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.