UBC Mechanical Engineering designated their first group of Department Scholars at a Celebration of Achievements reception on Wednesday, January 13, 2010. The Department Scholar designation was created to recognize the outstanding calibre of graduate students in the Department, and their achievements in their studies and research.
The 2009-2010 Department Scholars are:
- Jeffrey Abeyskera
- Amir Aliabadi
- Ehsan Azadi Yazdi
- Vahid Bazargan
- Christopher Bibby
- Ambrose Chan
- Jack Chen
- Richard Graetz
- Hannah Gustafson
- Mohammad Honarvar
- Thomas Huryn
- Arash Jamalian
- Jeswin Jeyasurya
- Xiaoliang Jin
- Farzad Khademolhosseini
- Murat Kilic
- Raoul Kingma
- Angela Melnyk
- Fatemeh Pirmoradi
- Kris Smeds
- Carolyn Van Toen
- Susana Zoghbi
The Department Scholars were presented with a beautiful medal designed by staff member Alan Steeves. Pictured on it is Eena, the Chinook word for beaver. The legend of Eena tells of her building dams to create a network of lakes, and a lodge in which to live. Eena embodies the elements of the UBC Faculty of Applied Science – building the environment safely and sustainably and caring for people. Alan is a member of the Kwagiutl First Nation and is a renowned contemporary Native artist.
The honourary designation of Department Scholar may be given to a student at any point in their graduate program, and they hold the designation through the remainder of their degree.
The Celebration of Achievements brought together students and their families, alumni, friends of the Department, faculty and staff to recognize the outstanding accomplishments in the Department in the past year. The other awards recognized at the gathering include:
- UBC Graduate Teaching Awards: Emily McWalter and Malcolm Shield
- Undergraduate Student Leadership Awards: Daniel Boland, Jason Currie, Michael Elfstrom, Florin Gheorghe, Jason Le, Wen Li, and Douglas McLeod
- Garreth Ewan Thomas Memorial Award in Mechanical Engineering: Dan Boland and Jennifer Reimer
- Vinod J. Modi Memorial Award: Jason Chu, Samuel Mason, Devin Todd, Craig Tomsett, Victor Wang
- Alternative Energy X: James Saunders and Malcolm Shield
- Undergraduate Academic Achievement Award: Eric Buckley, Jason Chu, Ibrahim Gadala, Graeme Garvin, Alim Jiwa, Russell Jones, Tamer Kalla, Adriel Lam, Robert Lion, Samuel Mason, Andrew Nobles, Pimchanok Kwang Pithayachariyakul, Eric Pospisil, Christopher Prychon, Jennifer Reimer, Jeffrey Siow, Ethan Stuart, Devin Todd, Craig Tomsett, Victor Wang, Leon King Wah Yuen, and Leon Ching Fung Yuen
- Graduate Entrance Scholarship: Rashmi Bhadauria, Christopher Bibby, Mohammad Honarvar, Thomas Huryn, Murat Kilic, Matthew Pan, Haiya Peng, Mohammad Nahid Islam Razive
- Merit Awards: Christopher Bibby, Arminta Chicka, and Thomas Huryn
Additional photographs from the event can be viewed at our photo album.