Seabrook Impact in Engineering Award will empower grads to advance ideas with lasting impact
One of UBC Okanagan’s earliest engineering graduates is helping power a brighter future for the next generation of innovators who will follow in his footsteps.
James Seabrook, founder and CEO of Vitalis and a long-time supporter of UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering, has established the new J. Seabrook Impact Award in Engineering. The $5,000 award recognizes a graduating student who has demonstrated service to their community and who is advancing projects, ventures or initiatives with the potential to create meaningful social or environmental impact. On June 5, Mechanical engineering graduate Dylan Mathew became the inaugural recipient, in recognition of years of hard work in and out of the classroom.
For Seabrook, the award reflects his desire to give back—and to help others drive innovation in the Okanagan.
“Supporting the next generation of innovators is one of the most meaningful ways I can give back to a School that helped shape my own journey,” says Seabrook. “Dylan has demonstrated exactly the kind of leadership and drive that this award was designed to recognize. I’m proud to see him named as the first recipient and excited to watch his ideas continue to make a positive impact.”
As a member of the School’s graduating class of 2011, Seabrook understands the uncertainty and excitement that comes with leaving university and pursuing an ambitious idea. Since graduation, he has built Vitalis into a globally recognized clean technology company while remaining deeply connected to the School and the broader Okanagan community.
“James represents exactly the type of engineer, leader and community builder we hope to nurture at UBCO,” says Dr. Will Hughes, Director of UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering. “He has built an extraordinary company, remained deeply connected to our campus, and continues to invest in the success of our students. This award reflects his belief that great engineering is about more than technical excellence. It is about creating opportunities, solving meaningful problems and contributing to something larger than ourselves.”
As co-founder and president of the UBC Okanagan Marine Robotics Club, recipient Dylan Mathew transformed a student idea into the university’s first autonomous marine robotics design team. What began as a small volunteer initiative has grown into a thriving multidisciplinary team that has engaged more than 120 engineering and computer science students, creating hands-on learning experiences, leadership opportunities and pathways to industry.
“Receiving this award means so much to me,” said Mathew. “As an international student pursuing an education far from home and family, this award reminded me that the work I have dedicated myself to truly matters.”
Like Seabrook before him, Mathew’s impact has spread far beyond campus. In his spare time, Mathew has introduced robotics and engineering concepts to hundreds of elementary and secondary school students.
For Hughes, Mathew exemplifies everything the award was created to celebrate.
“Dylan has consistently identified opportunities to create positive change and then taken action to make them real,” says Hughes. “Through leadership, mentorship, service and entrepreneurship, he has created opportunities for others while building something that will continue to benefit students and our community for years to come.”
Following graduation, Mathew plans to advance a marine technology venture focused on autonomous surface vehicles designed to improve environmental monitoring, marine infrastructure management and navigation safety.
Building on his experience in marine robotics and industry partnerships, the venture aims to provide ports, municipalities and marine operators with more accessible and sustainable tools for collecting critical environmental and operational data.
Mathew says the award is both inspiring and empowering him to keep going:
“Awards like this empower students like me not only to succeed personally but to build communities, create opportunities, and pursue ambitious ideas that can have an impact,” he says. “Thank you to James Seabrook for believing in me and investing in the ideas and communities I am trying to build. I hope to carry that same spirit forward one day by creating opportunities and support for future students the way you have for me.”
The J. Seabrook Impact Award in Engineering will be presented annually to a graduating School of Engineering student who demonstrates service to their school or community and who is advancing a project, initiative or venture focused on creating positive social or environmental impact.