree at UBC, investigating urine separation and the recovery of a product called struvite for use as a fertilizer. As a Bridge Fellow she completed an internship at Eawag in Switzerland, where she stayed on as a researcher focused on developing countries. At Eawag, Tilley was instrumental in setting up a struvite pilot plant in Nepal, based partly on UBC research discoveries, which allowed villagers to produce fertilizer locally. Now undertaking a PhD in Switzerland, Tilley will be funded through a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project in Durban, South Africa and will investigate the economic aspects related to the production of struvite from urine. Tilley and Dr. Mavinic plan to continue working together, with many opportunities for future collaboration in providing developing world access to valuable fertilizer.
UBC’s excellent reputation for creating spin-off companies
UILO Annual Report 2009/2010
Fri Jan 21 2011
Page: 12
Link to full text
In recent years, the UILO has been pursuing ways of supporting this greater breadth of entrepreneurial activity, and is an active founding partner in the new entrepreneurship@UBC program—a campus-wide initiative led by the Sauder School of Business, the Faculty of Applied Science, the Faculty of Science and the UILO.
As the first major event under this banner, in July 2010 an invitation was sent out for companies founded by UBC student and recent alumni entrepreneurs to apply to present their companies to a panel of venture capitalists and distinguished alumni in Silicon Valley. Fifty-four companies responded, with approximately half being founded by students and half by alumni who had graduated within the previous three years, emphasizing the vibrant entrepreneurial culture at UBC. From this cohort, six companies were selected to join UBC President Stephen J. Toope; the deans of Sauder School of Business and the Faculty of Applied Science, Dan Muzyka and Tyseer Aboulnasr, respectively; and the UILO’s Angus Livingstone at the event held at the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, California.
UBC spin-off company helps sustainability
UILO Annual Report 2009/2010
Fri Jan 21 2011
Page: 21
Link to full text
In 2009, UBC spin-off company [from CIVL Prof Don Mavinic’s lab] Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. began commercial shipments of Crystal Green®, its renewable, slow-release and environmentally friendly fertilizer. The fertilizer is made by Ostara’s Pearl® technology, which recovers phosphorus and other nutrients from wastewater treatment plants, solving costly maintenance issues and providing a sustainable, non-leaching alternative to mined phosphorus, which helps reduce the carbon footprint and protect natural waterways.
UBC’s Got Talent well worth the price of admission
Ubyssey
Mon Jan 17 2011
By: Bryce Warnes
Page: 4
The inaugural staging of UBC’s Got Talent was warmly welcomed at the Chan Centre on Friday.
One of the performers, Sittinon Sukhaya [computer engineering student] was modest, well-dressed and didn’t really seem to enjoy being onstage. He didn’t speak more than ten words the whole time he was up there. He began his performance with a peeled banana in one hand and Rubik’s cube in the other (the puzzle had been scrambled by a random audience member). Sittinon nonchalantly inspected it for a few seconds before his fingers went to work.
Everything was fine for a moment. Then members of the audience began shrieking as if in terror. Sittinon’s fingers were impossible to follow, the fluidity of their movement was almost freakish to behold. The audience’s howling increased as the cube’s six constituent colours started to form. Less than 20 seconds later, it was finished and the crowd surged to its feet, applauding wildly. Sittinon looked mildly nonplussed by their reaction and after acknowledging the applause with a small bow, silently left the stage.
The Rubik’s cube act dominated the first half of the show. After the intermission, it reached its peak with Stephen Toope and Bijan Ahmadian’s [BASc ’07] performance of “Sweet Dreams”. Ahmadian is a controversial figure with many detractors, but he deserves credit for getting UBC’s President onstage and in the form.
Canada brings mine training to Mongolia
CIM Dec 2010/Jan 2011
Fri Jan 21 2011
Page: 22, 23
The Oyu Tolgoi property in southern Mongolia contains approximately 81 billion pounds of copper and 46 million ounces of gold in Measured, Indicated and Inferred resources. In October 2009, Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines and its partner Rio Tinto signed a long-term investment agreement with the government of Mongolia for the construction and operation of Oyu Tolgoi. Among the terms is an agreement that at least 90 per cent of the employees at Oyu Tolgoi be Mongolian citizens.
To meet this goal, virtual campuses accessible through Oyu Tolgoi’s human resources department and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology’s (MUST) mining department were up and running in October. The first students have already enrolled in Canadian-developed online mining courses, designed to provide applied training and skills development to professionals in Mongolia’s rapidly growing mining industry.
Graduates of the program will receive a Certificate in Mining Studies from UBC. “We expect to put several hundred engineers through the certificate program in about five years,” says Bern Klein, head of UBC’s Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering. “Ivanhoe wants to hire engineers for Oyu Tolgoi and get them trained quickly.”
Discussions about the program began nearly four years ago. “When Rio Tinto got involved in Oyu Tolgoi through our partnership with Ivanhoe, we recognized there was a need to raise the professional standards of the people who will be working on the project,” explains Allan Moss, Rio Tinto’s general manager of copper technology and member of UBC’s mining faculty industry advisory committee. He suggested modifying its Certificate of Mining Studies program to meet that need.
UBC Engineering prof receives honorary doctorate
UBC This Week
Thu Jan 20 2011
Mechanical engineering professor Clarence de Silva received an honorary Doctor of Science degree at the annual convocation of the Open University of Sri Lanka on Dec. 23, 2010. His convocation address, given at the Bandaranayake Memorial International Conference Hall, was published in the Sri Lanka national newspaper Island in two parts on Dec. 29 and 30, 2010.
To link to the convocation address, visit: www.sites.mech.ubc.ca/~ial/ial/news.php.
UBC professors honoured by the Engineering Institute of Canada
UBC This Week
Thu Jan 20 2011
UBC engineering professors Liam Finn and André Ivanov will be honoured for their excellence in professional service by the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) at its annual awards gala in Ottawa on March 5, 2011.
Civil engineering Prof. Emeritus Liam Finn will be awarded the K.Y. Lo Medal in recognition of his outstanding engineering contributions internationally. Finn is an expert in geotechnical earthquake engineering with particular interest in liquefaction, seismic response of sites and earth structures, seismic safety evaluation of dams, seismic response of pile foundations and seismic risk. He pioneered the use of dynamic effective stress analysis in practice and the use of large strain deformation analysis for the analysis of post liquefaction deformation of dams.
Electrical and computer engineering department head André Ivanov will be inducted a Fellow of the institute for his exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada. Ivanov 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.
For more, visit: www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2011/jan19.html
Engineering student wins UBC leadership award
UBC This Week
Thu Jan 20 2011
Engineering student Sean Heisler received the UBC Nestor Korchinsky Student Leadership Award on Jan. 8 at UBC’s largest student-run conference.
Heisler, a third-year student in the Integrated Engineering (IGEN) program, currently serves on UBC’s Board of Governors, UBC’s Land Use Plan Public Hearing Committee and is Co-Chair of the Canadian Engineering Conference 2012. A transfer student from Queen’s University, he served on the BC Ministry of Advanced Education BC Transfer Guide Business Process Review and as a mentor for UBC engineering transfer students. He has also served on UBC Senate, the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), IGEN Student Council and as Co-Director of GEERing UP!, a non-profit organization that promotes science, engineering and technology to youth across the Greater Vancouver Area.
For more, visit: www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2011/jan10.html
CiTR Radio Prof Talk interviews civil engineering professor
UBC This Week
Thu Jan 20 2011
On UBC CiTR Radio’s Prof Talk, with host Farha Khan, Perry Adebar from the Dept. of Civil Engineering will discuss structural engineering as a field of study as well as his current research on concrete structures and seismic design.
Every second Tuesday, Prof Talk on 101.9FM features interviews with professors from a variety of disciplines.
Date: January 25
Time: 3 p.m.
Information: Live programming: http://citr.ca
Podcasts: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Citr–ProfTalk
Show schedule: http://ubcproftalk.blogspot.com
Next big thing: municipal service robots
Okanagan Exchange
Wed Jan 19 2011
In the next 15 years, Canada will spend $12 billion to upgrade water main systems. A UBC professor is building a pipe inspection robot that will save money by entering subterranean waterways to find the weak spots.
Robotics professor Homayoun Najjaran [SoE] is working on a robot that has the ability to travel through water mains and sewer pipes, identify defects and send back information that can be used by municipal engineers to determine how and where money should be invested in repair and renewal of piping infrastructure.
The project is a collaborative effort with fellow UBC engineering professors Solomon Tesfamariam and Rehan Sadiq, as well as a company called Inuktun in Nanaimo, B.C. The robot could save municipalities millions of dollars by helping them determine which infrastructure systems are in the most critical condition, and which are highest priority for costly upgrades.
Engineering grad's fertile solution rooted in undergrad experience
Daily News University of Windsor
Tue Jan 18 2011
By: Stephen Fields
Link to full text
Being urged by his mentors to challenge conventional thinking is what helped a former UWindsor engineering student rise to the top of his academic game and turn a common problem into a solution that could help feed the world.
Dr. Mavinic [CIVL Prof] is now a professor at the University of British Columbia, where he discovered a method of turning the phosphorus-rich nutrients that tend to jam up equipment in wastewater treatment facilities into a commercial fertilizer product. The work has won him a number of awards, including a 2010 Synergy Award for Innovation.
One of his most memorable experiences came September 28, 1972, when he was scheduled to defend his PhD thesis—the same day Paul Henderson scored his historic goal to clinch the Summit Series between hockey rivals Canada and the Soviet Union.
“Essex Hall was deserted so I went down to the faculty lounge and everyone was in there,” he said. “They told me to sit down, shut up and watch the game. Everyone was in a pretty jovial mood after that, so defending my thesis was a piece of cake.
AMS Election campaigns in full swing
Ubyssey
Mon Jan 10 2011
By: Arshy Mann
Page: 3
The campaign period for AMS elections begins today. In the upcoming two weeks, 35 candidates will be vying for 18 positions in UBC’s student union, student legal fund, senate and board of governors.
Seven people will be campaigning for the two available spots on the UBC Board of Governors, including incumbent Sean Heisler [IGEN], who is running for a second term. Both the current VP Academic and University Affairs Ben Cappellacci and his Associate VP Sean Cregten are in the race, as well as SUS President Sumedha Sharma, Senator AJ Hajian, Silley and joke candidate “SuperSexySass” Sangari.
Engineering student lands $5,000 grant for new UBC research lab
Okanagan Exchange
Wed Jan 05 2011
By: Jody Jacob
Third-year engineering student Emily Landry [SoE] has been awarded $5,000 to establish a work space for electronic prototyping, which will help advance research at UBC's Okanagan campus.
"The McNaughton Learning Resources Centre will provide electrical engineering students with the capability to tinker with and actually prototype electronics that they create themselves," says Landry. "It will also facilitate peer-to-peer learning and provide students with resources that help them achieve greater levels of success in curriculum-related design projects and engineering competitions."
The funding consists of $3,750 from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Canadian Foundation's McNaughton Learning Resource Centre Grant program, and $1,250 from the School of Engineering's Engineering Professional Academic Fund.
Take note – drive more, pollute less
Trek Fall/Winter 2010
Fri Jan 07 2011
Page: 6
Link to full text
Steven Rogak is an associate director of the UBC Clean Energy Research Centre and an associate professor of mechanical engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science. He recently received significant federal funding to develop fuel injector prototypes for natural gas engines.
“Natural gas has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more that 20 per cent, compared to conventional engines,” says Rogak.
Letters - Smokin’ in the caf
Trek Fall/Winter 2010
Fri Jan 07 2011
Page: 12
By: Alison McLean
Link to full text
In your summer edition of Trek, “Placing a Name” noted that “the first girl to smoke in the cafeteria was said to have been a member of the Players’ Club. Since the sky did not fall, many others then began to light up, and soon smoking was as common as non-smoking is today.”
While it was not a feat she was necessarily proud of in her later years, the trail-blazing first girl to smoke in the cafeteria (a girl smoking in the cafeteria was quite an act of rebellion in those days) was my grandmother, Amy Seed, BA’37.
Academics were not Amy’s strong suit. She was far more interested in other aspects of UBC life: belonging to the Delta Gamma sorority and the Players’ Club among others. She often spoke fondly in her later years of working with Freddy Wood and Dot Somerset. She later went on to marry Donald Baker, BASc’35, whom she met at a tea dance (another anachronism) at UBC.
Letters - Geers Can Read Two!
Trek Fall/Winter 2010
Fri Jan 07 2011
Page: 12
By: E.V. (Ted) Hird [PEng, BASc’50]
Link to full text
I always find Trek very readable and enjoyable, but even more so the summer issue and in particular “Placing a Name.” When I started at UBC in 1945 as an ex-serviceman, those great professors who have buildings named for them were still there and being written about in The Ubyssey, which was required reading – even for engineers.
I got a real thrill out of recognizing one of your anecdote writers, Philip Akrigg, who tried to teach English to agriculture and engineering students, including me. I have warm memories of his course.
Letters - Geers Can Read Two!
Trek Fall/Winter 2010
Fri Jan 07 2011
Page: 12
By: John William Ker [BASc’41]
Link to full text
During my second year at UBC, when I was in first-year forest engineering, Dr. G.G. Sedgewick gave a guest lecture to the engineering undergraduates. That noon-hour lecture was held in the lecture theatre, Arts 100, in the arts building. The room was full of engineering students awaiting the entrance of the professor.
After a few minutes a little man appeared, nattily dressed, wearing a polka-dot bow tie and shiny black shoes. Avoiding the large lecture desk on a raised platform, he sat down in front of the desk, crossed his legs, and looked up the long aisle that separated the two rows of seats.
The room had been noisy at his arrival, but as the students became quiet, the professor began to speak in a low voice. For 50 minutes, he held forth, with nary a note, holding the engineering students as if in the palm of his hand.
I am sure that occasion changed the attitude of those engineering students to G.G. Sedgewick, the arts professor!
The 2010 UBC Alumni Achievement Awards – Outstanding Future Alumnus Award
Trek Fall/Winter 2010
Fri Jan 07 2011
Page: 21
Link to full text
With a combination of maturity, hard work and dedication, Ms Rachael L’Orsa has made her mark on UBC’s Okanagan campus over the past few years, becoming well respected by her peers and taking on significant leadership roles in the process.
Despite a demanding academic schedule, L’Orsa has become very involved in the university community. While working towards her BASc in mechanical engineering, which she received this June, L’Orsa was a member of the Engineering Undergraduate Society, taking the lead on a variety of workshops and events. She also represented her peers and earned the respect of her seniors as a student senator on the University Senate.
Her leadership ability and willingness to volunteer was also evident in her roles as team leader for her 4th year capstone project group.
Long Time, No UBC…What have you been up to lately?
Trek Fall/Winter 2010
Fri Jan 07 2011
Page: 38
Link to full text
1950s
At a recent celebration of the 100th anniversary of the naming of Vancouver’s King Edward High School, Hilary Yates Clark, BHE’52, MEd’90; Doug Clement, BSc’55, MD’59; George Puil, BA’52, BEd’57; Dr Ralph G.M. Sultan, BASc’56; and the recently deceased, Jack Volrich, BA’50, LLB’51, were given lifetime achievement awards.
In Memoriam
Trek Fall/Winter 2010
Fri Jan 07 2011
Page: 46 - 53
Link to full text
Peter Mussallem, BASc’42
Peter passed away peacefully at home on January 6, 2010 at the age of 93.He graduated from UBC as a chemical engineer and began working at Imperial Oil in the research department, receiving two patents for processes he developed. Peter continued working at Imperial Oil both in research and as a technical expert until his retirement in 1981.
Richard (Dick) M. Bibbs, BASc’45
Born in 1921, he was raised and schooled in Greater Vancouver. Unable to pass the army physical due to his childhood leg injury, Richard worked his way through chemical engineering at UBC and joined the BC Electric Company as a gasworks chemist in 1946. Twenty years later, he was a VP of MacMillan Bloedel.
Donald Rex Stevens, BASc’46
Don passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 4, with family at his side. A UBC engineering graduate, Don had a long and successful career with the Hudson’s Bay Co. He was an active member of Blythwood Road Baptist Church for many years.
Frank S. Fraser, BASc’49
Frank graduated from Magee High School in 1941 and attended UBC for two years before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943, serving as an aircraft electrician until returning to UBC in 1945. Later he played a major role in the design, installation and commissioning of the BC portion of the Trans-Canada TD2 microwave system, which first linked Canada from east to west with two television channels and several thousand long distance telephone circuits.
Eric Mountjoy, BASc’55
Eric died peacefully at home on Friday, June 18, 2010 surrounded by his wife and loved ones. He was a distinguished Canadian geologist, explorer and university professor. He was renowned for his contributions to the understanding of sedimentary carbonate rocks and his pioneering geological exploration.
# # #
For complete stories please contact:
ErinRose Handy
Communications Manager
UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Tel: 604.822.1524
E-mail: erinrose.handy@ubc.ca
