Professor Hill and Evans recognized for excellence

Vancouver, Canada—October 17, 2008—The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. (APEGBC) recognizes two UBC Mechanical Engineering professors with awards in recognition of their excellence in professional, technical and community service at its annual awards ceremony tonight.

Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering Philip Hill receives APEGBC’s highest honour—the R.A. McLachlan Memorial Award—for his outstanding professional and community service. Award Citation

Professor of Mechanical Engineering Robert Evans receives the Editorial Board Award for his article "Can We Make Our Energy Future More Sustainable" published in the November/December 2007 issue of Innovation magazine. This award is given for the best article written by an APEGBC member and published in Innovation during the previous year. As former Director of UBC’s Clean Energy Research Centre and author of the 2007 book Fueling Our Future: An Introduction to Sustainable Energy, Evans has played an important role in the research and development of energy conversion systems, particularly those that will be used to reduce our overwhelming reliance on fossil fuels.

APEGBC will be posting video vignettes on its website on Dr. Hill in the next few days. We encourage you to check back at: http://www.apeg.bc.ca/services/awards/prezawards/pastwinners.html to view the 2008 President’s Award videos.




Award Citation: Dr. Philip Hill
As visionary as he is humble, Philip Hill is a remarkable individual whose pioneering work on the use of natural gas in diesel engines has inspired generations of engineers. Phil has been an influence in the engineering community for more than 40 years as a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, Queen’s and UBC; his exceptional leadership was recognized with the both the UBC Killam Teaching Award as well as the Walter H. Gage Award for Teaching Excellence. He has always strongly believed that his work should have a profound societal relevance, and began addressing our critical need for clean energy more than 20 years ago. His innovations in low-emission engine systems went beyond university research when they became the nucleus of Westport Innovations Inc., founded by David Demers in 1995. He went on to win several awards for his outstanding technical achievements, including the Province of British Columbia’s Minister’s Environmental Award. Phil has also been an invaluable presence in his community and has given much of his time to several faith-based organizations, including Regent College, a theological school association with UBC, and Langham Trust, a charitable society that provides financial support to third-world scholars. Phil is respected and admired not only as a visionary engineer, but also as an exceptional human being, and is an outstanding recipient of the 2008 R.A. McLachlan Memorial Award.