invited to give seminars on specific issues, materials or techniques. Visits are organized to construction sites, and somehands-on workshops enable students to experience firsthand the actual materials used in construction.

The course has been overseen for the past three years byGreg Johnson, a partner in the firm of Marceau Evans JohnsonArchitects. Johnson, who possesses a background in both engineering (B.A.Sc. ‘74, UBC) and architecture (B.Arch. ‘77 and M.Sc.A. ‘80, Montreal), has considerable experience in the design of both new buildings and in the repair of thosewith envelope failures. As an educator, he has taught practition-ers in both professions within the joint AIBC/APEGBC BuildingEnvelope Education Program. He is also involved with ongoingteaching in UBC’s School of Architecture.

The Leaky Condo Crisis, a widespread appearance of severe building envelope failures which manifest-ed itself in the Lower Mainland in the 1990’s, trig-gered a quick response within the constructionindustry. Both the architecture and the engineeringprofessions came to the realization that the level of understanding of building science issues by profes-sionals had not kept pace with the technical changesin building construction. A number of initiatives were undertaken to address this shortcoming.

One such initiative undertaken at UBC, generouslyfunded jointly by Polygon Homes and Forintek, was the establishment of a program focused on building science and the performance of the building envelope.The building envelope or building enclosure refers to thecritical components of the building which separate theinterior from the exterior environment, controlling themovement of such elements as air, liquid water andwater vapour, and the transfer of heat. The design andplacement of such components becomes particularlycritical in extremely cold or wet environments such as weencounter here in the Canadian climate, where failurescan have dramatic consequences.

One component of this program was the develop-ment of a course, CIVL/WOOD 478, which attractsapproximately 30 Civil Engineering and Forestry studentseach year. The course is offered as a fourth year designat-ed design elective, and appeals to students with a widerange of backgrounds. In addition to lecture presentationsof the course material, an attempt is made to expose thestudents to actual construction situations. Practitioners are

Contents

• Message from the Head

• Student Competition stirs

excitement

for the future

• Update on the Civil

Design Studio

• Dr. Claudio

Guarnaschelli turns

to graduate students

to help save the

environment

• Congratulations

students & professors

• Full-scale testing facility

for soil-pipe interaction

research

• Water, water everywhere

• Co-op student learns

the importance of

communications skills

• Mehdi Kharrazi wins

Graduate Teaching

Assistant Prize

• Flashback

• People

• Events &

Achievements

Faculty of Applied ScienceEngineering News

summer 2005

Building Scienceinitiatives address leaky condo crisis

Civil Engineering News at

The University of British Columbia

Students appreciating the issues of real construction materials during a

hands-on masonry workshop courtesy of the Masonry Institute of BC.

In February, an enthusiastic 26 member team of mainly Civil undergrad students traveled to Calgary to participate inthe 31st Annual Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race.

This event provided students with a great opportunity toexperience the spirit of engineering. Innovative design, con-struction and guts were required to race a 300 lb. tobogganbuilt from concrete and steel!

UBC’s toboggan was mixed and poured on campus, with the superstructure and brake built mainly off campus.

The track, built at Canada Olympic Park, was made forspeed! Until this race, the record speed for the event was 68 km/hr. Several records were broken, with UBC reaching 72 and 71 km/hr in their two runs, leaving them in secondplace to Waterloo’s 75 km/hr speed. Overall, UBC finished13th of 22 competing teams.

Despite the placement, this year was a success. Thetremendous interest from second- and third-year studentsleaves a very keen base for next year’s team. We know what it takes to win, and UBC will be in the winner’s circle again!

The past 12 months have been a “business as usual” period for the Department. Undergraduate student demandhas remained strong and job placements for Civil co-op and graduating students have been plentiful. As you will seeelsewhere in this newsletter, our new Civil EngineeringDesign Studio is nearing completion and we expect to putthis outstanding new teaching facility into operation beginning in September 2005. The Civil Club Loft under-went a face lift last year and emerged with a new electrical system and fire protection that now meet university guidelines.

In July 2004, we were pleased to welcome Dr.Jacqueline Jenkins to the Department as AssistantProfessor of Transportation Engineering. Our good for-tune in attracting Jenkins became apparent in her firstyear at UBC, as she received a prestigious research award from a German firm active in transportation engi-neering. As we have noted on our back page, several of our faculty members have also been recognized withexternal awards.

Our ongoing program to update our undergraduatelaboratories is still a priority. We have made considerable

progress on this in the past year,but there is more to be done, particularly given the fact that thisfall the Department will be visited by a team from the CanadianEngineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).We are hoping that the review will result in theDepartment’s undergraduate program receiving re-accredita-tion for a six-year period. Associate Dean Perry Adebar andProfessor Sigi Stiemer have been coordinating the preparationof the voluminous documentation that must be assembled in advance of each CEAB visit.

I would welcome any comments or suggestions that may arise as you read this issue of our newsletter. Please feelfree to contact me at ehall@civil.ubc.ca.

Eric Hall,Department Head

2

Messagefrom the Head

Student Competitionstirs excitement for the future

By Scott Herbst, Team Captain

The concrete toboggan team ready for speed.

We have received a greatdeal of support from the civilengineering community forthis project, and we wouldlike to thank everyone whohas contributed to makingthis studio a reality. Mrs.Susan Christoffersen,together with Read JonesChristoffersen Ltd. directedtheir combined contribu-tions to name the computerlab that will be housed in the studio in memory of civilengineer Per Christoffersen,a leading civil engineer inVancouver. He received anM.A.Sc. from theDepartment in 1962 andbecame one of the three founders of Read Jones Christoffersen.

He is remembered forhis many accomplishmentsin civil engineering design,including Vancouver’s firstpost-tensioned structure,and the “mat system” forlaying out reinforcing steel in concrete slabs. The PerChristoffersen ComputerRoom will be an integral partof this state-of-the-art learn-ing environment.

We have also receivedgenerous contributions fromBuckland and Taylor Ltd., theCement Association of

Canada, Golder Associates,Stuart Olsen, and WestmarEngineering Consultants Ltd.

Each donor has theopportunity to place a walldisplay in a group study areato highlight their projectsand their business. The dis-plays will provide studentswith an excellent opportunityto learn how scholarshipturns into practice in civilengineering design, as wellas an opportunity to learnmore about local Vancouverengineering and construc-tion companies.

We would like to extendour thanks for all of our individual and industrydonors for their generousgifts to this initiative.

We still have displayspace for companies or indi-viduals who want to showcase their work for ourundergraduate students. To find out how you cancontribute to the DesignStudio, and reserve displayspace for you or your company in this new facility,please contact the Faculty of Applied ScienceDevelopment Office at 604-822-8335 or development@apsc.ubc.ca.

3

Update on the Civil Design Studio

As we announced in our last newsletter, the Department is upgrading its facilities through the

construction of a Design Studio for Civil Engineering undergraduate students. We are pleased to

announce that construction on the studio has begun, and we are well on our way toward a

working design studio for September 2005. We anticipate an official opening event this fall.

Before...

After...

Kudos also to PaulStorer who was awarded theFaculty of Applied SciencePrize of AcademicExcellence, and GodwinWong who received theAssociation of ProfessionalEngineers and Geoscientistsof British Columbia (APEG-BC) Achievement Award.

More good news wasannounced at the Civil Club

end-of-year beer garden cele-bration. Professors BernardLaval, Rob Millar and DonMavinic were selected as theyear’s Top Professors in oursecond, third and fourth-yearprograms, respectively.Thanks to the Civil Club,each awardee received a certificate and a bottle ofbeverage that required a corkscrew for opening.

Congratulations to the 95students who graduatedfrom UBC with a B.A.Sc. inCivil Engineering in 2004-05.The top CIVL graduate fromour 4th-year program wasTim Ho, the winner of theSkalbania Prize, which goesto the top academic achieverin the Civil Engineering graduating class.

applied research in water quality and help ensure a cleaner andmore viable future for our society.

After arriving in Canada in 1952, Guarnaschelli moved fromMontreal to a farm in Manitoba and then to Calgary where he joined Imperial Oil, which assisted him in obtaining his firstdegree. He found his first research work so interesting that he returned to school and earned both a master’s degree(University of Alberta) and a Ph.D. from the University of BritishColumbia, specializing in Extractive Metallurgy.

He worked for many years for Environment Canada, as a private consultant and served briefly as an adjunct professor atUBC. This research scholarship is a tribute to the career that he believed in so passionately; and now through the endow-ment, he is assured that more research will be carried on foryears to come.

Guarnaschelli has a deep respect for nature and the environment, one that he hopes will be taken up by graduatestudents who will devise creative solutions to current waterquality issues. In stimulating the minds of tomorrow’s researchengineers, he will continue to give back to the country that hasseen a life well lived and enjoyed, from initial hardship to per-sonal and professional success.

“Life is beautiful,” he says passionately. “Don’t mess it up.”The Dr. C. Guarnaschelli Research Scholarship, valued at

$5,000 annually, will first be awarded in fall 2005.

4

It was the spirit of a young andhopeful political refugee in Trieste,Italy in 1951 that was noticed byCanadian officials and resulted inClaudio Guarnaschelli’s invitationto come to Canada. The samespirit and passion is still behindDr. Guarnaschelli’s recent contribution to graduate educa-tion at UBC: a donation of$100,000 to set up a researchscholarship endowment to

fund engineering graduate students interested in issuesof water quality and waste water reclamation.

“We need to take better care of our air and water,” hesays adamantly. “They are two of the most fundamentalelements of life.”

He’s concerned that not enough action is beingtaken on environmental issues, and not enough concernis paid to our resources.

“We need to think in terms of future generations,avoid environmental abuses and apply sound technolo-gies to clean up our polluted sites,” he says.

He hopes his research scholarship, which is direct-ed to graduate students in Civil, Chemical andBiological, or Mining Engineering, will encourage

Dr. Claudio Guarnaschelli turns to graduate students

to help save the environment

Dr. Claudio Guarnaschelli

CongratulationsStudents & Professors

Full-scale testing facilityfor soil-pipe interaction research

Buried pipeline systemsform a key part of our globallifeline infrastructure, andany significant disruption tothe performance of thesesystems often translates intoundesirable impacts on businesses, economies,and/or the living conditionsof citizens. Although shel-tered from exposure toatmospheric elements orother above-ground hazards,one of the major risks toburied pipelines arises fromlandslides and earthquake-induced ground movements.

With his extensive first-hand experience from geotechnical engineeringpractice related to seismicevaluation of lifelines,Professor DharmaWijewickreme, P.Eng., haslaunched a major researchinitiative to investigate the soil-pipe interactionproblem.

The central feature ofthis initiative is the estab-lishment of a full-scale

physical model testing facili-ty in the Civil EngineeringDepartment, primarily withfunding from Terasen Gas Inc., Surrey, BC. Thefacility comprises a large-footprint (3 m x 5 m) testingchamber that permits simulating ground move-ments up to one meter onburied pipeline configura-tions. The testing chamberhas the flexibility to testmost typical pipe sizes andconfigurations. In collabora-tion with Doug HoneggerConsulting, California, USA, Wijewickreme has also received funding fromPipeline Research CouncilInternational (PRCI), in turn,allowing the upgrading ofthe in-house loading systemto a 100-tonne capacity.

The current researchwork related to the abovesystem is focused on twomain areas.

Performance of buried poly-ethylene (PE) natural gaspiping subjected to lateralground movements.This research is aimed atgenerating fundamental

information for the develop-ment of guidelines and crite-ria to determine soil dis-placement magnitudes asso-ciated with safe operationalstress limits of PE pipingconfigurations. The work isdirectly contributing to theevaluation of existing naturalgas distribution system(s)located in landslide proneareas of British Columbia.

Evaluation of methods to reduce forces on buried pipelines.This work is involved indeveloping a basic under-standing of the vulnerabilityof buried pipelines acrossearth fault crossings. Thework will provide insight tothe development of mitiga-tive solutions to this relative-ly common problem facedby the oil and gas industry inearthquake-prone areas.

With the work undertak-en so far, one M.A.Sc. thesis(Chris Anderson’s) has beencompleted, and anotherM.A.Sc. student (Lalinda

Weerasekera) and Ph.D. student (Hamid Karimian)are currently engaged in the research activities.

The research programhas also opened up new col-laborative opportunitiesbetween the Department’sgeotechnical and structuralengineering groups, andProfessor Carlos Ventura,P.Eng., with his expertise inrelation to earthquake structural engineering hasalready joined in thisresearch effort complement-ing Wijewickreme’s geotech-nical background. With the availability of the largeshake table in theDepartment’s newEarthquake EngineeringResearch Facility (EERF),planning is currently underway to conduct shaketable studies of full-scalepipe-soil systems that wouldenable simulating morecomplex loading conditionsand pipeline configurations.

5

460 mm diameter steel pipeline for axial pullout with Professor Dharma

Wijewickreme (left) and Hamid Karimian (right)

Full-scale model testing facility for

soil-pipe interaction research

One of the actuators of the new

100-tonne loading system

Environmental Fluid Mechanics with Professors Laval and Lawrence

Although Canada has more water than most nations,fluctuations in the quantity and quality of our avail-able water, due to climate change and other humaninfluences, greatly affect Canadian life. Most waterquality issues require an understanding of physical

From left: Ed Carmack (IOS) and Christina James (M.A.Sc. grad

2005) measuring water temperature at the bottom of Quesnel

Lake, the deepest lake in BC and 2nd deepest in Canada. They

are working with Professor Laval, who is studying the dynamics

to better understand variation in water temperature in the

Quesnel River.

Water, water, everywhere!

Ensuring its quality for our futureprocesses such as circulation and irreversible mixing.Examples include trapping of nutrients behind upstreamreservoirs, nutrient supply to the photic zone supporting phy-toplankton and fisheries food supply, effluent dispersal inlakes and coastal waters, and the path of contaminants (suchas E. Coli and Cryptosporidium) to drinking water supplyintakes and beaches. The EFM group focuses on the descrip-tion and understanding of the physical dynamics of waterbodies with the aim of developing numerical models for theprediction of climate and human impacts on lake circulation.

The Environmental Fluid Mechanics group comprisesProfessors Greg Lawrence and Bernard Laval whose expertisespans analytical, numerical, laboratory and field methods.Lawrence founded the group in 1989. Laval joined the groupin 2002, and his main research interests focus on lake circula-tion and dynamics using field and 3D modeling techniques.

Development and validation of numerical models requiresextensive field data. Using unmanned submersibles to deliverscientific instruments through a water body, in combinationwith traditionally moored instruments, makes it possible toimprove overall spatial resolution of measurements. The useof untethered, unmanned submersibles, or autonomousunderwater vehicles (AUV), alleviates the need for bulkycables connected to a boat. Surprisingly there are no currentAUV programs in lakes, whose relatively benign environmentsare ideally suited to AUV deployment. Thus, when Laval’sAUV arrives, many research opportunities await him and hisstudents. Submarine missions planned for this coming sum-mer include exploring mixing processes in the depths ofBritish Columbia’s deepest lake (Quesnel Lake, 511 m maxi-mum depth), and mapping the physical environment ofPavilion Lake, home to unique carbonate reef formations. TheQuesnel Lake project is a collaboration with DFO scientists to help understand the ecosystem of this important salmonspawning ground, while the Pavilion Lake project is a collabo-ration with scientists at NASA-Ames exploring unique early-Earth life forms with application to future Mars missions.

Water Resources Systems Analysiswith Professor Lence

In recent years, our criteria for design and operation of waterresources projects, such as water supply, reservoirs, and floodcontrol systems, and the institutions that govern these, arechanging. It is widely accepted that if we are to make a gen-

Faculty Members engaged in Hydrotechnical

Engineering and Environmental Fluid Mechanics

Research include Professors Bernard Laval, Barbara

Lence, Greg Lawrence, and Rob Millar. Their research

activities span a wide range of areas including water

resources management and environmental systems

modeling, dynamics of natural and constructed lakes

and reservoirs, and river behaviour and dynamics. This

work entails computational, laboratory and field-based

research projects.

6

uine attempt at sustainable water use, we must develop adaptive facilities and operational strategies that maintainconsistency in system performance under changing environ-mental conditions.

Professor Barbara Lence develops methods of optimizingdesign and operational strategies of water resources projects.Much of this work is devoted to identifying solutions that are reliable and resilient in the face of stressors, and robust tonon-stationary conditions. Non-stationary conditions mayinclude sudden or monotonic changes over time of the statis-tical properties of the surface water flows, water demands, or other environmental conditions. They may result from con-trollable factors, such as changes in release schedules ofupstream reservoirs, and uncontrollable factors such as climate change.

Her current research focuses on developing water supplysystems operational strategies. She is identifying: reliablewithdrawal-treatment strategies for contaminated groundwa-ter supply systems; asset management strategies for mid-sized water utilities with limited break data; and water distrib-ution system operational procedures that are reliable in termsof meeting hydraulic and water quality objectives.

Under the first project, in collaboration with colleagues atthe University of New Brunswick, Lence is developing anadaptive approach for evaluating short- and long-term waterwithdrawal and treatment options for the City of Fredericton,New Brunswick. Fredericton has relied on groundwater sincethe mid-1950s, and the river-alluvial aquifer for this system,which is recharged by Saint John River, is currently experienc-ing high levels of chemical and biological contamination.

River-alluvial aquifers are particularly important becausethey are commonly used for drinking water supplies due totheir proximity to large populations. However, there is limitedunderstanding of the natural mechanisms that impact waterquality in these systems, and the combinatorial problem ofselecting water supply and treatment options is complicatedby this lack of information, the interrelationships between thewithdrawal and treatment options, and the urgent need forsound public health decisions. Further considerations includeshifts and trends in contaminant concentrations and available

yield at different locations and changes in water demandsover time, and technological advances. This work will consid-er these factors and provide the city with the means of identi-fying preferred withdrawal- treatment options that minimizethe cost of the various treatment alternatives, includingpumping and monitoring costs; reduce the risk of contamina-tion due to pathogens and the resulting risks to humanhealth; and satisfy water supply demands.

Computational River Dynamicswith Professor Millar

Since taking up a faculty position in the department in 1996,Professor Rob Millar has worked to establish a research pro-gram in river hydraulics and engineering. To date, three doc-toral and nine masters students have completed researchdegrees working on aspects of river engineering includingrestoration of rivers impacted by timber harvesting, hydrody-namic modeling, assessment of in-stream habitat, andacoustic measurement of sediment transport. The currentfocus of the research group is computational modeling.

Three recent technological developments have convergedto permit application of relatively complex and sophisticatedcomputational models to simulate river processes anddynamics: surveying technologies such as global positioningsystems, sonar technologies and air-borne systems such asLight Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), which allow detailedmapping of large areas of river channel at relatively low cost;acoustic flow velocity measurement devices, namely theAcoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), which are boat-mounted and used to obtain high quality velocity and currentinformation; and finally, powerful computational software thatcan now run quickly and efficiently on a desktop computer.The developments in these three areas mean that we can nowcollect data needed to set up, calibrate and verify detailedcomputational models of river hydrodynamics–not only foradvanced research purposes, but increasingly for river man-agement and river engineering studies and design.

Currently Millar, together with colleagues at UBC, SimonFraser University, The University of Alberta and DHI Water

Aerial view of the Fraser River at Chilliwack with calculated flow velocity vectors superimposed. The computational model is used to

calculate water velocities, water levels, and erosion and erosion and deposition of gravel.

continued on page 8

7

Water, water, everywhere... continued from page 7

Co-op student

learns the importance of communication skillsFlorence Ho didn’t always want to be a civil engineer. Herfirst career aspirations were for graphic design, but shethought she may have a hard time earning a living. Herback up plan was to be a financial accountant, but it wasn’tuntil she took physics in Grade 11 that she had an idea ofher true calling.

Like many fledgling engineers, she loved physics andexcelled at math. Engineering seemed to be the rightchoice. She said she chose civil engineering because“…the material made sense to me more than any otherkind of engineering. I can truly see the logic within andcan understand the whole picture.”

As with many second-year Engineering Co-op students,finding her first co-op job was not easy. She applied for manywithout success. It wasn’t until a chance meeting at a CivilEngineering Industry night that things turned around.Florence met a Canadian Military Reserve Captain and theyspent some time talking about the field of military engineer-ing. Impressed, Florence ended up joining the CanadianReserve as an Officer Cadet and spent the summer training inChilliwack, a time she describes as very challenging.

Florence returned to school looking forward to finally get-ting her first co-op work term. This time around she was suc-cessful and secured an eight month position with AlbianSands Energy Inc. in Fort McMurray. Florence is responsiblefor producing various design drawings and updating surveydata in the geotechnical database.

One of the most important things Florence learned is theimportance of communication skills:

“If you are able to successfully interpret your ideas andare able to be open minded about others’ opinions, it notonly makes the project more successful, but also moredelightful,” said Florence.

Florence has impressed her team leader, Isabelle Dostaler,P.Eng., “Albian Sands is pleased to have Florence working inits Tailings and Geotechnical Engineering Group. So far,Florence has integrated well within the team and is workingvery efficiently on all tasks assigned to her. She has shown aninterest in learning new things and attacks every task withenthusiasm”.

For more information about the UBC Civil EngineeringCo-op program please contact Shawn Swallow at 604-822-0642 or Shawn.Swallow@ubc.ca.

and Environment inDenmark are collab-orating in modeldevelopment andapplication to theLower Fraser Riverbetween Missionand Hope.

This modeling is beingused to develop long-term,sustainable managementpractices that address issuesincluding flooding, bank ero-sion, gravel mining and navi-gation, while preserving andmaintaining the rich riverineecology of the Fraser River.

The model is also usedto develop and assess a vari-ety of management options,including gravel removal,and to forecast future chan-nel changes and sites of ero-sion and deposition. Theseresults are being used by a

range of organisations suchas BC Ministry of Water,Land and Air Protection,Fisheries and OceansCanada, Fraser Basin Counciland municipalities along theFraser Valley.

8

In recognition of the valu-able role that teaching assis-tants play in the educationof undergraduate students,UBC annually awards teach-ing prizes to seven teachingassistants across campus.Considering that UBCemploys about 1,500 teach-ing assistants, this presti-gious award is a highlyregarded honour for aspiringteachers and academics.

Last year, one of the Department’s most dedi-cated teaching assistants,Mehdi H. K. Kharrazi, was a recipient of the UBCGraduate Teaching AssistantPrize, in recognition of excellence in a wide array of teaching activities.

Kharrazi has made animpact on many students ina large variety of courses,such as Mechanics in CivilEngineering Design (CIVL 228), Steel and TimberDesign (CIVL 331), PlaneSurveying (235), and SeismicResponse of Structures(CIVL 505). Following severalyears of tutoring in the Steel and Timber Designcourse, he was entrustedwith the instruction of the course, while ProfessorPrion, his teaching mentor,was on sabbatical. He still plays a pivotal role asdesign project manager inthis project-based course,where third-year studentsare introduced to the realworld of engineering design, from concept development

to detail drawings. He bringsenthusiasm and energy tothe classroom or laboratoryand has the natural ability to connect with people at all levels.

Kharrazi, a Ph.D. candidate in the earthquakeengineering area, also gets involved in numerouslaboratory projects in

addition to his thesisresearch on steel plate shear wall systems. His ultimate goal is to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a university professor, wherehe sees himself involved in research, teaching andprofessional practice.

Flashback Faculty from 1949 Gather in 1974

By today’s standards, theDepartment of CivilEngineering was a complete-ly different unit in the post-World War II years when theClass of 1949 graduated. Atthat time, John NorisonFinlayson simultaneouslyserved as Professor andHead of Civil Engineeringand Dean of AppliedScience. The Department’sfaculty complement com-prised four professors, fiveassociate professors and 17instructors and part-timelecturers. The accompanyingphoto shows seven of thesethirsty gentlemen some 25

years later at the silveranniversary reunion of theCivil Class of ’49.

In 1949 from left toright: Associate ProfessorWilf Heslop (concrete struc-tures), Associate ProfessorTed Pretious (hydrotechni-cal), Associate ProfessorArchie Peebles (transporta-tion and soil mechanics),future UBC President WalterGage, then Dean ofAdministrative and Inter-Faculty Affairs (engineeringmathematics), AssociateProfessor Alex Hrennikoff(structural engineering)Associate Professor Sybron

DeJong (surveying) and Instructor Harry Bell(surveying).

The photograph waskindly provided by KnuteSoros (Civil ’49).

Mehdi Kharrazi wins Graduate

Teaching Assistant Prize

UBC Provost Lorne Whitehead and Teaching Assistant prizewinner

Mehdi Kharrazi

9

10

Dr. Jacqueline Jenkins joinedthe department as AssistantProfessor in June 2004. Sheholds a B.A.Sc. degree incivil engineering from theUniversity of Waterloo andM.E. and Ph.D. degreesfrom Texas A&M University.Specializing in transporta-tion, she is especially inter-ested in how user behavioris considered in the plan-ning, design, and operationof transportation facilities.

At Texas A&M University,Jenkins conducted severaldriver behavior studies usinga high-fidelity, fixed-base, dri-ving simulator. One studyfocused on quantifying the

impact of the intensity ofcellular phone conversationson drivers’ vehicle control,including the perception andreaction time for an emer-gency braking situation.

Her doctoral work wasfocused on integrating the driving simulator with aproprietary traffic simulationprogram, which would allow test drivers in the dri-ving simulator to interactwith the vehicles generatedand controlled by the trafficsimulation. The resultingintegrated simulation wasapplied to study the passingbehavior of drivers on twolane highways, where thesize and speed of the imped-ing vehicle was variedbetween experiment trials.

At UBC, Jenkins is devel-oping a research programwhere she will be usingadvanced technologies tocapture naturalistic behavior.She aims to identify linksbetween user behavior andthe transportation environ-ment and to quantify these relationships throughempirical studies. Theresults will be used to identi-fy needed changes in theplanning, design, and opera-tion practices of the trans-portation industry.

Dr. Sheng Li began teachinghydrotechnical courses in2002 and has taught CoastalEngineering, Turbulent FluidDynamics and NumericalMethods in ComputationalHydraulics.

After completing his undergraduate study ofoceanography in China, Liwent to Norway for graduatestudies. He attended themaster’s and doctoral pro-grams in the Department of Civil Engineering,Norwegian University ofScience and Technology(NTNU) in Trondheim, and there earned hisSivilingeniør and Dr.Ing.degrees.

At NTNU, Li performedresearch on 3D hydrodynam-ics modeling and shear flowinstability. He developedcomputational and data-assimilation techniques forapplications to density-strati-fied flow and turbulent mix-ing problems in estuarineand coastal waters, whichhave been used extensivelyas modeling tools in BC andSoutheast Asian countries.

He has worked as a pro-ject engineer with theOceanographic Company ofNorway in Trondheim, andas a consultant withSeaconsult Marine Researchin Vancouver. He was one ofthe principal participants toan oil spilling modeling andtraining project that won the

2000 Canada Award forInternational Co-operation –Transportation.Li’s research at UBC is concerned with modelingriver-flow and morphologychanges, and experimentaland numerical analyses of exchange flow. His workon the Fraser River sedimenttransport represents the first attempt at computing adistributed gravel budget for the gravel reach of theriver using a hydrodynamicmodel.

Li utilizes his profession-al, industrial and researchexperience in his teaching,offering students opportuni-ties to analyze in-situ dataand to work on problems ofpractical and local relevance.

PeopleMeet the faces of Civil Engineering at UBC

11

Mehdi Jalayer began hisstudies in civil engineeringat UBC in 1998. He partici-pated in the UBC Engine-ering Co-op program afterhis first year of studies andreceived the Top Student inCivil Engineering Award aftergraduating with distinctionin 2003.

Jalayer joined the gradu-ate program at UBC in 2003 and is currently work-ing with Professor Stiemeron risk analysis of fabrica-tion and construction ofsteel structures. He is also a recipient of a prestigiousNSERC IndustrialPartnership Scholarship inwith AMEC DynamicStructures, a leading steelengineering and fabricatingcompany in BC.

Jalayer started at AMEC dur-ing his final Co-op workterm and joined the compa-ny as an EIT after finishinghis undergraduate degree.He gained experience inconstruction engineering ofsteel structures while work-ing on AMEC’s unique pro-jects such as the award winning AMGEN HELIXPedestrian Bridge in Seattleand the Space Mountainrollercoaster at Disneyland.

In the framework of hismaster’s studies, Jalayer wasexposed to practical involve-ment with the HELIX BridgeProject including design offalsework systems, imple-menting geometry correc-tion of bridge arches, engi-neering lift operations anddirecting field crews for

adjusting bridge geometryduring construction. Jalayer’s work at SpaceMountain involved comput-ing the geometry correctiondata and generating surveycoordinates for approximate-ly 2500 feet of track. His roleat Disneyland was equivalentto a resident engineer look-ing after the positioning andalignment of the track andsupport structure.

Some of his experienceis shared online at:http://sigi.civil.ubc.ca/stiemer/beyond/titlepage.htm

Ernest Naesgaard is aSessional Lecturer and Ph.D.candidate in the Departmentof Civil Engineering at UBC.

Naesgaard attributes his career interest in geologi-cal engineering to ProfessorKucera’s Geology 150 lec-tures at UBC and summeradventures working for theGeological Survey of Canadain the Canadian arctic.

Naesgaard started hiscareer at Endako Mines onan open-pit slope-groundwa-ter study. He then joinedMacleod Geotechnical as itsfirst employee in 1976. Heremained there until 2000,at which time he was half-owner of the company with approximately thirtyemployees.

Naesgaard has designedthe foundations for numer-ous buildings, bridges, civilworks and water-edge struc-tures in British Columbiaand the Yukon.

Following completion of a masters degree at UBCin 1988, he developed a specialty in seismic design.Notable projects include: the seismic upgrade designof the Oak Street, LionsGate, Port Mann, Pitt Riverand Okanagan Bridges; theGeorge Massey Tunnel; andthe domestic terminal build-ing at the Vancouver airport.

Other career highlightsfor Naesgaard include win-ning the Vancouver Geo-technical Society annualaward and life membership,as well as a research grant

from BC Science Council to conduct full scale loadtests emulating the lateralbehaviour of piles during an earthquake. Together withDrs. John Clague of theGeological Survey of Canadaand Alex Sy of KlohnCrippen, Naesgaard discov-ered and documented extensive sand dyke featuresin the Fraser Delta – the firstgeological evidence of a pastmajor earthquake and soilliquefaction the delta.

In 2003 Naesgaardreturned to UBC to pursue a Ph.D., working underProfessor Peter Byrne. Hisresearch is focused on the numerical modeling andbehaviour of earthquakeinduced soil liquefaction.

civil@ubc is published by the

Department of Civil Engineering in

The Faculty of Applied Science at

The University of British Columbia.

Production Contributors:

Dr. Eric Hall,

Department Head

Ms. ErinRose Handy,

Communications Officer,

Dean’s Office

Ms. Sherry Green,

Communications Writer,

Dean’s Office

For further information about the

Department of Civil Engineering

and its programs, contact us at:

Department of Civil Engineering

CEME Building, Room 2010

6250 Applied Science Lane

Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Canada

Tel: 604.822.2637

www.civil.ubc.ca

Events & Achievements

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Professor Perry Adebar wasselected as the recipient of theAssociation of ProfessionalEngineers and Geoscientists ofBC’s 2004 MeritoriousAchievement Award for “hisgroundbreaking work develop-ing improved analytical modelsfor structural concrete.”

Professor Nemy Banthia wasfeatured in the May 2004 edi-tion of BC Business as one of“25 ‘newcomers’ who areputting B.C. on the map as acentre of creativity and innova-tion and boosting our reputa-tion on the world stage as a cityto reckon with.”

Banthia was also awarded the2004 Distinguished ResearcherAward jointly by the KoreanConcrete Institute and SeoulNational University. The citationreads: “... for his profound con-tributions to the field of con-crete under severe conditions...”

Professor Emeritus Peter Byrnereceived the Gzowski Medalfrom the CSCE for his paperentitled “Numerical model veri-fication and calibration ofGeorge Massey Tunnel usingcentrifuge models,” co-authoredwith Ph.D. student, ErnestNaesgaard and others.

Professor Jonathan Fannin, wasrecognized by the NorwegianGeotechnical Institute (NGI)when he was named the 16thTerzaghi Fellow. In announcingthe award, NGI indicated thatFannin is the only person tohave been awarded both thehighly competitive NTNF post-doctoral fellowship of the RoyalNorwegian Council for Scientificand Industrial Research (1986),and a Terzaghi Fellowship(2004).

Former-PCWM M.A.Sc. studentAlex Forrest was recognized bythe Canadian Association onWater Quality with the 2004Philip H. Jones Award for thebest oral presentation at theWestern Canadian Symposiumon Water Quality Research, heldin Whistler, May 2004.

Graduate student AurelieGoater was awarded the 2003CSCE HydrotechnicalEngineering Award for herM.A.Sc. thesis entitled‘Dispersion of Heavy Particlesin an Isolated Pancake-likeVortex’, completed under thesupervision of Professor GregLawrence.

Professor Terje Haukaas,received the 2004 CivilEngineering Graduate StudentSociety Faculty Award “For mak-ing a positive impact on thelearning experience in theDepartment of CivilEngineering.”

Professor Michael Isaacsonreceived the 2005 Julian C.Smith Medal from theEngineering Institute of Canadafor his achievement in thedevelopment of Canada.

Professor Jacqueline Jenkinswas the winner of an interna-tional contest sponsored by theGerman company IBEOAutomobile Sensor GmbH. Shewas awarded an LD ML laser-scanner for her entry on captur-ing naturalistic driver behaviour.

Professor Don Mavinic hasbeen elected a Fellow of theEngineering Institute of Canada.In recognition of his long-timeservice to engineering, Mavinicwas named as a CSCE/SCGCFellow by the Institute.

The Department of CivilEngineering is now the home ofthe first student chapter of theEarthquake EngineeringResearch Institute to be char-tered outside of the UnitedStates. Congratulations to Co-Presidents Chris Meisl andAndrew Seeton, with help fromProfessor Carlos Ventura, in see-ing the chapter established.

Professor Emeritus Bill Oldhamwas awarded the GordonMaskew Fair Medal forOutstanding Service inEngineering Education, by theU.S.-based Water EnvironmentFederation at its annual confer-ence on October 5, 2004 inNew Orleans, Louisiana.

Professor Helmut Prion washonored with the 2004 Medalfor Distinction in EngineeringEducation by the CanadianCouncil of ProfessionalEngineers. This award is intend-ed to “recognize an exemplarycontribution to the teaching andlearning of the engineering pro-fession at Canadian universi-ties.”

M.A.Sc student David Rochereceived the National CanadianWater Resources AssociationAward for Graduate Research inWater Resources, for his gradu-ate work completed under thesupervision of ProfessorBarbara Lence.

Professor Alan Russell receivedthe 2005 E. Whitman Awardfrom the Canadian Society forCivil Engineering for his out-standing contributions to thedevelopment of computer appli-cations in civil engineering.