Liam Krebbers will be awarded the Governor General’s Silver Medal and UBCO Medal in Engineering  

On Friday, June 7, UBC Okanagan will confer more than 2,000 credentials to undergraduate and graduate students over the course of six convocation ceremonies. Among them will be Liam Krebbers, who in addition to his parchment will take home one of the most prestigious awards that a Canadian post-secondary student can receive: a Governor General’s medal. 

Krebbers, who was born and raised in Kelowna, will receive the Governor General’s Silver Medal and the UBCO Medal in Engineering at the 1:30 pm ceremony for the Faculty of Applied Science.  

The Governor General’s Silver Medal recognizes undergraduate students who have achieved the best academic record out of all their peers throughout their university careers, while the UBCO Engineering medal goes to the campus’ top graduating engineering student.  

The medals are among a long and growing list of awards Krebbers has earned since starting at UBCO back in 2020 – amid a global pandemic. He’s ready to soak up the grad experience, having missed out on his high school grad experience. 

“I graduated high school in 2020 in the time of online and physically distanced ceremonies. I walked across the stage in a nearly empty arena, 15 minutes apart from my friends. I’m very excited to be part of an actual graduation ceremony. I’m looking forward to graduating with all my friends,” says Krebbers. 

It won’t be long before Krebbers gets to put his next award – an Ivy League entrance scholarship – to good use. This fall, he’ll begin his PhD studies in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton, one of the top engineering graduate programs in the world.  

“I’m incredibly grateful for all the awards, encouragement and opportunities I received at UBC and am so excited to continue my journey at Princeton this fall,” says Krebbers.   

Krebbers credits a second-year thermodynamics course with Dr. Sina Kheirkhah, an Associate Professor with the School of Engineering, for sparking a keen interest in combustion, laser-based diagnostics, and fuel flexible technologies. 

Over the past two years, through his undergraduate research work with Dr. Kheirkhah, Krebbers has seized every opportunity to soar, including publishing multiple journal and conference papers. 

“Having opportunities to attend conferences, publish and share my work and my experiences on both national and international stages, has been incredible,” says Krebbers. “It’s given me confidence and set me up for success in my future.” 

He has his sights set on becoming a research professor. 

“Not only is Liam hardworking and truly gifted, he is also kind and has an outstanding personality,” says Dr. Kheirkhah. “I am very proud of the work he has done, and I am confident he has a very bright future.”  

The Faculty of Applied Science will grant degrees to 430 engineering students – 263 undergraduate and 167 graduate students – during the 1:30 pm ceremony on June 7, the final of UBCO’s spring convocation. Read more on UBCO’s Convocation page. 

Scholarships from the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) will help two UBC Okanagan (UBCO) Engineering students keep their studies sharply in focus.

Alexis Guidi and Matthias Jenne were recently awarded the prestigious Optics and Photonics Scholarship by SPIE.

This year, the Society is awarding $303,000 in scholarships to 72 outstanding SPIE student members, based on their potential contribution to optics and photonics, or a related discipline.

Guidi is a PhD student in electrical engineering at the University of British Columbia, Canada, under the guidance of Dr. Jonathan Holzman. Her research focuses on terahertz spectroscopy and imaging technologies for cellular-scale characterization and cancer detection. Outside of academia, Guidi is a frequent volunteer for events that promote optics and engineering.

“SPIE is dedicated to uplifting students, and I am incredibly grateful to be on the receiving end of that,” said Guidi. “This scholarship allows me to put all my efforts towards making my own unique research contributions as well as inspiring others to pursue optics.”

This is not the first time Guidi has been honoured with this prestigious award. She was recognized with a SPIE Scholarship last year while working on her master’s degree.

Jenne is currently completing his master’s degree in the electrical engineering program, also under the supervision of Dr. Holzman. Jenne’s research is focused on creating free-space optical communication transceivers for effective passive communication.

“I am honoured to have received such great aid from SPIE through this scholarship initiative. Receiving this scholarship has inspired me to continue my research intently, and to continue to inspire others to pursue work in field of optics and photonics,” says Jenne.

“SPIE is an international organization that looks to advance optics and photonics technologies—and these scholarships represent their investment in future generations,” explains the students’ supervisor Jonathan Holzman. “With that goal in mind, the Society is making an excellent investment in Alexis and Matthias. Both are doing outstanding work and are poised to make contributions to the field of optics and photonics.”

About SPIE

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, brings engineers, scientists, students, and business professionals together to advance light-based science and technology. The Society, founded in 1955, connects and engages with our global constituency through industry-leading conferences and exhibitions; publications of conference proceedings, books, and journals in the SPIE Digital Library; and career-building opportunities. Over the past five years, SPIE has contributed more than $24 million to the international optics community through our advocacy and support, including scholarships, educational resources, travel grants, endowed gifts, and public-policy development. Learn more at www.spie.org.

UBC Okanagan (UBCO) School of Engineering student Megha Desai has had the date Friday, June 7, 2024 circled on her calendar for a while. For Desai, this date – her graduation day – marks more than the achievement of an educational dream years in the making: it also heralds the start of her exciting next chapter and continued learning journey. 

Desai will be among the more than 2,000 UBCO students who will earn credentials on June 7, including 430 from the School of Engineering – 263 undergraduate and 167 graduate students. 

Desai, who was born in India and lived in Fort McMurray prior to moving to BC for school, will earn her Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering on June 7. She will also deliver the student address that afternoon. In preparing for her convocation speech, she’s been reflecting on her SoE journey from start to finish. 

“I always knew I wanted to pursue a STEM degree,” explains Desai. “UBC being a top ranked School in Canada—and the world—made my decision easy to come here.”  

The path to engineering came a little later, she says. After beginning her studies in Science, Desai was soon drawn to the applied aspects of Mechanical Engineering. She began her studies in Vancouver and later transferred to the SoE in Kelowna. Once there, she found her community and truly hit her stride. 

“By far one of the most rewarding aspects of my studies has been the community I’ve been so lucky to be part of at the School of Engineering. We are a close-knit group. Walking into the EME building in the morning, seeing my friends and classmates at the tables studying, joining them and starting the day with people you enjoy working with, that is what makes UBCO and the SoE so special.” 

That sense of community connection also developed through her participation in design teams, says Desai. What followed was some impressive results. 

Earlier this year, Desai was a member of the team who claimed first place at the national Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Competition. It’s a memory she will treasure for a long time, she says:

“Being able to compete against bigger universities with tons of resources and to come out on top because of our team’s level of hard work and collaboration, that was incredibly rewarding and a highlight of my student journey.” 

Desai capped off her undergraduate career with another highlight at the Capstone Design Showcase and Competition in April. Desai’s team worked with AC Moulding and Millworks on a solution to a real-world problem. The result: a more efficient manufacturing process for the company’s custom stair nosing. Seeing that solution come to life and benefit a local business was a thrill, she says, and brought to life her desire to have a positive impact on the world around her as an engineer. 

“It was amazing to see how our input could have a real impact on a local business,” says Desai.  

Capstone wasn’t the only opportunity to gain industry experience. Desai also made the most of her Coop and work terms throughout her studies. 

“Ultimately, all these hands-on learning opportunities with industry help to enhance the learning experience,” she says. “You are tested not just on your knowledge but on your ability to work with others, which is exactly what will set you apart as a professional engineer. And that is exactly where I’m excited to go next.” 

Prior to their convocation ceremony, Desai and a number of her fellow Eng students will enjoy a well-deserved brief break to travel Europe. After convocation, she plans to continue her journey as an Engineer-in-Training and obtain her professional engineer (P.Eng.) designation, which represents the highest standards of engineering knowledge, experience and professionalism in Canada. 

“As I reflect on my time at the School of Engineering, I know it’s set me up for success in my future, and I’m excited to make an impact, to make the world around me a better place, because that’s what engineers do.” 

“On behalf of the School of Engineering, we are deeply proud of all of this year’s graduands. Congratulations on all your hard work and many achievements to date. We look forward to staying connected with you as alumni, and hope you remain in touch as valued members of the SoE community now and into the future. And as we send these exceptionally capable graduates out into the world to innovate and create a more sustainable, equitable and resilient society for us all, our thanks and congratulations also go to the educators, industry partners and community supporters who have helped our students achieve their goals along the way,” said Dr. Will Hughes, Director and Professor, School of Engineering.  

About Convocation Day for the School of Engineering, June 7, 2024 

School of Engineering Graduate and Awards Reception 

Before the ceremony, graduands and their guests are invited to attend a reception hosted in the EME Foyer by the School of Engineering:  

• Reception – 10:30 am  
• Awards – 11:10 am 

Ceremony 

The Convocation ceremony for the School of Engineering will take place at 1:30 PM in the Gymnasium. More information about the ceremony is available on the Spring Convocation page.  

Photos with the E 

Grads are invited to stop by the E between the EME and Admin buildings to take a photo (ongoing throughout the day). The E will be specially decorated for the occasion.  

Meet and Greet, Photobooth 

Following the ceremony, SoE graduates are invited to attend a meet and greet with faculty and staff in the courtyard from 3-4 PM. Light refreshments will be provided. Graduates and guests can stop by a photobooth.  

SoE Students’ ember mitigation bot won audience choice award at the MassRobotics Form & Function Robotics Challenge.

The following story expands upon a media release issued by UBCO Media Relations on May 29, 2024.

A team of engineering and science students from UBC Okanagan (UBCO) earned a top accolade at the MassRobotics Form & Function Robotics Challenge in Boston earlier this month. Now, their project, which uses an innovative robotic design to help map wildfire hotspots, could have an impact on the region, the province and beyond.

The MassRobotics competition brings together university teams from around the globe. Their challenge? Create a robotics or automation project with a cutting-edge form that accomplishes an important real-world challenge.

For the UBCO HEAT Robotics team, selecting which challenge their bot would tackle was simple.

“The recent wildfire season in British Columbia was marked as the most catastrophic in our recorded history,” noted the team.

“Our communities grappled with loss of life and the damage of hundreds of homes and structures. Particularly close was the McDougall Creek fire in West Kelowna, which rapidly spread to Kelowna where we live and go to school. Experiencing this devastation firsthand has not only deepened our understanding of the havoc wrought by wildfires but has also given us the desire to contribute meaningfully to wildfire management and prevention. This is what eventually led us to design EMBR.”

“We developed EMBR (Ember Mitigation Bot Responder) to combat the prominent issues that we face in B.C. surrounding wildfires,” said product lead Aziz Rakhimov. “After a fire has been put out, firefighters are forced to cover large areas checking for smoldering underground fires manually. EMBR is able to do this job, identifying and mapping the hotspots so that firefighters can allocate their resources more efficiently.”

The HEAT Robotics team is comprised of the following UBCO and Okanagan College students:

Making the audience accolade in Boston even more impressive was the fact that the team had limited time to prepare for the competition, all while juggling school, work and life outside university. Fifteen students traveled to the competition, while the project team numbered 25 in total.

“It’s remarkable what we’ve accomplished in under two months, balancing a full course load and other commitments. We are incredibly proud of every member of our team,” said team software lead MacKenzie Richards. “We overcame software challenges, mechanical challenges, all kinds of difficulties along the way. But we worked as a team and the result was incredibly rewarding.”

“There was amazing teamwork to build, refine and program the bot right up until the bot was shipped out and team members were leaving for Boston,” concurred team coordinator Jonathan Chin. “This project has been an amazing opportunity to put to work all we have learned in our respective classes and programs.”

The team cited specific courses such as APSC 171, an engineering Design and Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD), course as well as APSC 169, the Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering Design, as being crucial to their efforts.

“Our first-year classes set us up for success in a huge way,” said Aziz. “We’ve taken the theory from class and have applied it in a very real-world way on a huge stage, and it’s opened up lots of doors for us.”

MassRobotics Form & Function Robotics Challenge is one of the world’s leading student robotics development events. Upon arriving in Boston, the team began to feel the audience support behind them and their idea immediately. In receiving the Audience Choice Award, they outperformed teams from MIT, Stanford, Tufts, Cornell, Carnegie, Harvard and many more.

The team was honored and grateful to have received the Audience Choice Award, notes Chin. “It was incredibly inspiring that people appreciated and gravitated to our story. We want to thank MassRobotics Boston for the opportunity to compete in the challenge alongside so many amazing schools. We definitely hope to participate again in the near future.”

The team would like to extend a huge thanks to the faculty and industry advisors who helped them reach this stage:

“We would not have been able to achieve this result without the help of UBC faculty. Thank you to Dr. Rudi Seethaler, Dr. Roland Stull, Dr. Jonathan Holzman, Dr. Mehran Shirazi, Dr. Ray Taheri, Dr. Yves Lucet, Dr. Sylvie Desjardins and PhD Christopher Rodell for your continuous support and advice!” said the team in a statement. “We would also like to thank Jordan Ziegler and Todd Ford for their external manufacturing help on the bot, along with Wing-Shun Lam and Jacqueline Desjardins for their tremendous help in providing transportation and logistical support!”

The team would also like to acknowledge its sponsors, whose support was crucial for EMBR’s success: the UBCO School of Engineering, UBCO Faculty of Science, AMD, Analog Devices, CubePilot, The Engineering Society at the University of British Columbia, West Coast Robotics Ltd., SOLIDWORKS, KF Aerospace, and Okanagan College.

“Congratulations to the EMBR team on this impressive result and on their continued dedication, hard work and innovative efforts to address this important issue. We know wildfire response and resilience is a topic of deep importance to our region—and to the world—in the face of a changing environment. This project is an example of the many ways in which UBC can support and advance these efforts through our research, learning and teaching,” said Dr. Will Hughes, Director of the School of Engineering at UBCO.

The success in Boston is just the beginning for the EMBR project.

The team plans to continue to refine their design and will be working to attain additional funding for the projects through government grants and industry partnerships.

“For immediate suppression, EMBR may utilize an onboard water system or alternative methods, such as smothering embers with cool soil, mirroring traditional firefighting techniques. We will also be researching other features and implementations such as topographical data analysis and using swarm robotics to have multiple rovers working together to cover more ground.”

“But we will not be able to continue the project and bring it to a wider audience without more funding, more sponsors and industry partners. So that is where our energy will go for the immediate future – to secure that support,” said Rakhimov.

Learn more about EMBR or contact the team for sponsorship and partnership opportunities.

Meet Yosamin Esanullah, a Third-Year Bachelor of Applied Science (Mechanical Engineering) student at UBC Okanagan.

Where are you from?

I am from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, but I was raised in Edmonton, Alberta.

What brought you to UBC?

I had always been drawn to being part of a smaller campus community, but my decision was solidified when I was offered the Schulich Leader Scholarship from UBC.

Why engineering? What inspired you to pursue education in this field?

Throughout high school, I volunteered at my local space and science center, the TELUS World of Science Edmonton. Being surrounded by scientists and science communicators, my budding interest in space science flourished. It was there I decided that I wanted to help create the next big space telescope—of the same magnitude of the James Webb or the Hubble. That’s what inspired me to pursue mechanical engineering.

Tell us about your most rewarding experiences as a student. What are some of the challenges you have faced?

As an engineering student, one of the most rewarding experiences has been the transformative shift in my perspective of everyday technologies. Through my studies, I’ve gained a profound appreciation for the labor and ingenuity of the world around me—something I took for granted before.

For instance, when I cross bridges now, I first think of the painful statics calculations I struggled with in my second year. And when I take a flight, I ponder over the fluid mechanics of aerodynamic drag that’s required to make the plane fly. I take great satisfaction in understanding how things work, such as the theory of my car engine, the motor in my fan, or the lightbulb in my room.

Which leads me to one of the most significant hurdles I faced in my program, which was that I didn’t find these subjects hugely interesting at first. Admittedly, I didn’t care very much about statics calculations or fluid mechanics theory during school.

But, when I catch myself contemplating absentmindedly about how something was built, how I would have designed it, or think about the mathematical theory behind it, I realize what it was all for. The way I view the world now has fundamentally changed—it’s more calculated and curious. I have my mechanical engineering program to thank for this. These are the moments when I feel the most rewarded and feel the most appreciation for all the subjects I’ve learned, regardless of my performance in them or how unassuming they first appeared.

Tell us about your time as an intern with the Canadian Space Agency. How did this opportunity happen?

In my second year, I put together a team of students to participate in the CAN-SBX competition. We were tasked with designing, building, and testing an experimental payload to send to the stratosphere aboard a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) stratospheric balloon. It was here where I was able to meet and work with engineers at the CSA involved in the STRATOS campaign. These networks, as well as the experience of being Team Captain, set me up for success in a project management engineering internship in the STRATOS campaign that took our payload to space!

What has been your favourite experience while working with the Canadian Space Agency?

My favorite experience while working at the CSA was being able to attend the balloon launches in Timmins, Ontario last summer. For context, we had been organizing the launches all year up until that point. It was there where I got to meet so many working professionals in the space science and technology sphere and got to physically see the fruits of our labor.

Can you describe a project (or projects) you were working on?

I supported several different projects within the Canadian Space Agency. These included the Lunar Analogue terrain project, OSIRIS-REx project, and the STRATOS Campaign. As mentioned above, the STRATOS campaign launches stratospheric balloons for experiments to occur up in space. The Lunar Analogue Terrain project is developing a terrain that mimics the surface of the moon for testing purposes of upcoming lunar rovers. And, the OSIRIS-REx project was creating a sample curation facility for the sample Canada is receiving from NASA obtained from asteroid Bennu.

I’m working remotely for the CSA again this summer, and this time I’ll be helping with CUBICS and ECO-I, which are various cube satellite projects that are taken to and launched from the International Space Station (ISS).

Any club, design team, or other campus / school involvement you’d like to highlight?

I recently joined the Phoenix News, which is very different from most of the technical projects I’ve taken part in, as a writer for the Science and Technology Section. I’ve published two articles so far and hope to publish more in the coming school year!

Imposter Syndrome and the Struggles of Women in Scientific Academia

I Joined a Hackathon Even Though I Can’t Code

What is next for you? What are your future goals / plans?

Generally, I plan to go to grad school, work, and get my pilot’s license, though maybe not in that order. We will just have to see what happens!

Anything else you’d like to share about your story?

While the CSA is one of my Co-Op positions, my first Co-Op position was in an underground laboratory in Sudbury, Ontario, called SNOLAB. It’s a particle astrophysics laboratory, located 2 kilometers deep in a mine. To get to work was a 5 AM start, a trip down the shaft of a nickel mine, and a short hike to a massive cleanroom.

My job was to work on the Cryogenic Underground Testing (CUTE) Facility for the detection of low-range dark matter particles, which is essentially a project that studies crystals at virtually absolute zero, 4 degrees Kelvin!

I was fresh out of second year and had absolutely no experience in physics research. I’m so grateful that my employers at SNOLAB took a chance on me and granted me with one of the most bizarre and interesting experiences of my life.

Any advice for current or incoming students?

My best advice would be to start something no matter how early in your degree you are. Find a competition, a design challenge, or hackathon, build a good team, and just try! You never know where it might lead you.

The B.C. Government announced today new members of the province’s Climate Solutions Council who will support the work to transition B.C. to a clean economy with thriving and sustainable industry.  

Council members hail from across the province and a wide range of sectors and areas of expertise. This includes First Nations, environmental organizations, industry, business, academia, labour, local government and youth.    

Among those appointed today is Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi, Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering from UBC Okanagan. 

Dr. Mahmudur Fatmi, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at UBC Okanagan.

“I’m excited to serve in this advisory group, which has a legislated mandate to provide advice to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. I look forward to enabling the province to take evidence-based greenhouse gas mitigation strategies and adaptation to climate impacts” said Dr. Fatmi.  

Dr. Fatmi’s research focuses on travel behavior analysis, agent-based microsimulation modelling techniques, and transportation data collection to assist in making effective transportation and land use policies and infrastructure investment decisions to combat climate change.  

Read more in the media release from the Province of B.C. 

Where are you from? What brought you to UBC Okanagan?

I am originally from Turkey. I came to UBC Okanagan to become a part of a world-renowned university while still enjoying the benefits of a more close-knit campus setting. After arriving, I participated in the Jump Start orientation program, which quickly integrated me into campus life, and made UBC feel like a second home right away.

In the following years, I was an orientation leader myself and helped welcome new students to the campus.

*Jump Start is UBC Okanagan’s Three-Day Enhanced Orientation Event held at the end of August. It is designed to introduce students to university life, faculty, and new friends, with a wide range of activities and information tailored for students who will be living on campus or commuting.

What inspired you to study engineering?

My interest in engineering began in high school while I was studying the IB Diploma Programme. After looking into the different engineering disciplines, my love for math and physics and their novel applications drew me to Electrical Engineering.

What was the most rewarding aspect of your program?

Being part of clubs and teams helped enrich the learning experience. During the pandemic, I was looking for ways to be more involved outside of classes. Some of my friends and I founded the Innovate, Design, Sustain (IDS) Club. We met virtually throughout the pandemic and the club has since grown to more than 150 registrants. It’s rewarding to see a club flourish that is dedicated to advancing sustainable solutions and benefiting our world.

What are your research interests?

During undergrad, I worked with Dr. Ian Foulds and Dr. Jonathan Holzman. My time in their labs were valuable in helping me develop my research skills and interests. During undergrad I was also inspired by Dr. Sabine Weyand’s classes, which shaped some of my research interests. Overall, I’m excited about biomedical devices that can help people outside of the clinical environment for health monitoring and early detection of diseases, such as wearable and implantable technologies.

What are your future plans?

I recently accepted admission to Stanford University’s PhD program in Electrical Engineering. I will start in September. They have a rotation program that allows students to try different labs and explore different research interests. There is strong collaboration between Engineering and the School of Medicine, so I’ll be collaborating with doctors and medical students at Stanford. I’m excited about where collaborative, interdisciplinary research can take me, and the impact I can have in healthcare.

Any advice for future / incoming students?

The professors at the SoE are fantastic. They are open to undergrad researchers and want to see you grow your skills and succeed in this area. Talk to your profs and see how you can get involved in 2^nd and 3^rd year! Getting involved in projects and publications helped me gain experience, build my CV, and ultimately get into one of the top engineering graduate programs in North America.

SoE Team’s wellness bench aims to foster a healthier, more sustainable built environment on campus and beyond

Innovate, Design, Sustain (IDS), a student design team from UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering recently earned second place at the national 2023-24 Wellness Bench Student Design Competition administered by the Canadian Precast Prestressed Concrete Institute (CPCI).

This year’s competition saw participation from leading engineering schools across the country. The goal: to challenge students to utilize precast prestressed concrete design and construction in an outdoor bench that blends environmentally friendly construction with wellness, versatility, and innovation.

The team from UBCO is comprised of the following members:

• Kurtis Dezall, 4^th Year Mechanical Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Analysis
• Mona Sabounchi, PhD student Civil Engineering
  • Architectural and Structural Design
• Chadia Uwamahoro, PhD student Civil Engineering
  • Structural Design and Engineering
• Anoop Takhar, 3^rd Year Mechanical Engineering
  • Research and Mechanical Design
• Arsalan Khan, 2^nd Year Civil Engineering
  • Research and Conceptual Design
• Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Lisa Tober, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering

Team leader Kurtis Dezall says the group rose to the challenge, building on months of hard work and years of learning on their design, dubbed the RenewaBench.

“Our team is incredibly excited and proud of this acknowledgement from CPCI for our design. We are very pleased about the finished product and the positive impact it could have for users and the environment,” says team member Kurtis Dezall who will graduate from UBC’s Mechanical Engineering program this June.

The RenewaBench aims to provide an outdoor seating area with shade, protection from the elements, and charging outlets for devices powered by off-grid solar power. As a convenient study space, the bench aims to help users boost their connection to nature through time spent outdoors, while itself being as environmentally-friendly and low-carbon footprint as possible—thanks to the solar power offsets and use of renewable/recyclable materials.

The team is currently working with UBCO Campus Planning to explore a space to install the bench on campus for a year. Usage data collected from users over that period could help inform future designs for similar solar-powered charging stations, notes Dezall. It could also help demonstrate for users how renewable energy can be incorporated into our daily lives and behaviours.

“Projects like these are a great opportunity to see how we as students can make a positive impact on the world around us, long before graduation,” explains Dezall. “We hope our bench can be a meaningful outdoor space and a beacon of inspiration for students. By sourcing local, environmentally-friendly materials, we’ve aimed to make it as easy as possible to transport and assemble, keeping costs down and making it a viable option for a wide array of outdoor spaces, not just post-secondary campuses. We hope it could eventually see uptake from communities and benefit a wider audience.”

UBCO Engineering students Kurtis Dezall (Left) and Chadia Uwamahoro (Right) with James Lockwood of Rapid-Span (Centre).

The team also engaged local industry for perspective on the project, including Rapid-Span of Vernon, one of Canada’s largest manufacturers of steel and precast components for the transportation industry.

The RenewaBench team is part of a larger group of people who worked on the project as a subset of the popular Innovate Design and Sustain (IDS) student club on campus. Founded in 2020, this organization has grown to over 70 students from various faculties, also including the U.S. DOE Solar Decathlon Team and Campus Sustainability Initiatives (CSI).

“Congratulations to the RenewaBench team. This result on the national stage speaks to the extremely high-quality innovation and design work being produced by UBC Okanagan Engineering students. Our students continue to demonstrate through national and international competitions not only their scholarly and technical prowess, but their desire to work together—and with industry—to have a positive impact on our world,” said the team’s faculty supervisor Dr. Lisa Tobber.

Read more in the announcement by CPCI. You can also review the team’s project poster, report and watch their second-place winning design presentation video.

Dr. Sepideh Pakpour, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UBCO.

School of Engineering receives $1.65M grant for interdisciplinary projects engaging students and industry

Imagine a world where the clothing we wear is crafted with both human comfort and environmental sustainability in mind from the outset of the design process. Or a world where our health-care settings have been equipped and furnished to support all aspects of patients’ physical and psychological comfort.

Dr. Sepideh Pakpour, Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan, along with her co-PIs (principal investigators) across the campus, have been awarded $1.65M toward their research in product design for human comfort to help make those goals a reality.

The funding, announced today, was made available through the NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Program.

NSERC CREATE grants are designed to support training of highly qualified students and postdoctoral fellows from Canada and abroad through the development of innovative training programs that:

• encourage collaborative and integrative approaches, and address significant scientific challenges associated with Canada’s research priorities;
• facilitate the transition of new researchers from trainees to productive employees in the Canadian workforce.

At UBC Okanagan, the funding will allow Dr. Pakpour and a multi-disciplinary team of researchers to engage more than 80 students in research projects involving over 20 industry partners over the next six years.

“These projects will empower students, from undergraduate to their doctoral studies, to re-think the design process altogether. It’s about incorporating human comfort – which encapsulates all aspects of physical, physiological and psychological support – into product design from the very beginning of the process.”

Dr. Pakpour is working with fellow UBCO researchers in engineering, health sciences, computer science and psychology. Her industry partners span a diverse array of sectors, from clothing manufacturers to biomedical companies. Together, they can make leaps toward a future world with safer, comfort-enhanced products, says Dr. Pakpour.

“We are training and building talent for the future of this field, for industry and society. We are no longer living in an era where each discipline can, or should, work solo in the design process. These projects are examples of interdisciplinary teams, seamlessly working together to train the next generation of researchers and solve real-world problems facing diverse users.”

Under Dr. Pakpour’s leadership, the first cohort of students will join the research teams this September. They expect to engage at least 12 undergraduate and 68 graduate students over the next six years. “It’s very exciting we will be able to provide opportunities for this many students here in Canada in such an emerging and untraditional field. It will be very impactful, I am confident” said Dr. Pakpour. “We are grateful to NSERC for this funding which amplifies our research capacity not just within the School of Engineering but across disciplines on campus.”

Dr. Pakpour’s fundamental research interest and contributions fall into two categories: (a) better comprehending forces and factors forming Healthy Buildings and (b) human microbiome and human health. Under these categories, her research has continuously focused on translating basic microbiome discoveries into applications ranging from bioengineering and biomaterials. She has also co-led research on using magnetic levitation to detect airborne viruses. Earlier this year, Dr. Pakpour was awarded a UBC Killam Faculty Research Fellowship Prize.

SEED program offers high school students a chance to get hands-on learning experience

UBC Okanagan engineering student Gurnoor Chawla knew she’d chosen the right path after an inspiring summer learning experience at the university while she was still in high school.

Fast forward a few years later, now a third-year Electrical Engineering student at UBCO, Chawla is encouraging the next cohort of engineering students to follow in her footsteps.

UBCO’s School of Engineering (SoE) hosts the Stewards in Engineering Education (SEED) Program each July to promote engineering research interest and involvement among high school students. Students going into grades 9-12 have the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research projects with world-class researchers and graduate students in state-of-the-art laboratory facilities.

The program is free and designed to be a spring board to helping students make decisions and plan ahead.

UBCO School of Engineering student Gurnoor Chawla

Inspired by her experience within the School of Engineering, Gurnoor Chawla is a now a student ambassador for the SoE and speaks highly of the SEED Program.

“I just found it online and it seemed like something I would be interested in, as I had been looking into engineering as a potential career choice at the time,” explains Chawla. “I really enjoyed how realistic and hands on it was. Being able to connect so closely with professors and PhD students so early on really helped me refine my skill set and understand what research in the field looked like.

She recalls stepping into the radioactive materials lab for the first time as being one of the most memorable parts of her SEED experience, and one that helped to validate her decision to study engineering.

“For me, the most memorable part was definitely getting to see the electron microscope and interact with the radioactive materials lab. I enjoyed how intensive and collaborative it was.”

Chawla adds: “Overall, the SEED program provides a very realistic and intensive understanding of what work in university research labs looks like, so it ensures that you are partaking and putting effort into the work instead of simply watching from the sidelines. Anyone interested in SEED should come in with an open mind and a will to explore, because this is such an amazing opportunity and a great way to create a strong network at UBCO!”

Dr. Jonathan Holzman, an electrical engineering professor and faculty lead for SEED, concurs that the program offers a unique, hands-on opportunity for students. “Many incoming students will have never seen—let alone actively experienced—a research lab before. SEED can help them better understand the research environment, and the many pathways in engineering as they are making their post-secondary choices.”

This year’s SEED program runs from July 22 – 26, 2024. Applications are open until May 17 and can be completed online.  More information about the program is available on the SoE’s website under Engineering Summer Programs.