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.

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.

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. 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/

Parisa Bastani named Wesbrook Scholar

UBC Mechanical Engineering fourth year student Parisa Bastani was named one of this year's Wesbrook Scholars. Reserved for no more than twenty students in the University each year, the prestigious Wesbrook Scholar designation recognizes outstanding achievement.

Wesbrook Scholars must rank in the top 10 percent of their class, and possess the ability to serve, work with and lead others. In addition to be an outstanding academic student, Bastani is the Captain of the Formula UBC student team, which builds an open-wheeled race car for the Society of Automotive Engineers' annual collegiate competition. She is also Chair of the Engineering Student Team Council, and a member of many student committees. Her recent achievements include winning, with her collaborators, the Best Engineering Track Paper at the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) Global Annual Forum.

The Wesbrook Scholar awards are sponsored by the Wesbrook Society, an organization of the university's major benefactors.

UBC engineers recognized for innovative new pulp screen technology

The British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) has awarded two Mechanical Engineering faculty members and their collaborators the 2008 Lieutenant Governor’s Technology Innovation Award.

The team was comprised of:
- Carl Ollivier-Gooch, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
- James Olson, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
- Robert Gooding, Vice President of Technology, Advanced Fiber Technologies
- Mark Martinez, Associate Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering, UBC

From left: Keri Adams, CTV, presents the 2008 Lieutenant Governor’s Technology Innovation Award to Drs. Mark Martinez, Carl Ollivier-Gooch, James Olson, and Robert Gooding
(photographer: Jay Shaw).

"The Lieutenant Governor’s Technology Innovation Award recognizes new and highly innovative technologies that are based on applied research conducted in British Columbia," said Soren Harbel, VP Innovation Development, BCIC. “This team has demonstrated exemplary innovation with the new advanced pulp screen technology by taking an idea common in the field of aircraft design and applying it to the pulp and paper industry.”

The team’s advanced screen rotor technology is described in detail in the Award Citation.

“The highly innovated new pulp screen technology developed by this small group has had a substantial, nearly immediate, impact on the pulp and paper industry—one of Canada’s (and British Columbia’s) largest manufacturing and export industries,” says Dr. Elizabeth Croft, Professor and Associate Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC.

The team’s achievement is currently being featured on the Knowledge Network: video clip.

View the original BCIC press release and media kit.

About the British Columbia Innovation Council
British Columbia Innovation Council is the lead organization charged with advancing innovation and commercialization in British Columbia. It is focused on accelerating the growth of our science and technology communities and competitively positioning British Columbia in the global science and technology economy in order to provide significant employment opportunities and a high standard of living for British Columbians.

Mechanical Engineering professor recognized for industry collaboration

Pratt and Whitney Canada (P&WC) has recognized Mechanical Engineering professor Yusuf Altintas as one of six P&WC Research Fellows across Canada for his academic excellence and outstanding contribution to P&WC technology programs in the field of manufacturing.

(Image) From left: Walter Di Bartolomeo, Yusuf Altintas and Hany Moustapha, senior manager of Pratt & Whitney Canada Technology Programs
(photographer: Jean-Claude Belanger).

"Dr. Altintas is playing a vital role in advancing the position of Canada's aerospace industry through his valuable work in developing new technologies in high-speed manufacturing," said Walter Di Bartolomeo, vice president, Engineering at P&WC. "We are proud to recognize his contributions and look forward to continue working with him in breaking new ground in aerospace technologies.”

The award was presented to Altintas during a special ceremony at the Annual General Meeting of the Aerospace Industry Association of Canada in Ottawa on September 17, 2008. View the original PW&C media release.

Earlier in the month, Altintas was also honoured when PW&C chose to renew his NSERC/Pratt & Whitney Chair in Virtual High-performance Machining for an additional five years. In addition UBC Mechanical Engineering associate professor Steve Feng was appointed Associate Chair. Learn more about this industrial research chair.

About Pratt & Whitney Canada
Based in Longueuil, Quebec, PW&C is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines powering business, general aviation and regional aircraft, and helicopters. The company also offers auxiliary power units and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., USA, is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

UBC engineers receive ALSBC Awards of Excellence

UBC Mechanical Engineering’s Brace Team—students Paul Hahto, Angela Melnyk, Liz Arnott, Isaac Herscovitch and instructor Mike Van der Loos—has won the inaugural ALS Society of British Columbia’s Excellence in Engineering Design Competition for Flexi-Brace, a dynamic neck brace.

UBC's Flexi-Brace team pictured with ALSBC representatives.
Back row: Mike Van der Loos, Angela Melnyk, Isaac Herscovitch
Middle row: Dr Andrew Eisen, Richard Tang, Caroline Chen, Mickey Pun, Jeramy Wu, Elizabeth Arnott, Wendy Magee
Front row: Dr. Jim McEwen, Les Hart, Paul Hahto

Flexi-Brace, developed within a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering capstone design course, gives those suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS—aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease) increased mobility and freedom. The team also addressed issues of aesthetic appeal and comfort in its award-winning design.

The ALS Society of BC gave the team first-place and $5,000 for winning its first design competition, which seeks innovations to improve the quality of life of people living with ALS. A neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor neurons that carry messages from the brain to muscles, ALS results in weakness, atrophy and immobilization; upon initial diagnosis, typical life-expectancy is two to five years.

The Flexi-Brace team also placed second in the 2008 Canadian Design Engineering Network student design competition, which endeavors to enhance the capacity for design and innovation in Canada.

The ALS Society of BC was founded by ALS patients, their family members and health care professionals to meet the physical and emotional needs of people with ALS and their caregivers. To learn more about ALS BC, visit: http://www.alsbc.ca/

Collaboration wins International Recycling Conference Best Paper Award

Congratulations to James Olson, Sean Delfel, Carl Ollivier-Gooch and their collaborators for winning the Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) 2008 Wayne Carr Memorial Award for Best Paper, for their paper “High performance Foil Rotor Improves De-Ink Pulp Screening”, that was presented at the International Recycling Conference, Niagara, 9-pages, Sept. 2007.

The award is presented by the recycling committee of TAPPI for the best paper given in the past year in the area of fibre recycling. The paper deals with a mill trial of new pulp screening technology, a Multi-Element Foil rotor, that demonstrated a 50% energy reduction over state-of-the-art technology and an increase is debris removal efficiency. The trial was conducted at Catalyst Paper Recycling Division in Coquitlam and the new technology is patented by UBC and licensed to AFT.