Technical Award presented to Dr. Clarence De Silva

Dr. Clarence De Silva from the Mechanical Engineering Department along with a list of fellow contributors recently won the Technical Award for their paper, “Distributed DSP for Fault Monitoring and Control” with the associated paper: De Silva, C.W., Tan, K.K., Huang, S., Lee, T.H., and Wu, R., Proceedings of the Digital Signal Processing Creative Design Contest, Tinan, Taiwan, pp. 59-65, November 2009.

The contest was held on November 19th in Tinan, Taiwan. This Project is carried out in collaboration with Professor K.K. Tan and his laboratory in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), National University of Singapore (NUS). Wu is an undergraduate student at NUS under joint supervision of Tan and de Silva. Tan and Lee are professors, and Huang is a post-doctoral fellow at NUS. The design contest was sponsored by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan.

Congratulations to Dr. Clarence De Silva and to all the other contributors!

Dr. Carl Ollivier-Gooch receives the Shahyer Pirzadeh Memorial Award

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is pleased to announce that Dr. Carl Ollivier-Goochs technical paper "Assessing Validity of Mesh Refinement Sequences with Application to DPW-III Meshes" which was presented at the 2009 AIAA Aerospace Sciences meeting, AIAA 2009-1174, "has been selected by the AIAA Meshing Visualization and Computational Environments (MVCE) Technical Committee to receive the Shahyer Pirzadeh Memorial Award for Outstanding Paper in Meshing Visualization and Computational Environments.

AIAA proudly presents Certificates of Merit to recognize such technical and scientific excellence.

Congratulations on this well deserved honor!

International Research Mobility Award presented to Ario Madani

The International Research Mobility Award was established to support the development of highly meritorious international research partnerships and exchanges with research-intensive institutions outside North America. Since the program began in April 2009, 26 PhD students have received the award (21 outbound UBC students, 5 incoming).

This year’s recipients include Ario Madani from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Ario Madanis host institution will be VTT Technical Research Institution of Finland.

Congratulations.

Professor Hongshen Ma receives $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations Grant for Innovative Global Health Research

Professor Hongshen Ma, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has received a $100,000 (USD) grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant is part of the Grand Challenges Explorations program to support research in Global Health. Professor Ma’s grant will support his work in the development of a low-cost device to detect malaria infection in low-resource regions.

Professor Ma’s approach is to apply microfluidics technologies to create a low-cost and portable diagnostic tool to detect infection levels from a finger-prick blood sample. This device could eventually be used to direct treatment until clearance of the disease and to evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs and potential vaccines.

To view more information on Professor Ma's research and work you may view his webpage here.

Mechanical Engineering Alumnus Brent King wins the Manning Innovation Award for inventing the SPIDER

Mechanical Engineering alumnus Brent King (B.A.Sc. ’96) has won the $10,000 Manning Innovation Award for inventing the SPIDER, a device that accurately and securely positions a patient's limb during surgery.



The SPIDER Limb Positioner is used for specialized procedures such as rotator cuff repairs or wrist arthroscopy. Not only does the SPIDER improve the surgeon’s ability to do delicate work, it reduces costs in the operating room. The surgeon can reposition the limb in seconds simply by stepping on a foot pedal. Staff who would otherwise need to hold the limb during the surgery are free to perform other tasks.



Brent King is Co-Owner and Vice President of Operations of TENET Medical Engineering, Inc. and conceptualized and developed the SPIDER after joining TENET’s staff of two in 1997.



Further information on Brent King and the SPIDER is located here.



The Department of Mechanical Engineering congratulates Brent on such a prestigious accomplishment.

David Goosen, Dr. James Olson and Dick Kerekes are awarded the Van den Akker prize.

Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering student David Goosen, Dr. James Olson and fellow collaborator Dick Kerekes were awarded the Van den Akker prize for advancements in Paper Physics at the Fundamental Research Symposium in Oxford UK. The contribution was for their paper entitled:

Goosen D.R., Olson J.A. and Kerekes R.J. “Role of heterogeneity in compression refining” J. Pulp Paper Sci., 33(2):110-114, 2007

The Johannes A. Van den Akker Prize for Advances in Paper Physics was created by the Institute of Paper Science and Technology at Georgia Tech, and was made possible through the generous donations of the family, friends, and students of Dr. Van den Akker, a former senior research associate and Chairman of the Department of Physics and Mathematics at the Institute of Paper Chemistry (IPC). Dr. Van den Akker was known for his brilliant mind, demand for excellence, and leadership in the field of paper physics for over 40 years.

James Saunders and Malcolm Shields win the Alternative Energy X Competition

In June the UBC Sustainability Office launched a competition for plans to reduce UBC’s carbon footprint- the Alternative Energy X Competition.

James Saunders and Malcolm Shields submitted the following entry which has come joint top from over seventy original submissions.

Congrats to both James Saunders and Malcolm Shields on this accomplishment.

Professor Emerita Martha Salcudean receives Honorary Doctor of Engineering from the University of Waterloo

Professor Emerita Martha Salcudean receives Honorary Doctor of Engineering from the University of Waterloo at June Convocation

On June 13, 2009, UBC Mechanical Engineering Professor Emerita Martha Salcudean received a doctor of engineering degree and addressed convocation at the University of Waterloo. Salcudean is the Weyerhaeuser Industrial Research Chair Emerita in Computational Fluid Dynamics. A member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, she has published widely in the area of heat transfer and fluid flow, especially in computational fluid mechanics and the modelling of transport phenomena in industrial processes.

Dr. Croft receives the Engineers Canada Fellowship

The Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC with Engineers Canada has recognized Dr. Croft's noteworthy achievement and service to the engineering profession and has bestowed upon her the Engineers Canada Fellowship.

Dr. Croft's current research can be viewed at the Mech Faculty page and her own website.

Congratulations to Dr. Croft for being selected for such a prestigious designation and for all her contributions to the Canadian Engineering profession.

EcoDrain, founded by alumnus David Velan, is a finalist for the INDEX:AWARD 2009

Alumnus David Velan, BASc '02, has taken his mechanical engineering knowledge and love of the environment to found EcoDrain, a finalist for the INDEX:AWARD 2009. EcoDrain is a technology company working to recapture heat from shower water. The device is a specialized heat exchanger that transfers heat from hot shower water waste to cold incoming water.

The INDEX:AWARD bills itself as the biggest design award in the world, with 500,000 euros in prize money. Devices are entered into five categories: body, home, work, play and community. As a finalist, EcoDrain is eligible to win the people's choice award. Vote at www.indexaward.dk

For more information on EcoDrain, visit www.ecodrain.com.

Proof of Principle funding (CIHR) awarded to Dr. Peter Cripton

Dr. Peter Cripton a Professor from the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been funded from the CIHR Proof of Principle program (phase 1) for one of the many projects that the Department has running currently. The funding, 150k for one year, will fund a research engineer, biologic specimens and commercialization costs for a helmet project.

The University of British Columbia has received more than $26 million in research funding from the latest competition held by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
Earlier this month, CIHR approved 403 projects across Canada through its Operating Grant program, a total investment of $255.6 million over five years. Forty-three projects led by principal investigators from UBC and its affiliated hospital and health authority partners received funding.

“UBC and its partners have consistently received approximately 10 per cent of CIHR funding, ranking amongst the top three in total funding in Canada,” says Don Brooks, UBC Associate Vice-President Research. “Our continued success in this merit-based funding competition speaks directly to our research excellence in areas such as genomics, brain research and the fight against cancer and HIV/AIDS.”

The majority of UBC’s health researchers, who received more than $60 million in total CIHR funding in 2007/08 through its various programs, work at clinical academic campuses that include Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, the Child and Family Research Institute, Providence Health Care Research Institute, and BC Cancer Agency.
“This research investment continues our funding of the best ideas and the brightest minds at UBC,” said Dr. Pierre Chartrand, Vice-President, Research, at CIHR. “We are confident that the projects we are supporting will advance knowledge in many important areas, and provide a stimulating environment for young Canadians training for careers in health research.”
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada’s agency for health research. CIHR’s mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health-care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 13,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/

UBC Engineers place third in ASHRAE Competition

UBC’s ASHRAE Design Team— Ara Beittoei, Brent Kavelaars, Chu Lin, Jensen Metchie, and Tapio Pikkarainen —placed third in the 2009 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Student Design Project Competition.

The UBC team competed against 14 others in the HVAC System Design category and tied with University of Central Florida as the third-place winner.

The prize includes a trip for one team representative to attend ASHRAE's January 2010 meeting in Orlando, Florida where the award will be presented.

The team is affiliated with the Mechanical Engineering Design Project (MECH 457) course, where students work on a variety of design projects including HVAC design.

The project was supervised by Department of Mechanical Engineering Instructor Nima Atabaki, Ph.D., P.Eng., and Omicron’s Geoff McDonell, P.Eng., served as industrial mentor to the team.

UBC Heavy Lift team takes third in SAE Aero Design West Regular Class

The UBC Heavy Lift team placed third overall (Regular Class) in the recent SAE Aero Design West international competition, held March 6-8th in Los Angeles, California. The team also took second in the oral presentation.

The team's 8lb plane successfully completed the empty weight bonus flight and scored a flight lifting 20.3lbs before crashing spectacularly in an overzealous attempt at lifting 24.1lbs.

This year, the Society for Automotive Engineers' Aero Design West competition saw 54 teams (31 in the Regular Class) competing from across North America and abroad – including teams from Puerto Rico, India, and Poland.

The UBC Heavy Lift Team designs, fabricates and fly’s a remote controlled aircraft capable of lifting the heaviest payload possible while conforming to various competition restrictions. This coming year we are focusing on better project management and more engagement of new members. Participants from all branches of engineering will get a chance to try any and all of the necessary skills to complete a successful project, as well as experience the thrill of seeing it actually work.

The Heavy Lift Team website is undergoing renovations over the summer, but for more information on the team please send an email to ubchl@yahoo.ca. More details of the competition and its results can be found at http://students.sae.org/competitions/aerodesign/.



Team Members at the 2009 Competition:
Julian Fong – 2nd Year Eng Phys
Chu Lin – 4th Year Mech Eng
Ronald Chan – 3rd Year Mech Eng
Jason Currie – 4th Year Mech Eng

Pilot:
Gord Giles – UBC Alumni

Other Main Team Members:
Robert Lion – 2nd Year Mech Eng
Alan Hsu – Graduate Student, Mech Eng
Thomas Chang – 4th Year Eng Phys
Jake Sternig – 1st Year Eng
Jason Gao – 1st Year Eng

Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Pete Ostafichuk

The UBC Heavy Lift Team thanks all of the students who came out to participate and help the team, and their sponsors: UBC Mechanical Engineering, the UBC Engineering Professional Activities Fund, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, and the Walter H. Gage Memorial Fund.

Outstanding New Graduates Recognized

Many outstanding new graduates were recognized on May 26, 2009, at a reception following the graduation ceremonies. Alumnus Jay Drew congratulated the new class, and welcomed them to the alumni community.

Major award winners included:
Letson Prizes, for top graduates from the General, Mechatronics and Thermofluids Options: Christopher Bibby (General), Troy Adebar (Mechatronics) and Tu Minh Nguyen (Thermofluids).
Mechanical Engineering Prize in Biomedical Engineering, for the top Biomedical Option graduate: Jeff Kennelly.
Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering Gold Medal, for outstanding academic achievement: Thomas Huryn.
APEG Achivement Award, for a graduate who shows great promise: Pierre Couturier.
Outstanding Future Alumnus, Wesbrook Scholar, and other honours: Parisa Bastani.
Mechanical Engineering Outstanding Student Leader Award: Lana Rupp

Recipients of a Degree with Distinction include:

Degree with Distinction recipients with faculty and staff representatives.

Troy Adebar, Dion Anggabrata, Parisa Bastani, Alan Beran, Christopher Bibby, Jeanie Chan, Arminta Chicka, Nicholas Comyn, Pierre Couturier, Paul Dirksen, Sean Fabris, Sandy Godwin, Thomas Huryn, Keigo Karakama, Jeff Kennelly, Bradley Neels, Tu Minh Nguyen, Chukwuemeka Nzekwu, Hedyeh Rafii-Tari, David Richard, Adnan Siddiqui, Daniel Tsang, Andrew Walsh, and Christopher Wong.

Recipients of the Mechanical Engineering Student Leadership Award include:

Student Leadership Award winners with faculty and staff representatives.

Parisa Bastani, Arminta Chicka, Nicholas Comyn, Eric Kaarsemaker, Chu Lin, Katy Lue, Lachlan MacLean, Morgan Meents, Tu Minh Nguyen, Jad Saab, Michelle Salvail, Daryl Schubert, Richard Situ, Ian Tranter, Kristy Wiens, and Wojciech Ziemnicki.

Recipients of the Capstone Design Awards for outstanding accomplishments in Engineering Design:

Capstone Design Award winners with faculty representatives.

Capstone Design Award in Mechanical Engineering, for the project "Design of a Resonant Drum Compactor:" Ameer Balouch, Michael Parras, Dane Reelie, Salim Semsarilar.
Capstone Design Award in Mechatronics Engineering, for the project "Three-Dimensional Haptic Emulation of Hard Surfaces with Applications to Orthopaedic Surgery:" Sean Fabris, Arya Oskui, Anthony Pak, Bradley Roger, Sina Sajadian-Mousavi, Adnan Siddiqui.

Dr. Elizabeth Croft a Nominee for the YWCA Women of Distinction

Dr. Elizabeth Croft, Professor and Associate Head in Mechanical Engineering, has been accepted as a Nominee for the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards, in the category of Technology, Science & Industry.

From the YWCA Website:
"A dedicated engineer, scholar, teacher and mentor, Elizabeth is passionately devoted to supporting and promoting the participation of women in engineering. As an expert in robotics and industrial automation, her work enables robots to work productively and safely in human environments – from factories to hospitals to homes. As a teacher, she has developed visionary and award-winning educational programs, as well as extra-curricular programs to support her students’ development outside the classroom. An energetic motivational speaker, she also encourages young girls to consider engineering as a career."

Dr. Croft is one of six accepted Nominees in her area. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at an Awards Reception and Dinner at the Westin Bayshore.

"Motorized Neck Brace System" project by MECH students wins "Award of Distinction"

Building on last year's award-winning "Dynamic Neck Brace" project in MECH 457 (2007-2008), the ALS Society of British Columbia increased its support for neck brace design projects this past academic year (2008-2009), as well as for other projects at UBC, SFU, UVic and BCIT that promote the well-being of persons with ALS. A total of 12 student projects were submitted this April for consideration of the Design Award, 4 from UBC.

The "Principal Award" ($5,000), went to Samuel Chua of UBC's EECE Dept.
for the "Automated Speech Recognition and Intelligibility Enhancement System for PALS with BiPAP Assisted Breathing" project.

The "Award of Distinction"($2,500) went to the "Motorized ALS Neck Brace" project, an interdisciplinary collaboration between supervisor Dr. Van der Loos and students Eric Wen, Brad Neels, Anmy Ho, Sassan Nawabi Shirazi, Varun Rana Singh, Jay Liu, and Jayson Rupert, from UBC's MECH 451/2 mechatronics capstone design class and in the Industrial Design program of Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

The "Motorized ALS Neck Brace" project is recommended for its group’s achievement in support and mobility of the head, incorporating motorized assistance. The UBC Mechanical Engineering Team collaborated with an Emily Carr student on this impressively designed project, which the PALS Panel members actually trialed on themselves.

Parisa Bastani receives the Outstanding Future Alumnus Award

Mechanical Engineering student Parisa Bastani receives the Outstanding Future Alumnus Award.

This award recognizes a UBC student who has demonstrated ambassador-like qualities on behalf of UBC and who has excelled in one or a number of the following: leadership, academic success, community service, university service, athletic or artistic achievement, faculty recognition or other areas worthy of recognition.

Congratulations Parisa on such a great achievement!

Professor Thomas Oxland has been made an American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) Fellow

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is pleased to announce that Professor Thomas Oxland has been made an American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) Fellow. The Fellow Grade recognizes significant engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession.

Professor Oxland's principal areas of research and development contribution include the biomechanical aspects of the spine, spinal injury, orthopaedic implants and surgical techniques. The scope of the work includes bioengineering research studies and medical product development.

Specifically, he and his colleagues have characterized various aspects of the normal, diseased, and injured human spine and documented novel surgical approaches to treating these potentially devastating conditions. Overall, his 120 journal publications have been cited over 2,200 times (Web of Science). Furthermore, he was the main research and development engineer for novel spinal implants that remain in clinical use today, more than ten years after the initial surgeries.

Emily McWalter and Malcolm Shield receive the 2009 Graduate Teaching Assistant Teaching Award

The UBC Department of Mechanical Engineering is pleased to announce that Emily McWalter and Malcolm Shield have been selected as recipients of the 2009 Graduate Teaching Assistant Teaching Award. These prestigious awards are given annually in recognition of the valuable role that Teaching Assistants play in UBC undergraduate programs. The award includes both a certificate and a $1,000 prize.

Criteria for the award include the ability to help students actively learn new knowledge, skills and perspectives, the action as a role model, demonstrating high standards, good listening skills and ethical behaviour, and making the university a more humane place. Both Emily and Malcolm have excelled in all these criteria, and are worthy recipients of the 2009 Graduate Teaching Assistant Teaching Award. Congratulations to Emily and Malcolm.

Troy Adebar, Engineering Co-op Student of the Year

Congratulations to Mechanical Engineering student Troy Adebar, Engineering Co-op Student of the Year!

Troy has been an active member of the UBC Mechanical Engineering Department where he completed his first two of five terms. His third term was with Kraft Canada and his final two terms were in biomedical research with Evasc Medical Systems. Troys Co-op employers commended and venerated his hard work and dedication to the Co-op program.

Alan Steeves to receive the 2009 President's Service Award for Excellence

Alan Owen Steeves, Computer and Electronics Manager, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering is one of five members of the university community to receive the 2009 President's Service Award for Excellence in recognition of his outstanding contributions to campus life and for personal achievements.

Alan has provided nearly 30 years of dedicated IT support to the department from the first department's PDP11 to facilitating the donation of the 2003 Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) in-kind contribution to our department, providing computer software and hardware to the department with a commercial value of approximately $240 million. The in-kind contribution, which consisted of computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering software, hardware and training, is the largest in UBC's history. Since then Alan has attracted several more high value PACE donations and in 2008 received the Distinguished PACE Integrator Award for promoting global collaboration among PACE institutions.

Alan is also a founding member of Trout Unlimited British Columbia and is part of the group that helped to resolve the impasse regarding the Pacific Salmon Treaty Commission in 1999. A recognized first nations artist, Alan has donated his works to a number of charitable causes and one of his pieces was presented to the outgoing APSC Dean, Michael Isaacson by our department.

A true, kind, soft spoken gentleman, Alan has always provided our department with the best in IT services with a friendly and helpful manner.

Dr. Clarence de Silva awarded NSERC Canada Research Chair in Mechatronics and Industrial Automation

UBC Mechanical Engineering Professor Clarence de Silva has been appointed a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Mechatronics and Industrial Automation. This seven-year, federally funded research position - valued at $1.4 million - is designed to build Canada's research capacity.

An expert in machine health monitoring, the prediction, detection and diagnosis of malfunctions in engineering systems and machines, de Silva is working to develop a unified framework for industrial systems and machinery that will integrate health monitoring with intelligent supervisory control.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) through its Leaders Opportunity Fund also provides funding for infrastructure associated with a Canada Research Chair.De Silva has received an additional $121,413 from CFI towards a fully networked and integrated laboratory for research and industrial applications in machine health monitoring, intelligent supervisory control and automated design evolution.

Robyn Newell receives a grant from the International Society of Biomechanics

Robyn Newell, a PhD candidate with Dr. Peter Cripton, has been awarded a travel grant to travel and collaborate with a group in Switzerland.

The grant was awarded by the International Society of Biomechanics and will allow Robyn to do a 30 day collaboration with researchers at the ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research at the University of Bern in Switzerland. The purpose of the trip to Bern is to learn and develop a new research method for describing three-dimensional spinal kinematics using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluoroscopy. This technique combines dynamic 2D images from a single fluoroscope image and subject-specific high resolution, static, 3D data sets from magnetic resonance scans to achieve highly accurate and precise 3D kinematics. The proposed work will be part of her thesis project entitled “Kinematics and muscle activation of the cervical spine during vehicle rollover accidents”.

Susana Zoghbi selected to attend the Young HRI Pioneers Workshop

Susana Zoghbi, a Ph.D. student in the CARIS lab has recently been selected as one of the nine out of twenty-eight students to attend the 2009 Young HRI Pioneers Workshop immediately preceeding the IEEE Human Robot Interaction Conference in San Diego California, on March 10, 2009. This award includes travel and accommodation funds to attend the workshop where Susana can make a presentation on her research.

Guan-Lu Zhang Receives Mitacs Accelerate Canada Industrial Internship

Through a highly competitive process, MITACS ACCELERATE CANADA program has provided $15,000 for our graduate student Guan-Lu Zhang to undertake an applied research project at Dynacon, Inc.—a company headed by Dr. Reda Fayek, based in Mississauga, ON. Guan-Lu’s research internship will be under the supervision and guidance of his M.A.Sc. supervisor and Mechanical Engineering Professor Clarence de Silva. It will extend his Master’s research of robotics and control for object handling and manipulation into a specific industrial application. Guan-Lu will receive $10,000 as the stipend for the 4-month internship. The remaining $5,000 will be used by Dr. de Silva to support the research related to the internship. In addition, the Program has provided up to $3,500 for travel expenses of Guan-Lu.

UBC Mechanical Engineer Associate Professor Dr. Mu Chiao receives money for his MEMS and microfluidic research

As well, UBC Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Mu Chiao—CRC in MEMS and Nanotechnology for Biomedial Devices—has received $28,025 from CFI for a flip-chip bonder for his MEMS and microfluidic research.

The Faculty of Applied Science at UBC currently holds 16 Canada Research Chairs, as well as a large number of industrial research chairs.

View the original CRC announcement.

Daniel Gelbart, Adjunct Professor, to receive honourary doctorate

Daniel Gelbart, Adjunct Professor in Mechanical Engineering, has been chosen to receive the honourary degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, at the May 2009 convocation.

Dan Gelbart is a gifted inventor and entrepreneur with a remarkably fertile and prolific mind. He has over 100 patents to his name. Many of his main achievements have been made through his company, Creo Products, Inc., which he co-founded with Dr. Ken Spencer in 1984. He developed revolutionary printing and imaging technology that set his company entirely apart from the prevailing techniques. Dan was also remarkably perceptive and innovative in his personnel policies, with Creo gaining numerous “best employer” awards both provincially and nationally. Through both his technical excellence and entrepreneurial skills, Dan grew the company to over 4000 employees by the time of its purchase by Kodak in 2005 for $1 billion.

Dan Gelbart has now taken on entirely new challenges in the medical field, and is the Technology Advisor for Kardium Inc., a developer of medical devices to address cardiovascular disease. His energy and inventive imagination are unabated, and we can expect that the same personal forces that caused Creo to grow to be the largest high-technology company in BC, will cause Kardium to grow and become a major player on the world stage.

Dan has made many major contributions to Mechanical Engineering and to several other UBC departments. In Mechanical Engineering, he is an active member of the departmental Industrial Advisory Committee. For several years he has lectured on technical design to the second year undergraduate students. This year, he is teaching a graduate course about industrial sensors and actuators, for which he is freely giving his time and personally providing all needed equipment and material resources.

The Mechanical Engineering Department is proud to be associated with Mr Dan Gelbart, and warmly congratulates him on being chosen to receive an honourary doctorate at UBC. Mr Gelbart will be granted the degree, Doctor of Science, honoris causa, at the convocation to be held at the Chan Centre at 1:30pm on Tuesday 26 May, 2009.

Dr. Peter Cripton among UBC’s research stars

Vancouver, Canada — February 3, 2009 - Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Peter Cripton has been awarded a UBC Killam Faculty Research Fellowship in recognition and support of his research goals.

Cripton directs the UBC Injury Biomechanics Laboratory, working towards preventing traumatic injuries and consequences through improved, engineered safety devises, such as the Pro-Neck-Tor helmet, which was recently recognized as the Best of What's New by Popular Science magazine. The Killam funding will further Cripton’s investigations into novel devices to prevent severe neck factures and spinal cord injuries to children in severe frontal motor vehicle collusions, through such devices as advanced restraints or child-specific air bags.

UBC awarded ten UBC Killam Faculty Research Fellowships to assist promising faculty members — exhibiting a special distinction of intellect — who wish to devote full time to research and study in their field during a recognized study leave.

Honourees, including Cripton, will be profiled at the Celebrate Research Gala on March 12.

The Killam awards are given annually from the Killam Endowment Fund to faculty nominated by students, colleagues and alumni in recognition of excellence in research.

[Sherry Green, Faculty of Applied Science]

Dr. Nimal Rajapakse inducted Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada

Vancouver, Canada—January 27, 2009—The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) will honour a UBC Mechanical Engineering professor for his excellence in professional service at its annual awards gala in Ottawa on March 7, 2009.

Professor Nimal Rajapakse will be inducted a Fellow of the institute for his exceptional contributions to engineering in Canada. His contributions have been in the areas of computational mechanics, smart materials and solid mechanics, including improving the safety and stability of Canada’s underground storage of nuclear waste and controlling the vibrations of Manitoba’s transmission towers. Rajapakse is a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and currently the Director of UBC’s interdisciplinary Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems.

In all, 20 fellows will be recognized—less than .01% of the membership.

About the EIC
Established in 1887, the EIC is Canada's federation of engineering societies committed to engineering for a prosperous, safe and renewable Canada. The 12 member societies in the federation include: IEEE Canada, Canadian Nuclear Society, Canadian Dam Association, Canadian Geotechnical Society, Canadian Society for Bioengineering, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Canadian Society for Senior Engineers, Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Canadian Society for Engineering Management, Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society, and Canadian Maritime Section of the Marine Technology Society.

For more information: http://www.eic-ici.ca/

Mech Department welcomes new Professor, Dr. Hongshen (Hong) Ma.

Mechanical Engineering is pleased to welcome Dr. Hongshen (Hong) Ma to the Department. Dr. Ma earned his B.A.Sc. in Engineering Physics (Electrical Engineering Option) from UBC in 2001, where he was a Wesbrook Scholar. With financial support from NSERC Graduate Fellowships, Dr. Ma conducted graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his M.Sc. from the Media Laboratory. He completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Electrical Engineering at MIT in 2007, working under the supervision of a Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Following completion of his Ph.D., Dr. Ma was a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT, where he was an award-winning instructor and an active biomedical device researcher.

Dr. Ma has already begun collaborating at UBC with faculty in Urologic Sciences, and has research interests in MEMS, sensors, and nano-scale phenomena. Dr. Ma’s unique background in both Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering makes him eminently qualified to be a Mechatronics specialist in the Department. The Department of Mechanical Engineering is extremely pleased to have been able to recruit a scholar of Dr. Ma’s quality and breadth.