October 25, 2021
New hydrogen technology developed at UBC could soon be providing clean energy in Alberta, thanks to a $7 million project between UBC, the government of Alberta and Alberta utility company ATCO.
The technology developed by the UBC researchers — methane thermal cracking — can produce up to 200 kilograms of hydrogen a day using natural gas, without using water, while reducing or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions. The team will test their system at a facility in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, run by ATCO, Alberta’s largest natural gas distributor.
This project could help the cost of hydrogen production go down to $2, in line with goals set by the US Department of Energy to support hydrogen adoption.
October 15, 2021
The Department of Mechanical Engineering invites our alumni to a special event on Thursday, November 18, 2021. Join us at 5:30 PM for an online panel featuring Mechanical Engineering faculty and industry members who are tackling sustainable transportation solutions from a variety of angles.
WHEN: Thursday, November 18, 2021 | 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
WHERE: Zoom – link to be sent after registration
Please email us at communications@mech.ubc.ca for the registration link.
October 14, 2021
THE NARWHAL: Study suggests higher contaminants in B.C. homes near fracking wells but more research is needed. | People living near fracking sites in B.C. are lacking information about contamination they need to make ‘informed decisions,’ lead author Élyse Caron-Beaudoin says. A scientist who published a new study about air and water pollution levels affecting homes near fracking sites in northeastern British Columbia, Treaty 8 territory, says her research is shining a light on how little the provincial and federal governments know about the human health impacts of industrial development in the region.
October 7, 2021
The Jagdeep Singh Bakshi Scholarship in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering has been awarded to Master of Engineering student Alice Brais. This scholarship provides $1000 to a student in the UBC’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering MEng program who demonstrates both academic excellence and leadership. Joining the UBC NAME program after an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from McGill, Brais achieved high scores despite a year challenged by fully online studies. She led her team in their Computer-Aided Ship Design Project course, completing a ship design for a zero-emission ferry incorporating hydrogen fuel cells and hydrofoils.
October 6, 2021
One summer evening in 2016, two friends were relaxing in the basement, playing a game of ping-pong. Sore, exhausted, Zack Eberwein had just competed in a charity climb called the Multi Grouse Grind Challenge, a repetitive scramble up Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain which had reduced him, after several ascents, to a literal “crawl.”
Having had two knee surgeries, Zack would normally wear his brace, but had made a conscious decision to leave it behind: the contraption limited movement, was simply too bulky.
October 5, 2021
Sometimes your first idea is your best one. Andrea Palmer came up with the idea for Awake Labs with co-founder Paul Fijal as a student at UBC. Six years later, she and her team have made it through a pandemic and are scaling up their work to improve care and quality of life for people with cognitive disabilities.
October 1, 2021
Dr. Agnes d’Entremont has been awarded BCcampus‘ September award for Excellence in Open Education, due to her many contributions to developing open educational resources (OER), and dedication to financially accessible learning. One of her notable contributions has been coordinating the creation of over 1500 mechanics questions for open homework platform WeBWork, providing students with a free alternative to purchasing practice homework systems. In the process of creating these statistics and dynamics problem sets, she also mentors co-op students involved in the project.
BCcampus is an organization based out of Vancouver and Victoria which “support[s] the post-secondary institutions of British Columbia as they adopt, adapt, and evolve their teaching and learning practices to create a better experience for students.” Read their full announcement and description of Dr. d’Entremont’s OER achievements: https://bccampus.ca/2021/09/29/bccampus-award-for-excellence-in-open-education-agnes-dentremont
September 21, 2021
NASA International Internship
The NASA International Internship is a NASA initiative that seeks to better prepare students (U.S. and international) for future missions that require innovative thinking and cooperation with international collaborators. Interns take part in seminars on a wide variety of topics from both internal and external experts, informal discussions, supervised research, group projects, cultural lunches/ dinners, poster presentations, tours of NASA facilities, and other self-organized social events in the area.
Internships are offered by NASA in three sessions during the calendar year: spring (16 weeks), summer (10 weeks) and fall (16 weeks). Current NASA participating research centres are the Ames Research Center and the Goddard Space Flight Center.
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will nominate highly qualified Canadian university students who may subsequently be selected by NASA to participate in internship projects along with U.S. students and students from abroad.
- Duration of internship: 10 to 16 weeks
- Internship options: Summer 2022 session (10 weeks) / Fall 2022 session (16 weeks) / Spring 2023 session (16 weeks)
- Value: $2,000 to $3,000/selected applicant and a possibility of $6,000 to $8,000 from other sources
- Eligibility Requirements:
- Application Deadline: October 13, 2021, at 1:00 PM ET (10:00 AM PT).
For further information, such as detailed application procedures, visit the CSA webpage: https://asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/funding-programs/funding-opportunities/ao/2021-nasa-i2-2022-2023.asp
Questions should be directed to the Canadian Space Agency at: asc.stedia-dstemu.csa@canada.ca
September 17, 2021
As a Sustainability Research Scholar, Shannon Goulden gained meaningful work experience in a new industry and grew her professional network – all while helping Metro Vancouver advance its sustainability initiatives. “When I learned about the Sustainability Scholars Program a few months before starting the MEL in Clean Energy Engineering, I knew right away that I wanted to apply. The Sustainability Scholars Program seemed like a good opportunity to get exposure to a new industry and make connections.”
September 13, 2021
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 year for up to three years, the program was created to help “develop, attract and retain BC’s best and brightest health researchers and support the advancement of world-class health research in BC.”
As a member of Assistant Professor Mattia Bacca’s Micro & Nano Mechanics Lab, Dr. Agostinelli investigates how cells carry out various mechanical functions such as division, movement, and the absorption of external particles such as nutrients. Under the supervision of Dr. Bacca and Associate Professor Gwynn Elfring, Dr. Agostinelli will undertake the project “The role of mechanics in EMT and cancer metastasis”, using his knowledge of cell mechanics to better understand “the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process that converts tightly bound cells into loosely associated motile cells.” EMT is a cell function normally involved in processes like wound healing, but it is also involved in cancer metastasis. The research team will create a mathematical model of how cell biochemistry and mechanics work together to power this process, and will compare their results to stem cell experiments conducted by the School of Biomedical Engineering’s Zandstra Lab. With EMT being the primary target of many cancer treatments, the project could contribute to the development of more effective methods of fighting cancer, as well as have implications in other areas of medicine.
Read the full description of this project on the MSFHR announcement, and view the full list of UBC funding recipients from the MSFHR Scholars and Research Trainee programs here.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash