Established through a generous endowment by Dr. Peter Wall, the prestigious Wall Legacy Awards support innovative research by UBC faculty members and graduate students that moves British Columbia towards a sustainable future. The awards focus on work addressing key areas of sustainable development of urban infrastructure, environmental protection of oceans and waterfronts, and sustainable approaches to resource-intensive industry.
Two Wall Fellowships are the program’s flagship awards, providing $1,000,000 to support the ongoing work of outstanding faculty member research and service contributions in this area, and this year’s recipients are Dr. Melissa McHale (UBC Forestry) and Dr. Lisa Tobber (UBCO School of Engineering). Additional Wall Research Awards for faculty provide funding for future projects by individual faculty researchers or teams of three to five, while awards for graduate students support master’s or doctoral students pursuing thesis or dissertation work in the awards’ areas of interest.
Developing community-based solutions for decarbonization, energy resilience, and a circular economy
Projects involving UBC Mechanical Engineering research are investigating several of the Wall Legacy Awards’ areas of focus. Their work will explore ways BC communities and industries can implement new technologies to sustainably address local concerns: expanding access to sustainable residential cooling in a warming province, creating community-based solutions to increasing demand for electricity, finding economic solutions in the agricultural sector by transforming waste water into fertilizer, and addressing BC’s net-zero transportation challenges by creating a roadmap for electric vehicle battery recycling.
SHADE: Solar Hybrid Air-Conditioning for Decarbonized Environments
- Principal Investigator: Dr. Alexandra Tavasoli, Department of Mechanical Engineering (UBCV)
This project responds to the growing need for sustainable cooling technologies as climate change increases the frequency of severe heat events. Building on an existing initiative led by UBC’s Dr. Liv Yoon that examines the intersecting challenges of extreme heat, housing equity, and public health, a solar-driven air conditioning system that uses heat from the sun to drive space cooling will be co-designed alongside residents of a supportive housing community in Metro Vancouver. Placing priority on the use of safe, easily obtainable materials and designs intended for community-led implementation, this project will demonstrate a new transdisciplinary model for low-risk, human-centered engineering design that can accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy.
Securing a community-led, sustainable, and resilient energy future for BC
- Team: Dr. Tarun Khanna (Lead PI | UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs), Dr. Christine Chen (Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBCV), Dr. Dominic Liao-McPherson, (Mechanical Engineering, UBCV)
British Columbia faces growing challenges to its hydroelectric-based electricity system, including rising energy demand, climate-induced droughts, and ecological concerns about large dams. To address these issues, community energy offers a promising solution, allowing individuals to become “prosumers” who both use and generate electricity through technologies like solar panels and battery storage. These innovations enable the creation of community-led virtual power plants (cVPPs), promoting equitable access, inclusive participation, and sustainable energy solutions. This interdisciplinary project explores the social, policy, technical, and economic factors involved in developing decentralized, community-driven energy systems, aiming to build resilient, sustainable, and locally driven solutions for BC’s evolving energy needs.
Upcycling agricultural waste water from the Fraser Valley into fertilizer using renewable electricity
- Team: Dr. Eric Lees (Lead PI | Chemical and Biological Engineering, UBCV), Dr. Elod Gyenge (Chemical and Biological Engineering, UBCV), Dr. Mauricio Ponga (Mechanical Engineering, UBCV)
Agriculture drives the Fraser Valley’s economy, generating $3.8 billion in 2022, but faces challenges from nitrate contamination and rising fertilizer costs. Ammonia fertilizers, essential for crop growth, decomposes into nitrate, polluting groundwater like the Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer. Fertilizer prices also surged by 80% in 2022, threatening profitability of the agriculture industry. This research aims to develop a sustainable, closed-loop system using renewable electricity to convert nitrate waste back into useful ammonia fertilizer. Objectives include modelling to design efficient catalysts and reactors, 3D printing of electrochemical reactors, and evaluating the economic and social impacts of nitrate-to-ammonia conversion in the Fraser Valley.
BATTERY-MAP (Management, Assessment & Policy): A Strategic Framework for Second-Life and Recycling of EV Lithium-Ion Batteries
- Team: Dr. Jian Liu (Lead PI | Mechanical Engineering at UBCO School of Engineering), Dr. Amanda Giang, (Mechanical Engineering and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, UBCV), Dr. Mauricio Ponga (Mechanical Engineering, UBCV)
The global transition to net-zero transportation is accelerating electric vehicle (EV) adoption, leading to a surge in end-of-life (EOL) lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as their capacity declines below 80%. These batteries contain critical, costly, scarce minerals and pose significant environmental risks if improperly disposed of. This research focuses on developing a degradation model to assess the potential of repurposing EOL LIBs for second-life energy storage or recycling. The results will inform a decision model to guide policymakers in sustainable battery management. The study supports global efforts in urban sustainability, environmental protection, and the circular economy, offering a strategic roadmap for managing EOL LIBs in British Columbia.
Congratulations to Drs. Giang, Liao-McPherson, Ponga and Tavasoli, and to all the 2025 Wall Legacy Award recipients advancing sustainability through research!