It took a full day to pour.

The reinforcement cage inside was so dense—steel bars packed so tightly that placing, aligning and inspecting every rod demanded exacting care—that the formwork required a complex external bracing system just to hold against the pressure of the wet concrete.

The result, now standing in the School of Engineering‘s High Head Lab at UBC Okanagan, is a massive L-shaped concrete wall—12.5 metres long on one face, 4.5 metres high on the other, and built for one purpose: to not move.

Not when hydraulic actuators push on it. Not when researchers apply up to 2,000 kilonewtons of force through four anchor points simultaneously. Not when tests simulate the compound forces of earthquakes, environmental decay and decades of stress.

The wall just stands there, taking everything that researchers can throw at it.

That’s the whole idea.

From one direction to every direction

Until now, the High Head Lab could apply force in a single direction at relatively modest magnitudes. This was enough for exploratory or small-scale work, but not enough to replicate what real structures experience.

The new reaction wall changes the parameters entirely. Because of its L-shape—two reinforced wings meeting at a corner, each bracing the other—hydraulic actuators can be mounted on both faces simultaneously, pushing and pulling in perpendicular directions at once.

“Structures like bridges are under constant push and pull, at different rates and cycles, when you consider all the variables of the vehicles and other forces that act on them,” says Dr. Shahria Alam, a professor of civil engineering at UBC Okanagan. “And those are the typical stressors, before you add in something like an earthquake.”

The wall allows researchers to apply four to five times more force than was previously possible at large scale, and in multiple directions at the same time—conditions that more closely reflect real conditions.

One lab, networked across a continent

No laboratory can hold an entire bridge. But a network of laboratories can. Using a technique called distributed hybrid simulation, researchers at multiple institutions test different structural components simultaneously—physically, in their own labs—while computational models link the experiments in real time, allowing each site’s results to inform the others.

Kelowna might be testing a repaired bridge pier while the University of Toronto tests the deck above it, and Polytechnique Montreal runs a complementary frame analysis. The results run in parallel, integrated by software, as though the structure were assembled across thousands of kilometres.

“This capability places UBC Okanagan among a small group of Canadian institutions equipped for this kind of synchronized, multi-site experimentation,” says Dr. Alam. “It opens the door to new national and international research partnerships in seismic resilience and infrastructure performance.”

The new reaction wall, purpose-built with the connection points and load capacity to anchor this kind of work, makes UBCO a node in that network. In terms of size and testing capacity, the wall is believed to be unique in Western Canada.

The first experiments

The lab is preparing to study low-carbon concrete barriers for roadside safety, structural wall and column testing using a multi-axial loading system, and integrated shake-table experiments that replicate seismic ground motion.

The common thread is multi-hazard thinking: not just how a structure performs under one event, but under combined stresses—an aging bridge hit by an earthquake in a region experiencing climate-intensified flooding, for instance.

“The wall will help us to keep moving our work forward in resilience, sustainability and multi-hazard performance,” says Dr. Alam. “The work responds to real needs in cities and municipalities across Canada and around the world as climate change increases risks.”

A teaching lab

The wall is a research asset, and a classroom.

Undergraduate and graduate structural engineering students will use the facility for coursework. They’ll test reinforced and prestressed concrete beams, work with full-scale structural elements and use the same tools they’ll encounter in professional practice.

“We are always working to create opportunities for students to engage with the same tools and challenges that they will encounter in professional practice,” says Dr. Alam, “so they are ready to make an impact as soon as they enter the workforce.”

Built through partnership

The reaction wall was funded through the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the BC Knowledge Development Fund, with Dr. Alam serving as co-principal investigator alongside researchers at the University of Toronto. Additional support came from UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering and Office of Research Services.

Industry partners also contributed directly: Emil Anderson Construction provided financial support, while Kon Kast Concrete Products, and Harris Rebar and DSI America offered cash contributions and material discounts, respectively. Construction was completed by Ledcor in January 2026, with WSP Global serving as the engineer of record.

Infrastructure for a world we haven’t built yet

The wall makes it possible to study infrastructure that doesn’t yet exist—structures designed for new climate conditions, seismic demands and emerging materials. The experiments run on this wall will inform how engineers design and build for decades to come.

“The more we understand how infrastructure behaves, the better we can design and build it to perform when it matters most,” says Dr. Alam. “We’re excited about what this new tool means for resilient engineering research, materials and practice in British Columbia and beyond.”

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As power grids add more renewable energy and large-scale battery storage, utilities face a growing challenge: how to stress-test tomorrow’s electricity systems before investing billions to build them. Wind, solar and battery-backed grids behave differently from traditional power systems. They are faster, more complex and harder to predict, especially during faults, extreme weather or sudden demand spikes. But using today’s simulation tools to test those scenarios can take days, which limits how many “what-if” questions engineers can realistically ask. New research led by UBC Okanagan School of Engineering doctoral students Walid Hatahet and Jared Paull, and associate professor Dr. Liwei Wang, points to a way forward. The research, published in IEEE Xplore, shows how engineers can dramatically speed up simulations used to test high-voltage electricity systems—the backbone infrastructure that moves power from renewable sources to where it’s needed most. The work focuses on helping utilities and system designers make better predictions. “Before utilities invest billions in new infrastructure, they need confidence that systems will behave safely under stress,” says Hatahet, a member of the Flexible Power Transmission Lab. “Our goal was to make those tests faster and more practical, without sacrificing accuracy. “This work can shorten the path from idea to tested and validated design.” The challenges come from modern power converters, the digital control systems that regulate electricity flow and are often paired directly with batteries. They are essential for integrating renewables, but they’re also so detailed that conventional simulation tools can struggle to handle them. The work also reflects close collaboration between academia and industry. Co-author Wei Li is with OPAL-RT Technologies, a Montreal-based firm whose real-time simulation platforms are used by utilities and grid operators worldwide. The research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. For industry partners, the implications are obvious. “This research directly addresses the computational bottlenecks our users face,” says Jean-Nicolas Paquin, Vice-President of Engineering and Electrical Expertise at OPAL-RT Technologies. “It helps utilities test complex systems more realistically, using the hardware they already have.” Dr. Wang’s team tackled the problem by rethinking how these systems are modelled and how computing power is used. By separating fast and slow processes and running simulations across CPUs and GPUs in parallel, the researchers achieved speed gains of up to 79 times compared with conventional methods while still matching high-accuracy reference models. That difference could change how grids are designed. While the study itself is technical, its impact is simple: better simulations lead to better decisions. As Canada and other countries modernize their power grids, those decisions will influence reliability, resilience and cost for decades to come. “Faster simulations mean engineers can test more scenarios, explore edge cases and identify risks much earlier,” says Dr. Wang. “That improves reliability and reduces uncertainty as renewables and storage are added to the grid.” The post Research putting future power grids to the test before they’re built appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

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Electrifying cars and trucks can cut greenhouse gas emissions, but in cold regions the climate benefits hinge on what powers the grid.   A new study led by UBC Okanagan doctoral student Sandali Walgama proposes a decision-making framework to help policymakers plan the best electricity generation mix for growing electric vehicle charging needs, using Alaska as a real-world test case. Published in Energy Conversion and Management, the research models how Alaska could meet rising electric vehicle power demand using existing energy sources—including natural gas, coal, hydro, wind and solar—and compares options that prioritize lowest cost, lowest emissions or a balanced approach.    “EVs are often framed as a simple swap, gas to electric,” says Walgama, the study’s corresponding author. “In reality, cold regions face constraints that make planning the power mix just as important as deploying chargers. Our framework is designed to make those trade-offs explicit so decision-makers can be better informed.”   Key findings of the research include: 

• The least-cost options leaned heavily on coal and natural gas. 
• The lowest-emissions options relied more on hydropower, wind and solar, but were limited by capacity and winter performance constraints 
• A balanced strategy reduced emissions by 15 per cent compared with the least-cost option, and cost 22 per cent less than the lowest-emissions scenario.   

The framework pairs two tools: one that shows the best cost-emissions trade-offs, and another to help decision-makers pick the option that fits their priorities: cost, emissions or a balance of both.  The study also flags that electric vehicle charging demand and natural gas prices strongly influence what the “best” mix looks like, suggesting planners should stress-test strategies against a range of adoption and fuel-price scenarios.    “This planning tool can help decision-makers extensively prioritize lifecycle-based solutions,” says co-author Dr. Kasun Hewage, Professor with UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering. “It helps jurisdictions identify solutions, which are environmentally, socially and economically viable and remain sensible—even as demand forecasts and energy prices shift.”   The post Study offers roadmap for cleaner, lower-cost EV charging in cold weather appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

Cyclists often stay close to home, take shorter routes when making multiple stops and favour areas with connected bike lanes and nearby amenities, according to new research from UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering.    The study, co-authored by Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, and doctoral student Bijoy Saha, appears in the Journal of Transport Geography and uses Okanagan travel-diary data to model destination choices across full bike “tours”—or chained trips that start and end at home.   “Planners often know popular routes. We’re showing where people stop and how that changes as a day gets more complex,” says Saha. “If you want people to link a café, park and store by bike, connect those areas with safe infrastructure and more destinations within reach.”  Much of the existing research focuses on single trips. Saha’s model accounts for how cyclists plan their days, which can include things like a coffee on the way to work, groceries on the way back, and limits like time, terrain and stamina.    First, the model filters destinations that are too far or demanding for a cyclist to reach. Then it uses a statistical approach to understand why riders choose different places and what attracts them to certain destinations.   The study found that cyclists usually choose nearby destinations, travel farther on simple one-stop tours, and take shorter routes when they have more stops.    “Cyclists often make multiple stops before reaching their destinations, such as picking up coffee or stopping for groceries,” Saha says. “This makes it necessary to recognize this ‘spatio-temporal’ dependency of travel and plan routes that connect them. Our model captures that reality.”    Built-environment factors such as the number of nearby activities and the ratio of bike lanes to road length increase the odds a rider will choose an area.     The model was trained on data from the 2018 Okanagan Travel Survey, a region-wide 24-hour diary of trips across Kelowna, West Kelowna, Vernon, Peachland and Lake Country.     Saha, who conducts his research in UBCO’s integrated Transportation Research lab, says the goal is practical: help cities place bike lanes, end-of-trip parking and services where cyclists are likely to go.   The work comes as BC continues to support active transportation networks with provincial grants and new funding adding up to roughly $135 million in capital support since 2023.     Some policy takeaways from the study include:  

• Add destinations near homes and employment areas; density draws riders.   

• Connect clusters with continuous bike lanes; a higher bike-lane-to-road ratio boosts attractiveness.   

• Expect telecommuters to bike farther for recreation and errands; plan secure parking at parks, cafés and community hubs.

Dr. Fatmi says the study strengthens a part of transportation planning that has often been overlooked.    “Most demand models are still centred on vehicles, which means they don’t always reflect how cyclists make decisions,” he says. “By improving how we model cyclists’ destination choices, planners get more realistic and accurate inputs. That allows cities to target the right connections, invest more equitably across neighbourhoods and support genuine shifts toward active travel.   “This work is also feeding into our larger effort to build a full model that evaluates both vehicle and non-vehicle travel, and how each affects traffic and the environment.”   The post Student maps where cyclists really go—and why it matters for city planning appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

Two UBC Okanagan engineering students are transforming classroom research into a practical tool for communities facing increasing wildfire risk.  Under the supervision of Dr. Qian Chen, Miracle Kabano and Samantha Krieg co-authored a new paper outlining the Wildfire-resilient and Sustainable Evaluation Framework for British Columbia (WiSE-BC).   The study appears in Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering and builds directly on the students’ earlier success designing EcoHaven, a modular home that won international recognition for wildfire resilience and energy efficiency.  The EcoHaven project—developed in collaboration with Thompson Rivers University faculty Dr. Dale Parkes and Dr. Hossein (Sayed) Banitabaei, along with a multidisciplinary student team and industry partners—earned second place in the US Department of Energy’s 2024 Solar Decathlon Design Challenge.   Designed for Honour Ranch, a retreat near Ashcroft, BC, that supports veterans and first responders, EcoHaven combines wildfire-resistant materials, net-zero energy systems and affordability suited to BC communities.  When Dr. Chen and her students later developed WiSE-BC, they used EcoHaven as a test case to evaluate the framework’s real-world potential.   WiSE-BC applies the analytical hierarchy process, a structured decision-making method that allows scalability and adaptability depending on project size and stakeholder priorities. This makes it suitable for both single-family builds and community-scale planning.  The results showed that WiSE-BC can help builders and designers identify trade-offs early, balancing emissions, cost and resilience at the concept stage.   In practical terms, that means reducing design time and construction costs while improving sustainability and fire-safety outcomes.  “With WiSE-BC, we wanted to explore and bring attention to an industry gap of both wildfire resilience and sustainability in design,” says Kabano. “Presenting our research at the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering conference was an incredible opportunity to help BC communities and developers make better design decisions in the early stages of a project.”  “British Columbia urgently needs housing that can withstand climate extremes,” adds Dr. Chen, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering. “WiSE-BC provides a roadmap for sustainable design that can be adopted by builders today, not years from now.”  Krieg says leading the EcoHaven project and co-authoring WiSE-BC revealed how student-driven collaboration can have lasting changes.  “It showed me the material impact that students can have on the world when they work together and strive for something greater,” she says. “By translating that work into research publications that offer practical solutions for industry, we hope to inspire others to build better in BC.”  She adds that the experience shaped her career ambitions.  “It inspired me to pursue a doctorate and continue investigating the intersection of sustainability and disaster resilience,” she says.   The same student research group is now developing two additional papers based on the EcoHaven design and a related project from the previous year. As housing demand and wildfire threats continue to rise, the team hopes WiSE-BC and its successors will guide municipalities, homebuilders and policymakers toward practical, evidence-based design solutions.  The post Student innovation connects wildfire resilience, safety to home design appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

As global supply chains continue to strain under trade tensions, natural disasters and pandemics, researchers at UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering have created an artificial intelligence-based framework to help organizations build resilience efficiently and cost-effectively. The study, published in Computers & Operations Research, presents an AI model that helps organizations make better decisions when facing uncertainty. By combining operations research, machine learning and AI, the framework helps leaders decide how to schedule orders, plan production and manage inventory when conditions shift unexpectedly. “Resilience is often discussed in broad terms, but our framework translates it into measurable financial decisions,” says Dr. Mahsa Mohammadi, a lecturer in the School of Engineering. “It helps decision-makers evaluate which strategy—whether multi-sourcing, consignment inventory or long-term contracts—delivers the best improvement in service level per dollar spent, even when tariffs, delays or demand changes come into play.” The team, which includes Dr. Babak Mohamadpour Tosarkani, Assistant Professor of Engineering, tested the model through a series of computer simulations that introduced global disruptions such as supplier shutdowns, tariff hikes and shipping delays.  Their analysis showed that businesses that invest in diverse suppliers and coordinated inventory management reduced disruption costs by nearly 30 per cent and improved recovery time more than those reacting after problems occurred.  Setting aside just 10 to 15 per cent of a company’s budget to resilience measures—such as shared backup contracts or local production—significantly reduced overall risk.  Beyond business applications, the framework offers valuable insights for policymakers and funding agencies.  “Public investments yield the greatest results when directed toward the supply chain elements most at risk of failure,” says Dr. Tosarkani. “Our model helps identify vulnerable components, suppliers or transport links, and guides decision-makers toward interventions that prevent system-wide disruptions.” The findings also highlight how common cost-cutting strategies—like bulk purchasing during tariff uncertainty—can actually inflate inventory costs. Instead, the researchers suggest balancing purchasing policies with adaptive inventory management and greater data sharing among supply chain partners. “Resilience should be viewed as a strategic strength, not an added cost,” adds Dr. Mohammadi. “By using AI and optimization, organizations can measure how prepared they are and make stronger, evidence-based investment decisions.” The post UBC Okanagan research offers playbook for supply chain resilience appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

Two UBC faculty members—Dr. Melissa McHale at UBC Vancouver and Dr. Lisa Tobber at UBC Okanagan—have received $1-million Wall Fellowships, the university’s most prestigious internal research awards. The fellowships will support transformative research to help communities across British Columbia adapt to a changing climate and growing housing needs. For both researchers, the recognition comes at a pivotal moment—highlighting the importance of their work and their persistence through personal and professional challenges. At UBC Vancouver, Dr. Melissa McHale had spent much of the past year navigating grief after losing both of her parents within months of each other. At UBC Okanagan, Dr. Lisa Tobber hesitated before applying. Dr. Tobber had joined the School of Engineering as a faculty member just four years earlier, right after completing her PhD. When the fellowship application opened, she was on parental leave, making the decision to apply feel especially daunting. “I debated whether to apply at all,” says Dr. Tobber. “Early-career researchers don’t often win fellowships of this scale, and the timing didn’t seem ideal. I thought, this probably isn’t going to happen.” What ultimately convinced her was that the fellowship recognized research making a tangible difference in British Columbia, the very work Tobber was already leading to improve the seismic safety and resilience of the province’s buildings. One of North America’s most significant internal research awards The Wall Fellowships are the flagship awards of UBC’s Peter Wall Legacy Awards program. Funded through a gift of more than $100 million from Vancouver entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Peter Wall, the program invests about about $4 million in UBC research each year—making it one of the largest internal research awards offered at a university in North America. This year’s fellows are leading community-focused research on two of BC’s most urgent and interconnected challenges: climate resilience and access to safe, sustainable housing. “We remain deeply grateful to Dr. Wall for his extraordinary vision and generosity,” says Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon, President and Vice-Chancellor of UBC. “Dr. McHale and Dr. Tobber are remarkable scholars driving innovations that will make British Columbia more livable, equitable and resilient in the face of our changing climate. Their contributions will be felt for generations—and so will Dr. Wall’s.”

Building climate-resilient cities

Dr. McHale’s project helps BC communities prepare for a hotter, drier, more fire-prone future—while rethinking the way climate research is done. Partnering with the City of Kelowna and Indigenous knowledge holders, her team is laying the groundwork for creating Canada’s first long-term social-ecological research site, part of a global network of more than 800 locations dedicated to sustainability science.  Through data mapping, land use analysis and local engagement, the project will identify where green infrastructure—like trees, shaded spaces and vegetation—can offer the most benefits: cooling hot neighbourhoods, conserving water, reducing wildfire risk and improving community wellbeing.  But for Dr. McHale, an internationally recognized urban ecologist, the work is about more than data. It’s about changing a narrative she believes is holding us back as a society. “Too often, we think of people as bad for nature,” she says. “But we have incredible capacity—we can solve problems, connect ideas and design ecosystems that work even better with us involved.”  That philosophy will shape every stage of the project. “The science matters, but how we do the science matters even more,” says Dr. McHale. “That means listening to communities, amplifying Indigenous leadership and co-creating lasting solutions.”  While building this platform in Canada, the team aspires to create the first international long-term ecological site to centred on Indigenous knowledge, with leadership and priorities set in partnership with local Nations. They are also working with a third-party organization that adds expertise in supporting respectful, long-term engagement between Indigenous communities and researchers.  As Dr. McHale puts it: “By bringing together science, Indigenous leadership and local priorities, we can create solutions that work for people and the planet—not just today, but for generations.” 

Engineering safer, stronger homes

Dr. Lisa Tobber is a structural engineer specializing in earthquake engineering—a field that studies how buildings behave during earthquakes and improves design standards to keep people safe. Her path to academia wasn’t linear. After high school, she worked as a receptionist for a construction company in northern BC Being around engineers sparked her interest, and she realized she wanted to build things that help people. She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree and PhD at UBC while raising two young children, and joined UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering in 2021. With the support of the $1-million Wall Fellowship, Dr. Tobber is tackling one of BC’s most urgent challenges: creating seismically-safe, climate-resilient, sustainable and affordable housing—especially for midrise buildings of four storeys or more. Wood construction is common in BC, but limited by height restrictions and carries fire and flood risks. Her project will test whether precast concrete—where large building components are made in a facility, transported to the site and assembled—offers a better alternative. Precast concrete could make buildings more durable, fire-resistant, faster to build, less wasteful and higher quality through factory production. But, as Dr. Tobber notes, there’s little research on how it performs in earthquake-prone regions like BC. This research relies on experimental testing. Under Tobber’s leadership, UBC is building the Multi-Axis Subassembly Testing system—the first of its kind in Western Canada. With support from the Wall Fellowship, her team will use it to study how precast concrete buildings perform in earthquakes. They will also design new systems and create computer models to test performance. The findings could help update Canada’s building code, work Tobber is well placed to support as a member of the National Model Code Committee on Seismic Design. Her project also integrates Indigenous knowledge into housing design, creating culturally informed solutions and opportunities for Indigenous students and communities. As a Métis person, Tobber finds this work personally fulfilling: “There’s enormous potential to make housing more equitable and resilient—and to ensure the next generation of buildings in BC is ready for the earthquakes we know will come,” she says. For a full list of Wall Legacy Award recipients and a description of their projects, visit walllegacyawards.ubc.ca/awardees. The post UBC researchers awarded $1M Wall Fellowships to reimagine housing and climate resilience in B.C. appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

A new research initiative at UBC Okanagan is using robotics and artificial intelligence to address two of Canada’s biggest challenges: wildfire mitigation and sustainable agriculture.

Dr. Mohamed Shehata, Dr. John Braun and their UBC Okanagan student recently received a Husky A300 Starter Kit through the 2024 PartnerBot Grant Program.

“The Husky A300 allows us to develop and test our navigation algorithms in real conditions,” says Dr. Shehata, a Professor of Computer Science with the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science. “It’s not just theoretical anymore—we can take it into the field, collect real data, and refine how these robots can work in challenging environments.”

Wildfire response: Reducing risk for firefighters

One of the most effective ways to control wildfires is to use a fire line, a cleared strip of land where vegetation is removed or burned down to bare mineral soil. This creates a barrier designed to stop or significantly slow the progression of a wildfire by depriving it of fuel to burn across.

Dr. Shehata’s team is exploring how autonomous robots, guided by AI and drone-assisted navigation, could perform these high-risk tasks. For example, the Husky A300 could be equipped with fire ignition tools or high-pressure water hoses, reducing the need for firefighters to enter high-risk areas.

Working alongside drones, which provide real-time data and mapping, the robot could navigate rough landscapes and assist in targeted fire suppression, making wildfire management safer and more precise.

“We’re looking at how we can send these robots into difficult terrain and control them remotely,” Dr. Shehata says. “Instead of putting firefighters at risk, we can use AI-powered navigation and real-time data visualization to guide operations from a safe distance.”

The team is collaborating with wildfire researchers at UBCO and an Alberta company specializing in high-pressure water delivery systems to explore how robots could complement existing aerial firefighting tools like helicopters.

Precision agriculture: Smarter, chemical-free farming

Beyond wildfires, Dr. Shehata is applying robotics to agriculture, using AI to help farmers detect weeds, monitor crop health and reduce chemical herbicides.

This automation can reduce chemical use, improve crop yields and make farming more sustainable—key priorities for Canada’s agricultural sector.

It’s the type of work made possible through engaged community partners such as the PartnerBot program. Established by Clearpath Robotics in 2012, the program supports innovative robotics projects by providing equipment and resources.

“We’re working with the Summerland Research and Development Centre and partners in Germany to develop new ways to use robotics in precision farming,” Dr. Shehata says. “Using AI and sensor-equipped drones, we can map fields and identify exactly where intervention is needed—whether it’s watering, fertilizing or targeted weed removal using lasers instead of herbicides.”

 

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