Wireless communication is about to get stronger, clearer and more secure thanks to a new idea from UBC Okanagan researchers. Dr. Anas Chaaban and his team in the School of Engineering are exploring a method to improve the way stacked intelligent surfaces (SIS) can process electromagnetic waves more efficiently. SIS is an emerging alternative to conventional wireless hardware, Dr. Chaaban says, as layers of specially engineered materials are used to directly manipulate electromagnetic waves. “Electromagnetic waves travel through special surfaces that consist of several elements. These elements mimic neurons in a computerized neural network,” Dr. Chaaban says. “As the waves move through the surface, each element changes them slightly. When the waves come out, they are captured by antennas that send the signals to digital processors for further analysis.” Unlike traditional systems that rely on complex and power-hungry circuitry, SIS technology enables fast, low-energy signal processing by controlling how signals propagate through space. This new research, published recently in IEEE Wireless Communications, introduces a nonlinear architecture, enabling these surfaces to behave more like artificial neural networks. By incorporating nonlinear behaviour into each element, the system can process signals in more complex ways—similar to how modern AI systems handle data. Until now, most SIS designs have relied on linear operations, so they could only perform relatively simple signal transformations. As a result, these designs cannot take full advantage of advanced communication techniques. “Nonlinearity unlocks a fundamentally new capability for intelligent surfaces, allowing them to perform tasks that linear systems simply cannot achieve,” says Omran Abbas, who is the study’s co-author and a UBCO doctoral student. The idea of using an SIS in this way is not new, he adds, but by using the nonlinear elements, the system can have more intelligence to perform AI-like operations. In a simulated wireless system, the nonlinear system demonstrated improved communication reliability, reducing symbol error rates compared to conventional designs. The improvement comes from the surface’s ability to create complex wave patterns that are more resilient to noise and interference. Dr. Loïc Markley, a co-investigator on the project with a background in periodic structures and metamaterials, says they are working on the physical design of a non-linear unit cell to build a prototype. “We are very excited to design a system that incorporates non-linear responses so we can test our theoretical predictions in a real-world environment,” he says. Dr. Chaaban adds that beyond performance gains, the technology also shows promise for enhanced wireless security as these non-linear transformations are characteristically harder to predict and harder for unintended receivers to intercept or decode signals. Although more research is needed to validate real-world deployments, the findings highlight the untapped potential of non-linear intelligent surfaces as a powerful new tool for next-generation communication systems. “This innovation could play a key role in enabling future wireless technologies, including 6G communications,” Dr. Chaaban says. “We are analyzing the ideas and investigating them further, and we are also working on testing a nonlinear SIS. This technology could significantly improve reliability, efficiency and security in next-generation networks.” The post UBCO breakthrough could transform future wireless networks appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

A semi-autonomous boat that measures Okanagan Lake’s water quality earned top honours at UBC Okanagan’s Capstone Design Showcase and Competition at the KF Aerospace Centre for Excellence on Friday. The Semi-Autonomous Depth-Resolved Water Quality Unmanned Surface Vehicle team—Nathan Carscadden, Kevin Cserhalmi, Connor Kirkpatrick, Wesley Wang, Adiyar Yelyubayev and Yuriy Storozhuk—also claimed a $1,200 cash prize courtesy of Kelowna law firm FH&P. “Kelowna is where we grew as engineers, and this project gave us the chance to put that education to work for the community directly,” Cserhalmi said, on behalf of his team. “We went through several iterations to refine the problem and solution alongside the city, and landing on something that addresses a real operational need made the win feel particularly meaningful. We’re preparing a white paper for the city and are excited to see where it takes us.” The winners built a semi-autonomous catamaran equipped with a winch-deployed sensor for studying turbidity and temperature at the City of Kelowna’s four drinking water intakes, creating readings at different depths. Fifty-nine groups competed at the event, which drew more than 350 students and an audience of faculty, family and industry partners. Capstone is the culminating requirement for School of Engineering graduates. Projects spanned automotive and aerospace, community and humanitarian engineering, infrastructure, software and data systems as well as sustainable and environmental solutions. They included a power-assist device designed in collaboration with Accessible Okanagan, an AI tool to support smart construction and an amenity building for Greyback Construction’s Skaha Hills development. UBCO’s Principal and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Lesley Cormack, said the work on display went well beyond student exercises. “When you walk through the showcase, you don’t just see projects—you see applied solutions that can have an impact on our region’s distinct challenges and opportunities,” she said. For the third consecutive year, the top prize went to a student-owned entrepreneurial team that identified its own problem, secured a client and delivered a working solution. “Entrepreneurial teams must bring their own problem forward to solve and then secure a client to work with,” said associate professor Dr. Alon Eisenstein, who co-led the event. “Our school continues to invest in the entrepreneurial education of our students, to add to their impressive engineering skills.” The judges for the competition included 12 regional business leaders and six graduate students. Several judges are UBCO engineering alumni who previously competed in the capstone event. School of Engineering Director Dr. Will Hughes framed the moment in broader terms. “The world needs not only great engineers; it needs good engineers,” he said. “We need engineers who bring ingenuity, but also humility, kindness, resilience and a willingness to put the greater good before themselves.”

Category winners

• Automotive and Aerospace Tire Cooling Solution for Mining Haul Truck (client: Kal Tire Mining Tire Group Innovation Centre)
• Community and Humanitarian Engineering Acting on Limitations: Improving Front Drive Power Assist Devices (client: entrepreneurial capstone)
• Infrastructure and Construction Skaha Hills Amenity Building (client: Greyback Construction)
• Innovative Devices and Systems Novel Area Thermal Pressure Relief Device (client: Hexagon Agility)
• Software and Data Systems BIM-AI Integration for Smart Construction (client: Dr. Qian Chen, UBCO)
• Sustainable and Environmental Solutions and first place overall Semi-Autonomous Depth-Resolved Water Quality Unmanned Surface Vehicle (client: City of Kelowna)

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As the academic year winds to a close, UBC Okanagan engineering students are getting ready to show how the knowledge they’ve learned in class can make a real-world difference. There are three opportunities next week for the public to learn about the innovation, ingenuity and community partnerships taking place at UBCO. What: Manufacturing Engineering 330 final design competition When: Tuesday, April 7, from 2 to 3:30 pm Where: EME 4218, Engineering, Management and Education building, 1137 Alumni Avenue, UBC Okanagan On Tuesday, five third-year student teams will present their final designs from a hands-on collaborative project. This year, they designed and built a fully functional pneumatic press made up of five distinct, yet integrated, subcomponents, explains Dr. Ray Taheri, Professor of Teaching. “This project is meant to feel like a real engineering design environment, where teams build complex systems through interdisciplinary teamwork, communication and iterative problem solving,” he says. “Through this process, students are expected to apply core principles of manufacturing, mechanical design and systems integration while also gaining valuable experience in collaboration, project management and functional design.” The final presentations start at 2 pm and will showcase each team’s technical quality as well as the collective effort required to bring the complete machine from concept to implementation. What: Applied Science 171 final design competition When: Thursday, April 9, from 2 to 6:30 pm Where: Upper and lower foyer, Engineering, Management and Education building, 1137 Alumni Avenue, UBC Okanagan As the School of Engineering’s longest-running flagship design showcase, this annual competition highlights creativity, innovation and experiential learning within the UBCO engineering program, says Dr. Taheri. The competition takes place on April 9 and features first-year engineering students competing against their peers as they present their design solutions. “This showcase has become an important event for both the university and the community, highlighting the ingenuity of our students and the school’s focus on design-based education and socially relevant engineering practice,” says Dr. Taheri. There are two themes this year. Students were tasked with designing a product to support older adults with their daily activities, while improving overall quality of life through practical and user-centred engineering. The second project focuses on climate change. Students will present projects that explore wildfire mitigation, flood resilience, individual and community carbon footprint reduction and living more sustainably. “Together, these themes encourage students to engage with important issues and consider how engineering design can contribute meaningfully to human wellbeing and environmental stewardship,” adds Dr. Taheri. More than 70 first-year student teams have shown their designs so far, and the top 20 teams will advance to the live competition on April 9. The competition encourages creativity and gives students experience presenting their ideas to a panel of professional judges. What: School of Engineering capstone project showcase and competition When: Friday, April 10, from 2 to 4 pm Where: KF Aerospace Centre for Excellence, 5800 Lapointe Drive, Kelowna The capstone event highlights the work of more than 340 final-year engineering students who will present 59 projects developed with industry and community partners from the Okanagan and across Canada. The projects represent a range of themes, including automotive and aerospace, community and humanitarian engineering, infrastructure and construction, innovative devices and systems, software and data systems, as well as sustainable and environmental solutions. The event is the culmination of years of learning and hard work by the students, with their projects aimed at providing solutions to real problems in the Okanagan and around the world. Some of the unique ideas include a wheelchair-friendly snow shovel, a chemical-free way to control Eurasian watermilfoil, an educational robotics kit for low-resource communities, sustainable solar power solutions for Cuba, micro-farm domes and sustainable solutions to help rebuild Camp OAC after the McDougall Creek Wildfire. A panel of industry leaders and engineering faculty will judge the projects. Winning teams will be announced at the closing ceremony at 3:30 pm. “While many of these projects are done with industry partners, some are student-led, making this event a launch pad for their entrepreneurial ideas,” explains Dr. Alon Eisenstein, Associate Professor of Teaching in the School of Engineering. “We are incredibly proud of the graduating students’ creativity and skills, and the is invited to see the ingenuity these students will bring to their future careers.” The post UBCO engineering students ready to showcase innovation at year-end events appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

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.