School of

ENGINEERING FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE

Vancouver

The University of British Columbia is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the 40 best universities in the world. UBC’s entrepreneurial perspective encourages students, staff, and faculty to challenge convention, lead discovery, and explore new ways of learning.

At UBC, bold thinking is given a place to develop into ideas that can change the world.

Kelowna

BOLD THINKING

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

TRANSFORMATIVE DIVERSECONNECTED

UBC’s Okanagan campus is a young and distinctive learning community earning international recognition for excellence in research and teaching. Our campus is a model for new ways of thinking about interdisciplinary and innovative programs.

We provide students with a university experience that is transformative, challenging, and competitive, and we are committed to scholarship that drives economic, social, and cultural change.

213 public events hosted

328 students worked on 37 community service learning projects

1,200+ students met with employers at UBC career events

2014 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

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OUR STUDENTS

UNDERGRADUATE

7,530 GRADUATE

682

OK ANAGAN CAMPUS 5

A PORTAL FOR GLOBAL ENGAGEMENTUBC’s Okanagan campus delivers enriched educational experiences abroad through research, study exchange, and learning connections around the globe.

International experience opportunities abound: 20 per cent of UBC Okanagan graduating students reported participating in an international learning experience in 2014-15.

UBC students have access to exchange placements with more than 200 partner institutions. With a vast network of partners and collaborators worldwide, the impact of our research and learning is transformative and far-reaching.

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10,000+ STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF FROM 80 COUNTRIES

OUR STUDENTS COME FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND ACROSS THE REGION

FROM BC

60%OTHER CANADIAN

23%INTERNATIONAL

17%

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A CENTRE OF RESEARCH INNOVATION

TRI COUNCIL & CFI COMBINED AMOUNTS

UBC OKANAGAN RESEARCH FUNDING

$4M

$5M

$6M

$7M

$8M

‘09–10 ‘10–11 ‘11-12 ‘12–13 ‘13–14

FUNDING

$18.5M PROJECTS FUNDED

633

A collaborative, entrepreneurial spirit underpins UBC Okanagan research and is advancing discoveries in fields of critical importance globally and locally.

The Survive and Thrive Applied Research (STAR) initiative exemplifies this spirit of innovation with cutting-edge projects, including control software for unmanned aerial vehicles. STAR brings to market technologies for human protection and performance in extreme, remote, or rural conditions.

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Faculty of Applied Science, School of Engineering

Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences

Faculty of Education

Faculty of Health and Social Development

Faculty of Management

Faculty of Medicine, Southern Medical Program

College of Graduate Studies

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PROGRAM OPTIONS

UNDERGRADUATE

63 GRADUATE

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14 RESEARCH CENTRES AND INSTITUTES

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The School of Engineering provides a close-knit and multidisciplinary environment for finding creative engineering solutions that positively impact the community and the world. Part of UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science, our School values industry experiences, team-based collaborations, and co-curricular and extracurricular activities.

Our undergraduates design from the start in project-based team learning. This common learning format affords high levels of student-professor interaction and collaborations, enhanced laboratory experiences, and opportunities for field trips.

SHAPING THE WORLD

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Focused on interdisciplinary learning and teamwork, a dedicated team of internationally renowned faculty guide inquiring minds through education and training in Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering—disciplines that shape the world.

CIVIL ENGINEERS analyze, design, construct, and maintain the communities and infrastructure we inhabit and rely on for safe, healthy, and sustainable living.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS are part of global solutions for energy conservation, power grids, communications networks, and intelligent products.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERS form a practical, hands-on way of creating and improving physical systems to meet the demands of modern industries, from aircraft and energy systems to biomedical, mechatronics, and manufacturing.

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 11

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIESThe path to a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) degree begins at the School of Engineering with a project-based foundational learning model—design from the start—in which students focus on integrated and multidisciplinary engineering courses.

Students acquire a broad understanding of engineering principles within Applied Sciences before selecting one of three Engineering programs: Civil, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering. Course content is amplified through lectures, hands-on laboratory work in cutting-edge facilities, team-based projects, and early design experience. Students are also immersed in active industry and community involvement.

The third-year program at the School of Engineering continues to integrate project-based learning in coursework and in-class team projects. In fourth year, the design-from-the-start approach at UBC Okanagan continues through to the Engineering Capstone Design Project—a collaboration with our industry partners.

An interdisciplinary Capstone Design Project is a major component of any engineering curriculum. It is the culmination of a course of study enabling students to: showcase the knowledge and the skills they have acquired during the previous three years; design a product or service of significance; and solve an open-ended engineering problem.

PROJECT LEARNING & INTERDISCIPLINARY THINKING

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GRADUATE STUDIES• PhD – Doctor of Philosophy

• MASc – Master of Applied Science

• MEng – Master of Engineering

• MREM – Master of Resource Engineering Management (first offered in 2017)

Working in a hands-on engineering environment, graduate students can pursue these and other research interests in applied science:CIVIL ENGINEERING: Construction Materials, Structural Design and Strengthening, Geohazards Assessment and Mitigation, Solid Waste Management, Applied Microbiology, Biological Treatment of Waste and Waste Water, Drinking Water Treatment and Distribution, Sustainable Transportation, Sustainable Urban Development, Life Cycle Management in ConstructionELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: Sensors, Photonics, Microfabrication, Power Electronics, Power Systems, Radio Frequency (RF) Systems, Digital Systems, Wireless Communications, Materials, ElectromagneticsMECHANICAL ENGINEERING: Thermofluids, Computational Mechanics, Dynamics and Vibrations, Mechatronics and Control, Materials, Biomechanics, Design and Optimization, MEMS/NEMS, Manufacturing, Biomedical Engineering

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 13

PARTNERSHIPS IN APPLIED SCIENCEOur faculty members are engaged in research to serve and benefit society, whether it’s developing a spray-on lens, making green concrete, or partnering with international researchers to deliver clean water. The School emphasizes the development of critical thinking skills by involving undergraduate students in research.

Through industrial partnerships and community outreach, we conduct interdisciplinary research with local, national, and international relevance. In the Okanagan Valley, for instance, we lead research into asset management of water supply systems, source water protection, and venture to create net-zero water communities in living labs such as the District of Peachland.

The School has partnered with BC Oil and Gas Commission and Mitacs to develop a Natural Gas Research Network. Main focus areas are resource use evaluation and optimization, and infrastructure monitoring and risk analysis in conventional gas industry. This research spans the lifecycle from well pad preparation through hydraulic fracturing, gas production, gas transmission, and well closure.

The School’s research extends to computing, communications, agriculture, forestry, mineral exploration, composite materials, biofuel development, and manufacturing. It includes waste-to-energy and environmental assessment, fuel-cell technology, 3-D technology, and helping communities make better decisions about how and when to replace compromised infrastructure such as pipes, roads, buildings and bridges.

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SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 15

WASTE TO ENERGYCivil engineering professor researches solutions to environmental pollutants

Born in Turkey, Cigdem Eskicioglu spent 10 years in Istanbul, one of the most beautiful historical-metropolitan cities in the world. But it’s a city that also has vast environmental concerns.

“My interest in environmental issues came from my own first-hand experiences with traffic jams and lack of clean water and air, which most of us here in Canada take for granted,” says Eskicioglu. She witnessed the consequences of migration, population growth, deforestation, slow development of public transportation, and industrial air and wastewater pollution from power plants and factories. Eskicioglu made it her mission to make a difference: “It takes very little effort to contaminate the environment, and a tremendous amount of time, effort, innovative technology, and resources to make it safe again.”

Her research focuses on biological waste treatment processes, in particular anaerobic digestion, that can utilize microorganisms to turn organic waste into renewable energy (methane) and organic fertilizer. Eskicioglu also works with emerging micropollutants, such as hormones and pharmaceuticals, and pesticides. Most conventional wastewater treatment plans are not able to efficiently remove these micropollutants, requiring an urgent need for advanced, specifically designed treatment processes. Partnering with local municipalities and utilities, Eskicioglu explores waste-to-energy options, waste minimization, and odour-reduction solutions.

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Cigdem Eskicioglu Associate Professor, Civil Engineering

ENGINEERING FACULTY 17

Abbas MilaniAssociate Professor, Mechanical Engineering

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MYSTERY IN MATERIALSEngineering researcher takes on challenges and opportunities with composite materials

Abbas Milani researches advanced composite materials due to their superior physical, thermal, and mechanical properties for performance-based design. Lightweight and flexible, they can be found in aerospace, sports equipment, boats, and home appliances.

Manufacturers still face uncertainty and risk in making new products with optimized structural performances. “There’s a challenge to process these materials so there are no defects,” says Milani. “Their processing can be scientifically complex; there are a lot of mysteries for researchers. Especially the variations of properties of these new materials are yet to be completely known—they can differ greatly between the beginning and final stages of processing.”

Given the novelty and cost-effectiveness of composite materials, several industries are starting to implement them in their manufacturing processes, with less focus on sustainability. This leads to another component of Milani’s research, which is concerned with the life-cycle of composites—from material, to manufacturing, to service, to disposal. “We are trying to see if we can help make some composites more recyclable or reusable,” says Milani, whose research explores the potential of thermoplastic natural-fibre composites that are more environmentally friendly.

Milani also leads the Okanagan Node of the pan-western Composites Research Network, as well as the Advanced Materials and Fabrication theme within UBC’s Survive and Thrive Applied Research (STAR).

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SHINING LIGHTKenneth Chau hopes to change the world using the science behind light

Kenneth Chau’s research is highly relevant to modern society, he says, because light—and more generally electromagnetic waves—form the basis of how we see the world, display information, and communicate over large distances.

Dr. Chau has several research projects on the go, including a portable microscope that may speed up medical diagnostics, and a prototype for a non-invasive wearable device that will monitor blood pressure in real time. He is also working with U.S. and German researchers to use nanotechnology to provide extreme light control, bending light backwards and touching on basic questions about the momentum of light—“Is it a wave or a billiard ball?”

“My research explores new tricks and techniques to manage the flow of light,” says Chau, whose parents were first-generation immigrants from Hong Kong who instilled in him a strong work ethic and a “thirst” for education. “Over the course of my career,” he says, “I will be pleased if I can make meaningful contributions to our understanding of light and abilities to use light.”

He’s already making contributions. Chau won the student-voted School of Engineering Award for Excellence in Teaching three years in a row, and continues to innovate with graduate students in his electromagnetics and optics lab exploring technologies that may start new companies and industries.

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Kenneth Chau Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering

ENGINEERING FACULTY 21

Gyan Chhipi Shrestha PhD student, Civil Engineering

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FLOWING FROM NEPALGyan Chhipi Shrestha researches urban water sustainability at a higher level

The Okanagan Valley is a long way from Nepal but Gyan Chhipi Shrestha followed his passion for urban water sustainability to UBC—“an Everest of higher learning,” he says. Growing up in Kathmandu he experienced a polluted, inadequate water supply, which galvanized him around the sustainable supply of clean water. Following his master’s degree in Environmental Science, specializing in water, Chhipi Shrestha taught the subject as an assistant professor at Tribhuvan University in the capital city.

“Water is my life,” he says. “Physically, water is flowing into my blood, and spiritually, water is flowing through me as well.” He says urban water sustainability is a core global need given that freshwater sources are shrinking from climate change, pollution, and over-extraction, while cities and populations are growing.

At UBC, Chhipi Shrestha is motivated by professors Kasun Hewage and Rehan Sadiq, experts in life-cycle sustainability analysis and water supply systems. Developing and then applying an analysis tool on the water-energy nexus to the water system in the District of Peachland, they’re devising a net-zero water community, which means a balance of incoming and outgoing water in quality and quantity.

“My knowledge, thinking horizon, and behaviour were changed by university studies,” Chhipi Shrestha says. “It made me optimistic about life.” It also taught him three key things needed for success: “Hard work, hard work, and hard work.”

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CLOSE CIRCUITEngineering student wants to make the world a better place, one robot at a time

As a Kelowna kid, Jessica Van Brummelen loved taking apart old remotes and calculators to figure out their inner workings. When she enrolled at her hometown School of Engineering, she was in for a nice surprise. “I never knew how much I would enjoy writing computer code, building robots, and researching sustainability or autonomous systems until I came here. For example,” she says, “there’s nothing like writing computer code, building a circuit, and watching my robotic creation move by itself. One day, I want to use the knowledge, passions, and skills that I’ve gained here to make the world a better place!”

But her calling didn’t appear overnight. Van Brummelen first had to understand that higher education wasn’t just about learning the curriculum: “It’s also about exploring, learning who you are, and finding your passions.”

In doing so—with supportive professors and student clubs along the way—she’s worked on an educational video game to help promote sustainability in BC; researched environmental engineering in Sweden through UBC’s study abroad program; helped demonstrate the wonders of physics and computer science as a teaching assistant; programmed a giant robotic arm to mimic human motions; and “made some pretty incredible friends through it all,” she says. “I feel I’ve really gained a passion to learn about how the world around me works, and to think creatively.”

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Jessica Van BrummelenBASc student, Mechanical Engineering

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THE RIGHT COMBINATIONXian Jin reflects on Rubik’s Cubes, light communications, and his mentor

Xian Jin invites us to imagine the light bulb of the future, which will use light with data to communicate with multiple devices simultaneously on different wavelengths. In the advent of Li-Fi (like Wi-Fi but using light), Jin is working on the ultrafast photodetector to receive and process photons. It requires a “special geometry” he sees in the inner workings of Rubik’s Cubes, which help him imagine algorithms. He’s an avid collector of the cube puzzles.

As a Chinese scholar new to Canada in 2007, a more formidable puzzle for Jin was presenting his work, especially in English. In his undergraduate days at the Nanjing University of Science & Technology, Jin’s presentations were limited to running the table tennis club in his native language. His skills rapidly changed at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Jin’s teaching mentor, Assoc. Prof. Jonathan Holzman, had a profound impact. “From the beginning, six years ago, Jonathan arranged weekly meetings with me to give presentations,” Jin says. “The most important thing I learned from him is, you have to care about the student—and to be available and accessible. I try to copy a lot of his actions.”

Under Holzman’s mentorship, Jin has taught Linear Circuit Theory, supervised undergraduate students, and helped establish two research labs—Integrated Optics Laboratory, and Applied Micro and Nanosystems Facility. Which adds up to a bright future in engineering.

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Xian JinPhD candidate, Electrical Engineering

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CLOSE-KNIT CAMPUSAt UBC’s Okanagan campus, students join a close-knit learning community where open dialogue reaches across disciplines and departments, cultivating bold new ways of thinking.

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CAMPUS CULTURE

STUDENT-FACULTY RATIO

20:1 UNDERGRADUATE CLASSES WITH

FEWER THAN 30 STUDENTS

46%

STUDENTS IN ABORIGINAL ACCESS STUDIES PROGRAM SINCE 2007

223

STUDENTS LIVING ON CAMPUS

1,676

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A PLACEFOR EVERYONE

From nature trails and coffee spots to comfortable student collegia, UBC’s Okanagan campus continues to add spaces that support well-being.The workout and studio space in the new Hangar Fitness Centre complement athletic courts, fitness stations, and the Nonis artificial turf sports field.Such vibrant environments in our UBC community are places to learn, work, and play.

ATHLETICS AND RECREATION

GYMNASIUM SQ.M.

1,561 VARSITY ATHLETICS

TEAMS

12STEPS TO NATURE TRAILS

100

30

LIBRARY

SEATS

674 STUDY ROOMS

14COMPUTER

WORKSTATIONS

114

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Joses AkampuriraBASc student, Civil Engineering

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HOME AWAY FROM HOMEJoses Akampurira finds a haven in the international campus community

Joses Akampurira came to UBC’s Okanagan campus and started on his career path due to his high-school guidance counselor back home in Kabale, Uganda. The small metropolis is situated—like the Okanagan—in a picturesque valley. Mrs. Emma Sempa, on a tour of Canadian universities, was “astonished” by the scenic similarities, and duly impressed. With a UBC International Student Award scholarship in hand, Akampurira was on his way to Kelowna.

Leaving Uganda for the first time was a scary proposition, he says, “but I was surprised by the hospitality here and how willing people were to assist me with anything, regardless of how silly it sounded.” He made the Dean’s Honour List with the help of the Math and Science Centre, Supplemental Learning, and his professors’ open-door policy—but adapting to Western food took time. UBC clubs such as the Global Engineering Community gave Akampurira an international fellowship and myriad volunteer opportunities. “Engineers exist to make people’s lives better,” he says.

International Programs and Services’ international student orientation, Jumpstart, gave him just that. The exposure to UBC’s global community helped him understand new cultures, beliefs, and values, enabling Akampurira “to visualize the world in a whole new dimension.”

GLOBAL COMMUNITY

ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS FOR

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

$1.1M

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UBC’s Okanagan campus is situated between Kelowna’s lively city centre and stunning mountains, lakes, and trails of the Okanagan Valley. Embark on a trail adventure, savour the freshest produce at farm-to-table restaurants, take part in the thriving arts scene, and enjoy year-round access to the great outdoors.

OASIS IN THE VALLEY

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SUMMER WARM AND DRY

25C

WINTER COOL AND CLEAR

-1C

2,000 hours of sunshine annually4 seasons of outdoor recreation: skiing, golfing, hiking, and water sports5 of Canada’s largest ski resorts within 3 hours135 km length of Okanagan Lake30 beaches, 200 freshwater lakes

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