New model highlights importance of virus size in SARS-CoV-2 replication
EurekAlert, Physics.org: As the world recovers from the economic and social impacts of COVID-19, researchers like Mattia Bacca continue to study SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses to be better prepared for future pandemics. Dr. Bacca, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, used his particular expertise—micromechanics, the study of extremely tiny structures—to develop a simple […]
Researchers create new ultra-strong alloy
The Modelling and Simulation Research Group and collaborators have recently published a paper investigating a new high-entropy alloy (HEA). The team, led by Assistant Professor Mauricio Ponga, designed the material’s composition using atomic-level computer simulations to find an optimal mixture of elements. This novel material combines cobalt, chromium, iron, molybdenum, and niobium atoms. It was […]
Researcher receives MSFHR Trainee Award to investigate the mechanics of cancer spread
Mechanical Engineering Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Daniele Agostinelli has received a 2021 Research Trainee award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR). The MSFHR Research Trainee Program provides support to post-doctoral researchers or health professionals, helping them to develop their research careers in their field of medicine and health. Providing recipients with $45,000 per […]
New paper solves the soft solid puncture problem
When Assistant Professor Mattia Bacca is trying to figure out a mechanical engineering problem, he inquires into how the natural world has already solved it. Bioinspired engineering is an approach that examines abilities plants and animals have evolved over millions of years, like the way a gecko can cling to a surface with the pads […]
Quantifying the bond between SARS-CoV-2 and human cell receptors
At its heart, mechanical engineering is the understanding of energy transfer and forces, physics concepts not usually associated with medicine. However, even at the scale of a human cell, those concepts are at play, and understanding them could be the key to designing effective treatments. SARS-CoV-2 is a tiny particle that has stopped the world, […]
New Frontiers in Research: Materials à la carte
Materials à la carte: Accelerating materials discovery with large scale ab-initio simulations and machine learning | Nominated Principal Investigator: Mauricio Ponga, Co-Principal Investigator: Jasmin Jelovica When an engineer designs a new device – whether it’s an airplane or a ballpoint pen – an important consideration they must take into account is the abilities and limitations […]
UBC Mechanical Engineering Prof Receives Human Frontier Science Program Grant
Mattia Bacca, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UBC, has been awarded a three-year research grant from the Human Frontier Science Program Organization. The France-based organization, which established its namesake program in 1989, aims to support innovative international research collaborations that clarify “the sophisticated and complex mechanisms of living organisms for the benefit of all […]
Faculty Receive NSERC/Seaspan Industrial Research Chairs for Intelligent and Green Marine Vessels
Vancouver is a marine hub, a port for trade and shipbuilding that draws traffic from all over the world into BC’s coastal waters. These waters are also home to North America’s dwindling population of endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales, one of many marine species threatened by the underwater noise pollution ships generate. This begs the […]
2019 Summer Research Recap
The 2019 Summer Terms featured a number of noteworthy research-related achievements in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. New Canada Research Chairs The department received the addition of two new Canada Research Chairs (CRC): Xiaoliang Jin CRC in Advanced Manufacturing, Tier 2 Naomi Zimmerman CRC in Sustainability, Tier 2 The Canada Research Chairs Program designed Tier […]
Creating the Next Generation of Bat-Inspired Aircraft
The flapping flight dynamics of insects, birds and bats have long been of interest to aeronautical engineers. From Clément Ader’s pioneering 19th-century flying machines to the present-day Bat Bot and BionicFlyingFox, aircraft design has been influenced by bats for more than 130 years. Now, a comprehensive 3D computer model of bat wing flapping flight that may enable the creation of nimbler, […]