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.