Artwork by UBCO Engineering students (L to R): Oliver Hale, Kalina Mehta, Morteza Nahvi now hangs in the EME building.

The summer of 2026 brought another challenging wildfire season to the Okanagan, with smoke and poor air quality affecting communities across the region. 

Against that backdrop, a made-at-UBC innovation is offering a creative approach to cleaner indoor air. Developed at UBC Okanagan and brought to life through student ingenuity, three handcrafted air-filtering art installations have been installed in the School of Engineering’s EME building—bringing together art, applied science and cleaner air. 

The Aerosol-Removing Tapestry (ART) is a low-cost, quiet and customizable alternative to traditional air filtration systems. Led by Dr. Sunny Li, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Jonathan Little, Professor of Health and Exercise Sciences, ART is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Airborne Disease Transmission Research Cluster, Interior Health, and the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. 

While ART installations look like ordinary paintings or photographs, the technology behind them is both elegant and effective. Hidden behind each canvas, electrostatic filters and quiet fans continuously remove airborne particles and bacteria, helping improve indoor air quality without disrupting the surrounding space. 

“Research has its greatest impact when people experience it in their everyday lives,” says Dr. Li. “ART takes engineering innovation and embeds it into the spaces where we learn, work and connect.” 

Three installations, built by UBCO Master of Design student Asana Hues, were recently added to the fourth-floor foyer, a high-traffic area for School of Engineering faculty, staff and students. Rather than using stock artwork, the School of Engineering chose to feature original artwork created by its own students. 

Artwork at work: filtering air in the EME building.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see something we’ve spent so much time developing installed in the very building where so much of our research happens,” says Jake Winkler, PhD student and Research Coordinator for the Airborne Disease Transmission Research Cluster. “From building the units and testing their performance to seeing student artwork become part of the finished installation, this project brought together engineering and the creative arts in a really unique way.” 

From the more than 25 submissions received, the school selected pieces by three student artists for the first installation: 

• Oliver Hale 

• Kalina Mehta 

• Morteza Nahvi 

For Oliver Hale, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, creating art is a way to step away from schoolwork and exercise a different part of his brain. 

“I think creativity is something we’re all born with as children, and developing it as adults is largely about letting go of the fear of making mistakes or chasing a perfect outcome,” says Hale. “That mindset has shaped not only my artwork but also the way I approach engineering design, where novel ideas are just as valuable as they are intimidating.”  

Hale’s piece, titled “Souvenir”, had a unique journey that speaks to the process of discovery and reinvention that excites him about art and music. 

UBC Okanagan engineering student Oliver Hale turns to art to inspire creativity inside and outside the classroom.

“This piece began as a painting of a tree, but I wasn’t satisfied with it,” he explains. “Instead of starting over, I painted directly over it, only to become dissatisfied again. I repeated that cycle of reinvention over and over until I finally arrived at this piece. Beneath the finished painting are countless hidden compositions, each one becoming part of the final work rather than a mistake to erase.”  

The installation was intended to be both timely and timeless. The air filtering pieces were installed as wildfire smoke continues to plague the region, while the frames’ flexibility to easily swap in and display new pieces will provide an ever-green space for SoE creativity to flourish.  

“We know our students are incredibly creative, but we were absolutely amazed by both the response and the quality of the submissions,” says School of Engineering Communications Manager Tyler Finley. “Congratulations to Oliver, Kalina and Morteza, and thank you to everyone who shared their work. These installations showcase what makes our School special—learning, research, creativity and community coming together to make the world a better place.”  

Art has also been a life-long passion for Kalina Mehta, a second-year electrical engineering student whose piece “Beauty in Passing” conveys a stunning Okanagan winter vista at Big White Ski Resort. 

“Through this photograph, I hope to remind people that beauty already exists all around us—we just have to take a moment to notice it,” says Mehta. “In a world that often encourages us to look for the next destination or achievement, I hope this image inspires people to appreciate where they are, because the grass is already green where we are.” 

As a future engineer, Mehta says she constantly finds ways to bring creativity into her academic pursuits. 

“I am always looking for opportunities to think creatively, whether that’s in the way I approach and solve a problem or through the extracurricular activities I choose to pursue,” she says. “Whether I’m designing a solution for an engineering project or composing a photograph, I’m driven by curiosity and the desire to see things from a new perspective. For me, art and engineering aren’t opposites—they complement one another, and together they’ve changed the way I solve problems and see the world.” 

The next call for artwork—open to School of Engineering students, faculty, staff and alumni—will take place in early 2027. 

There’s nothing like the start of a new school year to bring people together.

It’s a time to celebrate where we’re going, how far we’ve come, and, most importantly, the people who make it all possible.

UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering is inviting alumni, industry partners, current students, faculty and staff to join us on September 15 for a special evening of celebration and connection.

Held as part of UBC Homecoming 2026, the SoE’s Alumni and Industry Appreciation Reception will recognize the people and organizations whose mentorship, collaboration and support continue to create opportunities for students, advance research and strengthen the engineering community across the Okanagan.

Event Details

Tuesday, September 15, 2026
4–6 p.m.
Lower Foyer, Richard S. Hallisey Atrium, EME Building
UBC Okanagan campus
For more information and to RSVP (required):

Register to attend

“Our alumni and industry partners are closely woven into the culture and evolution of our School,” says Dr. Will Hughes, Director of the School of Engineering. “Their experience, ideas and commitment enrich our students’ education, strengthen our research, and help us respond to the opportunities and challenges facing our region. This is an opportunity to thank our community and celebrate what we are building together.”

Guests will have an opportunity to reconnect with former classmates and colleagues, meet current students, faculty and staff, and learn more about developments underway at the School of Engineering. The reception will also create space for conversations about engineering, innovation and entrepreneurship in the Okanagan—and the role UBC engineers and their partners can play in shaping the region’s future.

For Hughes, welcoming alumni back to campus is an especially meaningful part of the gathering.

“One of the great privileges of our work is seeing where life takes our graduates and the many ways they contribute to the engineering profession and the world around them,” he says. “Whether they visit often or have not been back to campus for some time, they remain valued members of our School of Engineering community.”

The free event is open to School of Engineering alumni, students, faculty, staff, industry representatives and community partners. Light refreshments will be served.

Ciana Dawydiuk-Clozza receiving the 2026 Dr. Gordon Springate Sr. Award in Engineering.

From the soccer field to the engineering lab, Ciana Dawydiuk-Clozza embraced every opportunity during her undergraduate journey at UBC Okanagan.

Donor-funded awards gave the ’26 mechanical engineering graduate the freedom to pursue varsity athletics, international learning, co-op and research experiences—helping launch the next stage of her education.

This fall, Dawydiuk-Clozza will begin a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at the Vancouver Campus, as part of UBC’s Engineers in Scrubs program. Her goal is to work alongside patients and communities to develop medical technologies that help people live healthier lives.

Read how donor generosity helped shape Ciana’s journey and her ambitions for the future.

Earlier this year, Ciana received the Dr. Gordon Springate Sr. Award in Engineering for creating meaningful impact beyond the classroom. The award recognizes a graduating Bachelor of Applied Science student who has demonstrated real and significant impact in the world outside of their program of study. Learn how she transformed personal adversity into mentorship and support for others in her recent graduate profile.

Dr. Niloofar Akbarian-Saravi shares her UBC Engineering experience

At their core, sustainable supply chains are about resilience. For Dr. Niloofar Akbarian-Saravi, those same themes have shaped the past six years of her academic journey at UBC.

What began as a PhD in Mechanical Engineering became an experience marked by interdisciplinary collaboration, industry partnerships and opportunities that stretched across sectors, including manufacturing and renewable energy, and international borders.

As she prepares to join MacEwan University’s Triffo School of Business as a Tenure-track Assistant Professor, Dr.  Akbarian-Saravi reflects on a period of rewarding growth and an exciting chapter ahead.

As you prepare to leave UBC Okanagan and begin your new role, what are you reflecting on most about your time with the School of Engineering?

What stands out most is how this environment enabled me to apply supply chain management expertise across a spectrum of bio-industrial applications, from recycling and reverse logistics to manufacturing and process scale-up, with the consistent aim of ensuring the most sustainable pathway for delivering these innovations to market.

I arrived at UBC in 2020 as a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering, and I am leaving having taught hundreds of students, led industry-funded research projects, and mentored undergraduate and graduate students and trainees.

I am grateful for the institutional trust and the opportunity to build something enduring here through problem-driven research grounded in collaboration and real-world application.

How has your time as a postdoctoral researcher shaped your growth as both a researcher and an educator?

The postdoc period pushed me to lead, not just contribute. I moved from developing models as a PhD student to directing multi-partner projects across a widening range of circular economy applications.

Across these projects, my objective was consistent: to optimize the underlying systems for each customized application while developing mathematically rigorous, generalizable methods that could be replicated across sectors rather than one-off solutions.

That experience taught me how to translate research into something a company or funder can actually use, and it broadened my vision of what a sustainable supply chain management research program can contribute.

As an educator, this period is also when I transitioned into UBCO’s Faculty of Management to teach industrial-engineering-adjacent, quantitative courses. I bring the same evidence-based, applied mindset into the classroom that I use in my research.

Your research explores circularity in bioindustrial supply chains and the role of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. What excites you most about this area of research, and why does it matter?

What excites me is the convergence point: where engineering performance, economics, environmental impact and social outcomes all have to be balanced at once, under real uncertainty.

Bio-industrial supply chains are exactly where this convergence plays out, and getting the decision-support right can determine whether a sustainable technology actually scales or stays stuck in the lab.

That same approach is now shifting toward AI-driven, adaptive decision support that combines expert judgment with data to support prescriptive decision-making under data scarcity.

Across all of this work, I want this research to lead toward decision-support systems that are good enough, and usable enough, that industry partners and policymakers actually adopt them, not just read about them.

Looking back, what accomplishments or milestones are you most proud of during your time at UBC Okanagan?

A few stand out.

Winning first place in the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Best Student Paper Competition in 2024 was a milestone because it validated years of methodological work.

I’m also proud of translating that research into industry impact, especially leading a tender-awarded international project in the Basque Region of Spain on sustainable sawmill supply chains.

Alongside these efforts, my growth in entrepreneurial skills culminated in founding SustainPro Solutions Inc., a sustainability-focused business intelligence platform that is still growing today. That venture is where my research and entrepreneurial instincts truly came together.

And being recognized by students with the “Thank a Prof” Award this year meant a great deal, because teaching well while running an active research program was always something I worked hard at.

Were there any people, experiences or opportunities at UBC Okanagan that had a particularly meaningful influence on your journey?

My co-supervisors, Dr. Abbas S. Milani and Dr. Taraneh Sowlati, shaped how I think about research, rigorous, but always grounded in real-world application. Their expertise was complementary and shaped my thinking on how to connect engineering with management-facing decision tools, which is really the throughline of my entire research program.

Working within the Composites Research Network (CRN) laboratory and later the Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI) exposed me to industry partners and interdisciplinary collaborators I wouldn’t have met otherwise. The Lab2Market Validate program and entrepreneurship@UBC were also pivotal. They fundamentally changed how I think about research translation.

My international project in the Basque Country was especially formative. It was my first international research experience, and it shifted my orientation from simply pursuing publications to building tools that actually solve a problem in practice.

Traveling to and working directly with stakeholders in a different region also gave me a broader perspective: these sustainability and supply chain challenges are not tied to Canada geographically. The frameworks I build can be applied anywhere.

I’d also point to resilience as its own kind of influence. I began my PhD during the COVID-19 pandemic and relocated to Canada alone as an immigrant woman. That required real adaptability, and it strengthened my ability to lead and keep research moving under uncertainty. That willingness to work through discomfort became a defining part of how I approach interdisciplinary collaboration.

You will soon be joining the Triffo School of Business at MacEwan University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. What are you most looking forward to in this next chapter of your career?

I’m looking forward to building my own research program and lab from the ground up, with the freedom to set its direction fully.

I plan to launch a research lab focused on advancing AI-enabled, risk-aware decision analytics for sustainable and circular supply chains, with the broader goal of helping industries move toward net zero by 2050 and beyond.

I’d also like to keep growing the applied, industry- and internationally-funded model that has defined my work so far, since that’s where I’ve seen research actually change practice, and to keep mentoring the next generation of engineering and management professionals, particularly women along the way.

How do you hope your research program will evolve over the coming years, particularly at the intersection of circular economy principles, supply chains and artificial intelligence?

Part of what motivates this direction is a gap I see in the broader field: circular supply chains are increasingly recognized as central to sustainable, resource-efficient logistics, but the research base is still dominated by conceptual frameworks rather than the quantitative, model-based tools needed to actually design these systems.

Closing that gap, building generic, replicable, optimization-based frameworks that integrate these dimensions together, is a core part of what I want my research program to contribute.

What advice would you offer to graduate students, postdoctoral researchers or early-career academics who are hoping to build meaningful research careers and pursue faculty positions?

Anchor your research in real problems and real partners early, it sharpens your thinking and opens doors that purely theoretical work doesn’t.

Say yes to mentorship, in both directions: being mentored, and mentoring others, even as a PhD student. It builds the leadership and communication skills that matter as much as technical depth when you’re going up for a faculty role.

Don’t separate teaching from research. They make each other better.

And, finally, take grant writing and entrepreneurial training seriously, even if it feels tangential to your core research. Learning to translate your work for funders, industry partners and the public is what turns a good idea into a funded, lasting research program.

The School of Engineering congratulates Dr. Akbarian-Saravi on her appointment to the Triffo School of Business at MacEwan University and thanks her for the many contributions she has made to our community. We wish her every success as she builds this exciting next chapter of her career.

Stronger infrastructure. Smarter communications. Cleaner energy. Better health technologies. 

Six UBC Okanagan School of Engineering researchers have received a combined $1.55 million in Discovery Grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for work advancing solutions to some of today’s most pressing challenges. 

The grants are part of a broader investment announced by NSERC, which is supporting 19 research projects through more than $4.3 million in funding at UBC Okanagan. Across both UBC campuses, nearly $45 million was awarded to 199 new research projects and programs. 

Congratulations to the following School of Engineering researchers and their teams awarded in this round: 

• Dr. Shahria Alam received $260,000 for research advancing transformative strategies for infrastructure resilience through experimentation and emerging technologies. 

• Dr. Joshua Brinkerhoff received $260,000 to explore multiscale modelling of onshore and offshore wind farms, helping improve renewable energy systems. 

• Dr. Anas Chaaban received $260,000 to investigate AI-native communication schemes enabled by stacked-intelligent-surface neural networks, advancing the future of wireless communications. 

• Dr. Ian Foulds received $190,000 to develop point-of-care systems for quantifying biomarker panels, supporting faster and more accessible health diagnostics. 

• Dr. Kasun Hewage received $365,000 for research focused on planning and developing climate-resilient, occupant-centric net-zero-energy building clusters. 

• Dr. Loïc Markley received $215,000 to study periodic structures and metasurfaces for electromagnetic wave control and channel enhancement in advanced wireless systems. 

“These projects reflect the depth and diversity of research excellence within our School, spanning areas that are both timely and of critical importance to communities across the world,” said Dr. Will Hughes, Director of the School of Engineering. “Congratulations to all our researchers awarded this week—we are proud to see you recognized, and look forward to watching your good work have an impact.” 

NSERC Discovery Grants are among Canada’s most prestigious sources of research funding, supporting long-term programs of inquiry that advance scientific and engineering knowledge while creating opportunities for students and trainees to contribute to leading-edge research. 

James Seabrook at Vitalis, the company he founded in Kelowna, BC.

James Seabrook graduated from UBC Okanagan’s engineering program in 2011 and didn’t leave the region. He walked into a shop in Kelowna, got a job and started building his own business.

Today, Vitalis Equipment Technology Inc. employs more than 70 people and counts half its engineering team as UBCO graduates. It’s poised for global growth, by extension sharing related economic benefits across the Okanagan Valley.

They build something many people never see—large-scale heat pumps that can heat or cool warehouses, hospitals or even university campuses using carbon dioxide instead of synthetic gases.

The Kelowna-based manufacturer has already installed the largest CO₂ air-source heat pump in North America, at the university where its founder studied.

That installation, at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, is more than a milestone. It’s the proof point that positions a BC interior manufacturer to compete in a sustainable heating and cooling market that analysts expect to grow rapidly.

“It’s the foundational project of a whole new product line that isn’t in the market yet,” says Seabrook. “But we’ll have years of operating experience with it when the market emerges.”

Read the full story

Brooke Franchuk with team members at Garmin.

For Brooke Franchuk, engineering is about creating technologies that can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

A 2018 graduate of the Mechanical Engineering program at UBC Okanagan School of Engineering, Franchuk now works at Garmin, where she helps develop wearable technologies designed to support health and well-being.

Her journey highlights how engineering skills can lead to careers at the intersection of technology, design and human health.

It’s incredibly rewarding to create products that have a meaningful impact on people’s everyday lives. I like being part of the development of devices that people rely on and trust to perform accurately and consistently.

In a recent UBC Engineering spotlight, Franchuk reflects on her path from engineering student to professional engineer and shares how wearable technology is helping shape healthier futures.

Read the full profile from UBC Engineering.

Dr. Qian Chen leads the Construction Integration and Digitalization Lab at UBC Okanagan.

Dr. Qian Chen, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering with UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering, has been named one the campus’ six inaugural Impact Research Chairs in recognition of her leadership in advancing digital construction technologies and sustainable housing solutions.

The new program supports researchers whose work is driving meaningful impact within communities, industries and society.

Dr. Chen’s research focuses on digital and immersive technologies, optimization algorithms and fabrication-aware design to accelerate the transformation of the construction sector. Through her Construction Integration and Digitalization Lab, she works closely with industry and community partners to develop technologies that improve productivity, sustainability and affordability in the built environment.

Her work has already earned national recognition, including a recent honour from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and funding through the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund to advance Digital Integration for Robotic Fabrication in Construction (DIRFIC), a project aimed at streamlining digital workflows and enabling more rapid, affordable housing solutions.

“I am driven by a simple, urgent question: how can we fundamentally change the way buildings are made so future prefabrication and construction methods become more rapid, high-quality and low-waste?” says Dr. Chen. “This Chair will enable me to find answers by supporting the building of a novel construction platform using robotics and AI that can be adopted, trusted and scaled among the construction and prefab manufacturing industry.”

The School of Engineering congratulates Dr. Chen and her research team on this well-deserved recognition!

UBCO Engineering Assistant Professor Dr. Lisa Tobber (right) with Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr. Ana Isabel Sarkis Fernandez

Dr. Lisa Tobber’s collaboration with New Zealand researchers aims to strengthen the safety and resilience of prefabricated buildings 

A UBC Okanagan engineering researcher is helping lead an international effort to make buildings safer in earthquake-prone regions. 

Dr. Lisa Tobber, Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering, has been awarded a Catalyst International Leader Fellowship from New Zealand’s Royal Society Te Apārangi. The fellowship will support a three-year research collaboration between UBC and the University of Canterbury focused on improving the seismic performance of prefabricated concrete buildings through the development of high-ductility structural connections. 

The project addresses a challenge shared by both Canada and New Zealand: how to safely expand the use of prefabricated construction while maintaining high standards of seismic resilience.  

Although prefabrication can improve housing affordability, construction efficiency and sustainability, the structural connections used to join building components remain a critical area for improvement in regions vulnerable to earthquakes, notes Dr. Tobber. 

Working alongside Professor Geoffrey Rodgers of the University of Canterbury, Dr. Tobber will combine expertise in prefabricated concrete systems, seismic damping technologies, large-scale experimental testing and advanced nonlinear modelling to develop new connection technologies capable of improving building performance during earthquakes.  

The research will include coordinated testing programs in both countries and will ultimately support the development of practical design guidance for industry. 

“This fellowship is especially meaningful because it supports a long-term collaboration between UBC and the University of Canterbury on a problem that matters in both Canada and New Zealand: how to make prefabricated construction safer and more resilient in earthquake-prone regions,” says Dr. Tobber. 

“The project will allow us to combine expertise in precast concrete systems, seismic damping, large-scale experimental testing and nonlinear modelling to develop high-ductility connection technologies that are practical for real buildings. I am particularly excited that the fellowship supports sustained time in New Zealand, which will help build a deeper research partnership, create training opportunities for students and support translation of the work into design guidance for industry,” she adds. 

The fellowship will support multiple research exchanges to New Zealand, culminating in an extended sabbatical residency that will allow Dr. Tobber and her collaborators to undertake large-scale testing, develop industry guidelines and pursue future joint research initiatives. 

Dr. Lisa Tobber in the lab at UBC Okanagan.

Since joining UBC Okanagan in 2021, Dr. Tobber has established a nationally recognized research program focused on resilient and sustainable building systems. Her work has helped advance seismic design approaches for prefabricated concrete structures and contributed to the development of Canadian engineering standards and building codes. In 2025, she was named a Peter Wall Fellow, one of UBC’s most prestigious research distinctions, recognizing researchers whose work has the potential to address significant societal challenges.  

“Dr. Tobber’s work focuses on practical challenges that affect communities around the world, and this fellowship reflects both the quality and real impact her research is having from the local to the international level,” says Dr. Will Hughes, Director of the School of Engineering. “We’re pleased to see Lisa’s expertise recognized internationally and excited about the opportunities this partnership will create for research, student training and knowledge exchange between Canada and New Zealand.” 

The Catalyst International Leader Fellowship supports international research partnerships that create new knowledge, strengthen research capability and address issues of global significance. Through this collaboration, researchers from both countries will work toward safer, more resilient and more scalable approaches to prefabricated construction in seismic regions. 

Quinn Soon with family at Convocation. His mother, Dr. Zoë Soon, is a UBCO professor of biology.

2026 UBC Okanagan engineering graduate Quinn Soon reflects on leadership, sustainability and creating impact through engineering

Meet UBCO 2026 BASc Civil Engineering Graduate Quinn Soon

Growing up in the Okanagan, Quinn Soon was drawn to engineering by a desire to help address some of society’s most pressing challenges, including sustainability, housing affordability and community resilience. Throughout his time at UBCO, he combined academic excellence with hands-on learning, leadership and service, graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering and 20 months of co-op experience.

A leader in the School’s sustainability community, Quinn helped guide UBCO School of Engineering’s award-winning Solar Decathlon team to a second-place international finish while gaining valuable industry experience through co-op placements in construction and project coordination. Outside the classroom, he remained committed to giving back through Hockey 4 Youth, a program that provides free ice time, equipment and coaching to children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to play hockey.

Recognized as the 2026 Head of Class and recipient of the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Prize in Engineering Okanagan (Overall), Quinn recently began his career as an Engineer-in-Training with R+A Engineering in Vernon, where he is contributing to housing projects across Western Canada.

Read on as Quinn reflects on his engineering journey, the experiences that shaped him and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am from Vernon, BC, and growing up there, I enjoyed playing soccer and hockey, skiing at Silver Star, and hiking around the lakes and mountains. Before attending UBCO, I graduated from the french immersion program at W.L. Seaton Secondary School. I still live in Vernon and still play soccer every week. I also now help coach a program called Hockey 4 Youth which provides free ice time, hockey equipment, and instruction for kids who wouldn’t have otherwise had a chance to play hockey.

What drew you to UBC Okanagan and the School of Engineering?

When I was in high school, I became passionate about sustainability and addressing the environmental and affordability crises in Canada. I decided that I wanted to pursue a career that would allow me to contribute to solutions for these complex challenges. It became clear that engineering could be a good fit for me to combine my interest in math and science with my motivation to help solve real world problems.

UBC’s reputation for teaching about sustainability in engineering appealed to me, and I hoped to stay in the Okanagan where I grew up, so UBC Okanagan was at the top of my list for where I wanted to go after graduating from high school.

What is one moment or experience that defined your time at UBCO?

In my second year, I joined an engineering club called “Innovate, Design, Sustain” that was focused on engineering projects related to sustainability. I was lucky to meet many innovative and passionate students and professors through this club.

The club’s biggest project each year was participating in the Solar Decathlon, which was an annual collegiate competition organized by the US Department of Energy. The goal of the Solar Decathlon was to design a high-performance, sustainable, and scalable house. By the next academic year, I had become one of the leaders on the 2024 Solar Decathlon team.

Along with the other leaders of the team, I travelled to Golden, Colorado, to present our project at the final competition event hosted by the National Renewable Energy Lab. We placed 2nd in our division out of 47 teams from around the world, which capped off what had already become the highlight of my time at UBCO.

Did you participate in co-op, undergraduate research, or other hands-on experiences? How did they shape your path?

I did 20 months of co-op working as a project coordinator at two different construction companies in Kelowna. These were my first steps into the real world of construction and engineering, and I learned a lot about how to help coordinate each stage of the construction process.

I enjoyed my time in co-op because I was lucky to be supported by amazing colleagues and managers, some of whom were UBCO engineering graduates who understood exactly where I was at in my education and how to help me continue to develop professionally.

My co-op experiences have shaped my current career path, as they allowed me to gain a better understanding of my own strengths, the types of roles that I most enjoy, and how to continue improving myself to become a better engineer.

Can you share a project, course, or professor that had a lasting impact on you? Why?

I have had many professors who have had lasting impacts on me, but I will never forget the classes I had with Dr. Mohammad Tiznobaik. His passion for teaching was obvious, and it was clear how much he cared about preparing us to be future engineers.

My new EIT role involves applying many of the concepts that I learned from his course on the design of steel and timber structures. I have found that his course has prepared me well to understand the applicable design codes, standards, and handbooks to do structural design work for real buildings.

What are your plans after graduation? What excites you most about this next chapter?

I have successfully registered as an Engineer-in-Training (EIT), and I have started working at a structural engineering firm in Vernon called R+A Engineering.

R+A Engineering is currently involved in many housing projects across BC and Alberta, and I have already had the chance to start contributing to the structural design of several of these projects. Rising housing costs are one of the biggest concerns of my generation, so I am excited to work on projects that benefit communities by providing more housing options.

I am also excited to have the opportunity to continue learning every day from the experienced professionals I am now working alongside.

How has your Bachelor of Applied Science degree prepared you for your next steps?

I am now a month and a half into my new role as a structural EIT, and since day two in the office, I have been able to contribute to design work thanks to the foundational knowledge that I developed during my degree.

The structural engineering courses that I took with Dr. Ahmad Rteil, Dr. Lisa Tobber, and Dr. Mohammed Tiznobaik have proven to be particularly valuable as much of the content is directly applicable to real world design. Equally important to succeeding in my new role are the problem solving and technical skills as well as the industry experience that I have gained from my other classes, design club projects, and co-op jobs. However, I know that I still have a lot left to learn.

One of the fun parts of being an engineer is that the opportunities for learning never end, so I approach every day with the goal of learning more just like I did when in school.

What advice would you give to future or current engineering students?

Find ways to actively participate in the engineering community on campus. I know that it’s not always easy to put yourself out there with all the demands you have on your time and energy as a student, but it’s more than worth it to join one of the engineering clubs or societies on campus.

I found that working on club projects taught me a lot about being an engineer, and it also provided me with a lot of great memories, new friends and industry connections.

Quinn Soon receiving the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Prize in Engineering Okanagan (Overall) on graduation day.

You were recently recognized as Head of Class at Convocation. You also received the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Prize in Engineering Okanagan (Overall). What does this RECoGnition mean to you?

It feels amazing to be receiving the awards and recognition. It makes me very thankful to everyone who has supported me and helped me get to this point including my family, friends, professors, teachers, classmates, and everyone I met through my design club and co-op experiences.

The support I have received from everyone was really what made it possible for me to be graduating with these honours. I have always been motivated to make the most of the support I have received and to build the best start I could towards an engineering career that will allow me to do work that is meaningful for me.

I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished so far, and I’m excited for what is yet to come in my career.

Congratulations, Quinn, on your graduation and on being named Head of Class for the School of Engineering’s Class of 2026. On behalf of the entire School community, we thank you for your leadership, dedication and contributions both inside and outside the classroom. We wish you every success as you begin your engineering career and look forward to seeing the impact you will make in the years ahead!