Leadership

Jill Heinrichs
Administration and Project Manager
jill.heinrichs@ubc.ca
250.807.9052
EME 4242

Mimi Miller
Manager, Administration
mimi.miller@ubc.ca
EME 4251

Tyler Finley
Manager, Communications
tyler.finley@ubc.ca
EME 4241
250.575.3285

Kamiel Gabriel
Director, Strategic Research Projects
kamiel.gabriel@ubc.ca
EME 4241

Alec Smith
Manager, Infrastructure
alec.smith@ubc.ca
250.807.8535
EME 4286

Colin Wilson
Director, Business Development – Research and Industry Partnerships
Colin.wilson@ubc.ca
250.807.9903

Jonathan Holzman
Professor, Electrical Jonathan.Holzman@ubc.ca
250.807.8798
EME 4259

The Associate Director, Faculty provides leadership in faculty affairs and faculty development across the School of Engineering. Working closely with the Director, administrative team, and fellow Associate Directors, this role plays a vital part in cultivating a culture of inclusive excellence, trust, professional growth, and shared accountability—ensuring faculty members are supported from recruitment through all stages of their academic careers.

Aligned with the SoE 3.0 vision, this position ensures that faculty-related policies and processes are strategic, transparent, sustainable, and well-implemented. It contributes directly to the School’s ability to attract and retain top talent, foster an equitable academic community, and sustain long-term excellence in teaching, research, and service.

Key responsibilities include:

• Coordinating faculty recruitment, appointment, and reappointment processes (e.g., 02s, ARPT)
• Overseeing merit, PSA, leaves, and academic advancement processes
• Supporting faculty onboarding, mentorship, and career progression
• Managing faculty awards, contracts, and policy interpretation
• Facilitating conflict resolution in partnership with leadership and HR
• Providing insight into faculty structure, needs, and resource planning
• Collaborating with leadership to maintain a high-functioning and inclusive academic environment

Louzanne Bam
Lecturer, Manufacturing Engineering
louzanne.bam@ubc.ca
(pro-tem)

Yu (Claire) Yan
Professor of Teaching, Mechanical yu.yan@ubc.ca
250.807.8631
EME4221
(pro-tem)

Sabine Weyand
Associate Professor of Teaching, Electrical, Mechanical sabine.weyand@ubc.ca
250.807.8068
EME3209
(on leave)

The Associate Director, Programs serves as the architect and systems-level steward of all undergraduate and graduate academic programs in the School of Engineering—from initial concept, to pilot, to scaled implementation. This role operates across course, program, and institutional levels, ensuring that all programs are timely, relevant, strategically aligned, and efficiently delivered.

As a central pillar of the School of Engineering, this position plays a critical role in improving program quality, adaptability, and impact. It ensures the academic enterprise functions cohesively—creating the structural and operational conditions that allow faculty and students to engage more deeply in service, teaching, research, innovation, and economic development.

The Associate Director, Programs also serves as the primary point of contact for the Provost’s Office, external accreditors, and the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, ensuring the School’s academic offerings meet the highest standards of accountability, relevance, and public value. Internally, the Associate Director works hand-in-hand with Program Chairs and fellow Associate Directors to ensure that the School’s programs are integrated, student-centered, and aligned with both institutional priorities and community needs.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the design, development, and launch of all academic programs
• Overseeing curriculum structure and alignment with UBC, accreditor, and ministry expectations
• Designing and managing program planning tools, resource allocation models, and enrollment targets
• Leading recruitment, yield, and enrollment forecasting in coordination with campus partners
• Coordinating TA, sessional, and lecturer assignments, performance evaluations, and instructional planning
• Identifying opportunities for program consolidation, redesign, or strategic expansion
• Improving program-level communications, planning systems, and process transparency
• Supporting and partnering with Program Chairs to ensure program delivery is high- quality and sustainable
• Collaborating with fellow Associate Directors to align academic programs with broader School priorities
• Serving as the School’s academic liaison to the Provost’s Office, Ministry, and professional accreditors

Yu (Claire) Yan
Professor of Teaching, Mechanical yu.yan@ubc.ca
250.807.8631
EME4221

The Associate Director, Kaizen leads the School of Engineering’s efforts to embed continuous improvement practices across all programs and programming. Rooted in the Japanese concept of Kaizen—meaning “change for the better”—this role champions a culture of evidence-based decision-making, operational excellence, and sustainable continuous improvement.

Operating at both the systems and detail levels, this position plays a critical role in advancing the School’s mission by ensuring that all programs are continuously optimized for quality, relevance, efficiency, and student success. The Associate Director, Kaizen serves as a strategic connector between assessment and action, ensuring that the School not only collects meaningful data—but uses it to drive thoughtful change.

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing and managing systems for data collection, analysis, and reporting across academic programs
• Identifying trends, gaps, and opportunities through quantitative and qualitative review
• Recommending and implementing curricular and operational enhancements based on evidence and stakeholder input
• Advancing strategies that improve instructional effectiveness, student learning outcomes, and program integrity
• Partnering with faculty, staff, and leadership to build a culture of reflection, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Supporting curriculum reviews, quality assurance processes, and accreditation readiness
• Collaborating with institutional research offices, accreditation bodies, and strategic partners to align with best practices
• Enhancing student and faculty feedback loops to strengthen responsiveness and foster trust
• Leading or supporting initiatives related to process redesign, operational efficiency, and impact measurement

Loïc Markley
Associate Professor, Electrical loic.markley@ubc.ca
250.807.9590
EME 4207

The Associate Director, Undergraduate Students provides strategic leadership for the undergraduate student experience in the School of Engineering. This role is dedicated to ensuring that students are supported academically, socially, and personally throughout their journey— from admission through to graduation.

Aligned with the School’s values, the position focuses on delivering a student-centered experience grounded in academic integrity, wellbeing, inclusion, and excellence. It ensures undergraduate programs remain responsive to evolving student needs while cultivating a strong culture of care, service, empowerment, and accountability.

Key responsibilities include:

• Overseeing undergraduate admissions, academic progression, and retention
• Supporting academic integrity, academic advising, and conflict resolution
• Monitoring student performance, awards, and recognitions
• Leading initiatives that promote student wellbeing, engagement, and belonging
• Supporting undergraduate curriculum design, delivery, and program structure
• Collaborating on recruitment, yield, and enrollment planning
• Partnering with faculty and staff to foster an inclusive, high-quality learning environment
• Advocating for undergraduate student needs in internal planning and policy decisions
• Administering and optimizing the use of the Professional Activities Fund (PAF)

Sepideh Pakpour
Associate Professor, Mechanical sepideh.pakpour@ubc.ca
250.807.9103
EME3217

The Associate Director, Graduate Students provides strategic leadership for the graduate student experience in the School of Engineering. This role supports the full graduate journey—from recruitment and admission through academic progression, degree completion, and professional placement—ensuring students are equipped to thrive as scholars, innovators, leaders, and future business leaders.

Aligned with the School’s values, this position strengthens graduate education by fostering a student-centered, research-intensive, and inclusive environment. The Associate Director is responsible for cultivating a vibrant graduate student community while elevating advising, retention, graduation rates, and post-degree outcomes. This role ensures that graduate programming remains relevant, responsive, and high-impact—both within the university and in connection with external partners.

Key responsibilities include:

• Overseeing graduate admissions, academic progression, retention, and timely graduation
• Enhancing systems for academic integrity, advising, and conflict resolution
• Monitoring graduate student performance, awards, recognitions, and key performance indicators
• Developing and maintaining a Graduate Student Handbook to support clarity and consistency
• Managing and improving graduate student advising and mentorship practices
• Cultivating a strong and inclusive graduate student community through engagement and wellness initiatives
• Supporting graduate curriculum development, delivery, and continuous improvement
• Collaborating on recruitment, yield, and enrollment strategies for graduate programs
• Leading efforts to improve professional development, job placement, and career readiness
• Advocating for graduate student needs in academic planning and institutional policy development
• Serving as the point contact for the College of Graduate Studies

Kenneth Chau
Associate Professor, Electrical Kenneth.Chau@ubc.ca
250.807.8646
EME3213

The Associate Director, Innovation leads efforts to build a culture and ecosystem of innovation within the School of Engineering. Working closely with the Director, fellow Associate Directors, and entrepreneurial partners, this role helps unlock the creative potential of faculty, staff, and students—at both rate and scale—by helping align the School’s structural, cultural, and financial assets in support of experimentation, change leadership, and long-term institutional impact.

Innovation in this context is not seen as a static outcome, but as a continuous, collaborative process—a verb, not a noun. As a key contributor to our School’s model, the Associate Director, Innovation is responsible for creating the conditions where innovation can take root and thrive— within the School and in partnership with industry, government, and community stakeholders.

This position also plays a vital role in advancing UBC’s and British Columbia’s shared priorities around responsible innovation and inclusive economic development. By fostering scalable ideas, promoting ethical experimentation, and linking institutional strengths to external opportunities, the role supports innovation that is not only ambitious, but grounded, equitable, and enduring.

Key responsibilities include:

• Strengthening faculty culture, collaboration, and onboarding with a focus on innovation
• Leading or advising strategic initiatives that support differentiation and experimentation
• Supporting mentorship, career transitions, and employee-driven innovation
• Identifying and removing cultural or structural barriers to progress
• Connecting faculty strengths and interests to external opportunities and partnerships
• Promoting academic innovation aligned with SoE values and UBC priorities
• Supporting the design, governance, and strategic deployment of a School-based innovation fund
• Advancing responsible innovation and sustainable growth aligned with community and economic impact goals

Lukas Bichler, PhD
Professor, Manufacturing, Mechanical lukas.bichler@ubc.ca
250.807.8816
EME4223

The Associate Director, Research provides strategic leadership for the growth and integration of the School of Engineering’s research enterprise. This role is central to advancing the School’s third horizon, serving as the operational and strategic bridge between academic and research structures—and between the university and its external partners in industry, government, and community.

With a mandate to expand research activity while reducing unnecessary overhead, this position supports the design and delivery of a research ecosystem that is collaborative, scalable, and impact-driven. It plays a key role in growing the School’s research space, capacity, and infrastructure, while aligning research efforts with regional priorities, institutional goals, and global challenges.

As the centerpiece of SoE’s emerging Research, Development, and Educational (RD&E) enterprise, the Associate Director, Research helps reimagine how research excellence is developed, sustained, scaled, and connected—to teaching, to innovation, and to real-world application.

Key responsibilities include:

• Overseeing research space planning, allocation, and optimization
• Supporting the development, renewal, and coordination of research chairs, centres, and clusters
• Facilitating internal and external research partnerships—including with industry, government, and community
• Supporting the preparation, review, and strategic alignment of research grant applications and infrastructure proposals
• Coordinating strategic research investments and long-range research planning
• Building systems and tools that enhance research productivity, collaboration, and impact
• Leading efforts to streamline research processes and reduce administrative burden for faculty
• Tracking, benchmarking, and reporting research outputs and outcomes
• Championing the integration of research into innovation, economic development, and RD&E models