Malcolm Shield
PhD candidate in clean energy transport solutions, Greenest City Action Team Scholar
A mechanical engineer by trade, Malcolm Shield came to UBC from London in 2004 to research natural gas combustion for his PhD. But an opportunity to work as one of 10 interns with the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Team Scholars program got him thinking even bigger about sustainability. “I’m now looking to work on untangling the energy conundrum,” he says. “This experience opened my eyes and my interest in greening the transportation system.”
Building the World’s Greenest City
With its goal of becoming the greenest city in the world by 2020, the City of Vancouver is working in a variety of ways to reduce emissions, and transport—Shield’s area of focus—is a big piece of that. So part of his internship involved planning for the implementation of electric vehicles. “Next year many big auto manufacturers are launching electric vehicles and the City of Vancouver is working to have charging infrastructure in place.”
Change Through Action
As he wraps up his internship and puts the finishing touches on his PhD thesis, Shield wants to find a way to continue to work on practical green solutions. “I don’t want to do research for the sake of research. Engineering is practical and I believe in making things happen.”
How will your work change the world?
Transportation is such a huge way of life. We need big progress, but this is made in little steps. The work I do isn’t the final goal, but it’s a stepping stone that will allow us to get to the final goal. Energy goes to the core of society – it’s a cliché but it’s true. And that’s the appeal to me.