FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE | ISSUE 37 | WINTER 2018
COMMUNITY & REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE & LANDSCAPE WHATENGINEERING NURSING PLANNINGWILLARCHITECTURE BRING?TOMORROW CONTENTS
20 FEATURES
18 The Modern Treaty Process in BC What’s actually going on at negotiation tables? Who’s involved? And what happens next? 20 HATCH: A Next Step in the Entrepreneurial Journey HATCH gives entrepreneurs the realistic, comprehensive support they 10 14 18 need to address the world’s challenges and launch their ventures
NEWS ISSUE 37 23 Donor + Recognition 4 24 Flexible Sensor: Engineering Deconstruction 4 Bits and Bites A new, inexpensive sensor that you 6 New Faculty can fold into the size of a phone and Q&A with new Applied Science put away in your pocket faculty members 26 The Next 100 Years of 10 Dawn of the Learning Factory Applied Science Integrating advanced manufacturing Applied Science faculty and students with basic and applied research at predict the future of their disciplines UBC Okanagan — in and outside the classroom 11 UBC and KalTire 30 So Close, Yet So Far Research Partnership How the Cascadia Innovation Corridor Developing technology and innovative will strengthen technological collabo- 24 30 solutions for the mining tire industry ration between Vancouver and Seattle 12 FIRCOM: A Vast 32 Clear Image, Dark Well Sanctuary in Nature DarkVision Technologies turns entre- Students plan and construct functional preneurial light on the oil sector while structures on Gambier Island providing valuable work experience to current engineering students 14 Better Nights, Better Days This online resource from sleep expert 34 Work 2 Give Wendy Hall will give parents greater Indigenous men incarcerated in federal control over their children’s sleep prisons craft beds, drums, moccasins, knitted hats and mittens for families in 16 UBC Rocket the Tsilhqot’in region The student design team that launched a homemade rocket 10,000 feet COMMUNITY NEWS 17 Optimal Walking and 36 Cycling Speeds Learn what pace to travel at in order 36 In Memoriam 26 to minimize inhalation of air pollution 39 Reunion Highlights while still getting the health benefits of exercise 41 Upcoming Events 36 Ingenuity Asks...
ON THE COVER INGENUITY | ISSUE 37 | WINTER 2018 The Next 100 Years of Applied Science: Feature 32 on page 26. Illustration by Raymond Biesinger.
2 ISSUE 37 FROM THE DEAN
Published by the Dean’s Message UBC Faculty of Applied Science www.apsc.ubc.ca EDITORS Wendy McHardy What do nurses, architects, planners and engineers have in common? On the surface, maybe not that much. Clare Kiernan Most nurses don’t design buildings, for example, and architects usually don’t treat patients. But if one looks a little [email protected] deeper, at least one major commonality becomes apparent: they all use science and design thinking to improve our CONTRIBUTORS daily lives. Providing clean water to rural communities, developing smarter, more sustainable cities and increasing Matt Barron Clare Kiernan Amanda Bidnall Laura Lam resilience and health equity among vulnerable populations are just a few of the goals that UBC applied scientists Lou Corpuz-Bosshart Wendy McHardy are advancing every day. Matthew Grant Tara Newell Diane Haynes Anoush Poursartip Working with APSC students, faculty members and alumni, I am continually struck anew by their ingenuity, Thomas Horacek Craig Wilson passion and entrepreneurial spirit. Although 2017 was a year of significant change — among other developments, ILLUSTRATIONS Dean Marc Parlange and Associate Dean Elizabeth Croft took their formidable talents overseas, and we gained a Raymond Biesinger Tom Froese new School of Biomedical Engineering (led by renowned researcher Dr. Peter Zandstra) that will offer an undergrad- DESIGN uate degree program in the subject — I believe one feature of the Faculty will always remain the same: its extraordi- Marasigan Design nary people, whose integrity, intelligence, collegiality and shared sense of purpose are second to none. THE FACULTY INCLUDES: School of Architecture and In the pages that follow, you will find stories about the work of several outstanding members of the APSC Landscape Architecture community — work that builds on a deep foundation of knowledge and support laid over the past 100-plus School of Biomedical Engineering School of Community and years. From uniquely impactful research initiatives and triumphant student clubs to innovative educational and Regional Planning entrepreneurial endeavours, the groups highlighted in this issue will themselves educate, engage and otherwise School of Engineering inspire students and colleagues long into the future. School of Nursing Engineering departments and programs Speaking of the future, this edition of Ingenuity explores some forward-looking questions: Can the Cascadia Biomedical Engineering region become the next major tech innovation hub? And where might the applied sciences take us over the next Chemical and Biological Engineering Civil Engineering 100 years? In another article, valuable insights into the important, complex subject of BC treaty negotiations are Electrical and Computer Engineering offered by two experts affiliated with Indigenous Community Planning, a pioneering master’s degree program Engineering Physics offered by the School of Community and Regional Planning. We also meet some recent additions to the APSC Environmental Engineering Geological Engineering faculty and say goodbye to dear, departed friends. Integrated Engineering Materials Engineering Global health, artificial intelligence, clean energy and bioproducts, social justice — these are some of the crucial Mechanical Engineering areas in which APSC members are making tremendous progress. But of course we are not doing it alone. It is only Norman B. Keevil Institute of by forming meaningful connections with institutions, companies, communities and individuals like you that Mining Engineering Office of the Dean we’ve been able to accomplish the things we have. We are deeply grateful for your continued generous support for Business and Administration the work that we do, and welcome new and inspiring connections. Centre for Instructional Support Development and Alumni Relations Engineering Co-op Engineering Student Services Best regards, Research centres and laboratories Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory (AMPEL) Capacity Research Unit Clean Energy Research Centre (CERC) James Olson, PEng, PhD, FCAE Consortium for Nursing History Inquiry Critical Research in Health and Healthcare Dean Pro Tem, UBC Faculty of Applied Science Inequities (CRiHHI) Gerontological Education Research & Outreach (GERO) Institute for Computing, Information and To view past issues of Ingenuity, visit apsc.ubc.ca/publications. Cognitive Systems (ICICS) Men’s Health Research Michael Smith Laboratories MAILING ADDRESS GOING GREEN Planning Evaluation Lab (PEL) Ingenuity Want Ingenuity electronically? Visit: Pulp and Paper Centre (PPC) UBC Faculty of Applied Science www.apsc.ubc.ca/goinggreen. (Research on Active Transportation 5000–2332 Main Mall (REACT) Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable NO. 40602510 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE MAIL TO Youth Centre (SARAVYC) UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS UBC FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE Water Planning Lab Email: [email protected] 5000–2332 MAIN MALL Phone: 604-827-3870 VANCOUVER, BC V6T 1Z4 Online: www.alumni.ubc.ca/contact/address.php [email protected]
INGENUITY 3 NEWS BITS AND BITES
A BETTER, CHEAPER BIOINK FOR BIOFABRICATION | A new bioink that may enable the more efficient and inexpensive fabrication of tissues and organs — and ultimately accelerate advances in regenerative medicine — has been synthesized by researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus. To create biologically functional products in the lab, the researchers combine living cells, bioactive molecules and biomaterials into organized structures. One such bioma- terial is gelatin methacrylate (GelMA), a chemically modified hydrogel that serves as a bioink and building block in bioprint- ing and bioassembly processes. Cell adhesion and proliferation in 2D cultures with GelMA hydrogels from different sources Read more at apsc.ubc.ca/research/ better-cheaper-bioink
3D-PRINTED BONES | A UBC 3 TIPS FOR UNDERGRADUATE Okanagan researcher has discovered a NURSES | What are the top three things new artificial bone design that can be current Chair of the UBC Alumni Associ- customized and made with a 3D printer ation Board of Directors Faye Wightman for stronger, safer and more effective (BSN ‘81) would recommend current nurs- bone replacements. ing students do before they graduate? Hossein Montazerian, research assistant 1. Get as much real life experience as pos- with UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineer- SUSTAINABLE URBANIZATION sible in a health care experience — even ing, has identified a way to model and create AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL | In if that means volunteering — it gives a artificial bone grafts that can be custom October 2016, students from the School true picture of what life will be like. printed. Montazerian says human bones of Community and Regional Planning 2 Explore a different culture than the one are incredibly resilient, but when things (SCARP) travelled to Ecuador to represent you were brought up in — gives you a go wrong, replacing them can be a painful Canada as part of the official delegation different experience through someone process, requiring multiple surgeries. to Quito for Habitat III, the United Nations else’s eyes. Conference on Housing and Sustainable 3. Consider what you like best about Read more at apsc.ubc.ca/news Urban Development. Fifteen SCARP nursing — and then sit down with a students participated in the conference, few other people who got their nursing CONGRATULATIONS TO CAE alongside fifty thousand other delegates degree but aren’t necessarily using the WINNERS | In June, 2017, four UBC and participants from around the globe. degree working in health care. I believe a nursing background prepares you for professors — Perry Adebar, PEng (CIVL), Through the New Urban Agenda — a many jobs — so explore your options. Choon (Jim) Lim, PEng (CHBE), James new framework that that lays out how cities Olson, PEng (MECH) and Marc Parlange, should be planned and managed to best Read more at apsc.ubc.ca/spotlight/ PEng (CIVL) — were inducted as fellows promote sustainable urbanization — Hab- alumni/faye-wightman of the Canadian Academy of Engineering itat III brought together mayors, local and (CAE) in recognition of their “distinguished regional authorities, civil society and com- TOUCHPOINTS achievements and career-long service to munity groups, the private sector and urban Get caught up with the latest the engineering profession.” planners to analyze and discuss challenges. news from UBC Nursing with the fall/winter Touchpoints magazine — available online at nursing.ubc.ca/newsletters.
4 ISSUE 37 THE NEW SCHOOL OF BIOMED- ICAL ENGINEERING | The Faculties of Applied Science and Medicine have announced the joint establishment of the School of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at UBC, effective July 1, 2017. The School of Biomedical Engineering will serve as an innovation hub for educa- tion and research across both Faculties, TREES CAN MAKE OR BREAK working with industry and our health CITY WEATHER | Even a single partners, to accelerate discoveries and urban tree can help moderate wind speeds improve health outcomes here in BC and and keep pedestrians comfortable as they around the world. walk down the street, according to a new The school will be the new home of study by former UBC Civil Engineering UBC’s current graduate BME programs, postdoctoral fellow Marco Giometto. The which will welcome its seventh cohort study also found that losing a single tree this fall. An initial complement of faculty can increase wind pressure on nearby members and staff will support the new buildings and drive up heating costs. school, which will also house the Bio- The researchers used remote-sensing medical Research Centre. laser technology to create a highly detailed APPLIED SCIENCE RISING To lead this new collaborative initiative, computer model of a Vancouver neighbour- STARS | Each spring, Applied Science Professor Peter Zandstra has been hood down to every tree, plant and building. recognizes exceptional graduating students appointed as founding director. They then used computer simulation to de- from across the Faculty. These students In fall 2018, the school will introduce a termine how different scenarios — no trees, have overcome amazing odds, made new undergraduate program in biomedical bare trees and trees in full leaf — affect significant impacts on the lives of others, engineering. Led by program director airflow and heat patterns around individual achieved excellence in their studies and Peter Cripton, students will gain the fun- streets and houses. invented life-changing technologies. damental knowledge, critical thinking tools “We found that removing all trees can and practical skills needed to support the increase wind speed by a factor of two, To read their stories, visit growing needs of the life science and med- which would make a noticeable difference apsc.ubc.ca/students/stars/2017 ical device industry in BC and Canada. to someone walking down the street,” said Giometto.
MEL GRAD RECEIVES ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD | Master of Engineering Leadership (MEL) graduate Alice Kruchten (BASc ’11 CIVL, MEL ‘17 IWM) has received the Emerging Environmental Professional Award from the Environmental Managers Association of BC, for her “professional achievement, innovation, experience and lead- ership, along with community involvement.” In 2016, Kruchten took a one-year leave of absence from her job at Keystone Environmental (a local environmental consulting company) and enrolled in UBC’s MEL program in Integrated Water Management, which covers a broad range of topics that are directly relevant to her work: not only technical subjects like biological wastewater treatment and engineering design, but also strategy and innovation, project management and client interaction. “The MEL program gave me the skills and confidence to pursue more leadership roles and opportunities,” says Kruchten. “I also made lasting connections with my classmates — bright people from varied backgrounds who will go on to be engineering leaders in their fields.”
INGENUITY 5 NEWS NEW FACULTY
MATTIA BACCA WHY ENGINEERING? WHAT ARE YOUR RESEARCH DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE ITEM I have always been fascinated INTERESTS? YOU COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT? by mechanisms. I guess also My current research focus is on I couldn’t live without Chilled the fact that I played with LEGO the mechanics of bio-inspired Out at 181.fm, an internet radio more than any other kid I knew materials. In particular, contact station for ambient-pop music. played a role. mechanics applied to the design of gecko-inspired dry adhesive materials.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
FIONN BYRNE WHY LANDSCAPE WHY UBC? HOW DO YOU HOPE YOUR WORK ARCHITECTURE? The city and campus are quite WILL IMPACT STUDENTS? My grandfather taught me the beautiful. The faculty in land- Teaching is my passion. I try to importance of accuracy and scape are very strong, and teach students to challenge precision made possible with across the university there is their own beliefs, to get into the patience. My grandmother a lot of very interesting work habit of being their own hardest taught me to appreciate all happening. I am quite excited critic such that they can feel creatures and to know the to make some connections and most confident in defending world from a point of view out- their ideas and opinions. If stu- ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, build relationships. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE side myself. My father taught dents can articulate not what AND LANDSCAPE me to enjoy nature from a they want to do, but why they ARCHITECTURE canoe and a camp site and my want to do it, I feel that I have mother taught me composition been successful. and trained my eye to design.
ERNEST GOH WHAT ARE YOUR RESEARCH HOW DO YOU HOPE YOUR WORK are reasonable even when a INTERESTS? WILL IMPACT SOCIETY? domestic electrical outlet is Building an enclosed narrow- Using a three-wheel tilting used, eliminating the need for a track electric vehicle. I have motorcycle as a base vehicle specialized charging infrastruc- recently secured the donation offers many advantages. First, ture — a frequent barrier to the of a tilting three-wheel motor- with tandem seating — one seat widespread adoption of electric cycle frame and, together with behind the other — the vehicle vehicles. another instructor, have two is long and slender, resulting We estimate that the fuel capstone project teams working in very low drag. Second, the INSTRUCTOR, economy will be 0.72 litres of on it. One team is responsible for frontal area of tandem seating SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING equivalent electricity per 100 the enclosure and mechanical is half (or less than half) that of km (Le/100km), or 326 mpg. subsystems, while the other is a standard compact commuter I feel that is a solution that is responsible for the heating, car, reducing drag even further. good for the environment, the ventilation and air conditioning. This low drag reduces the city planners, taxpayers and battery capacity required to the family budget. achieve a useful vehicle range. This means that charging times
6 ISSUE 37 NEW FACULTY
SINA KHEIRKHAH WHY ENGINEERING? consumption of fossil fuel, which “We utilize state-of-the-art mea- Engineering allows me to think is a limited resource. My research surement techniques in order to about real problems, and most program has long- and short- probe into the heart of gas tur- importantly, combine my mathe- term impacts. On a long-term bine engines, diagnose problems, matics and physics knowledge basis, the program will allow for understand the causality chain to solve them. decreasing pollutant formation that leads to the occurrence of and emissions, as well as design- the problems and, finally, develop HOW DO YOU HOPE YOUR technology to prevent them from ing improved combustors that WORK WILL IMPACT SOCIETY/ happening.” STUDENTS? allow for operation with sustain- ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING Combustion of fossil fuel able fuel sources. On a short- accounts for about 85 per cent term basis, my program helps of total energy production in decrease development cost of the world, and this number will gas turbine engine combustors, remain large in the foreseeable which is currently about one future. Unfortunately, com- billion USD. bustion can be associated with pollutant formation and
XIAOLIANG JIN WHY UBC? manufacturing processes. My a more efficient production pro- UBC is a one of the world’s lead- current projects include the cess with higher product quality. ing universities, with a beautiful surface texturing to enhance It is expected that my work will campus, brilliant students and tribological properties, vibration provide students with scientific diverse culture. The good mem- assisted machining of brittle ma- understanding of the manufac- ories of my six years at UBC terials and micro machining of turing process and benefit their during my PhD and postdoctoral high-strength aerospace alloys. future careers as manufacturing period drove me back. engineers. HOW DO YOU HOPE YOUR ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, WHAT ARE YOUR RESEARCH WORK WILL IMPACT SOCIETY/ DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL INTERESTS AND CURRENT STUDENTS? ENGINEERING PROJECTS? I hope my work will extend the My research interests are the existing knowledge base related surface generation in precision to manufacturing, and result in
JIAN LIU WHAT ARE YOUR RESEARCH HOW DO YOU HOPE YOUR WORK address the energy crisis and INTERESTS? WILL IMPACT SOCIETY? environmental consequences I’m currently focused on New battery technologies will because of fossil fuels, and identifying and developing new play a crucial role in future contribute to the achievement meso/nano-scale materials energy systems ... . The devel- of the Government of Canada’s for next-generation battery opment of next-generation target to reduce greenhouse technologies and better un- battery technologies in my gas emissions by 30 per cent derstanding synthesis-struc- research program will acceler- below 2005 levels ture-performance relationships ate the deployment of electric by 2020. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, in energy materials. vehicles, increase the adoption of DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING renewable energy technologies,
INGENUITY 7 NEWS
NEW FACULTY
MAURICIO PONGA WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL WHY ENGINEERING? WHAT ARE YOUR BACKGROUND? When I was a kid, I was curious RESEARCH INTERESTS/ CURRENT PROJECTS? I have a degree in aeronautical about airplanes. I wanted to I would like to better understand engineering from the University understand how something so materials. To do this, I use a va- of La Plata in Argentina and an big and heavy could fly. As I was riety of research methods, from MSc and a PhD from the Univer- growing up, I also developed a quantum mechanics simulations sity of Seville in Spain. I was also passion for physics and math- to continuum models with finite a postdoctoral scholar at the ematics, so I decided to study elements. My research is at the California Institute of Technology aeronautics. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, under the supervision of Kaushik intersection of mechanical engi- DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL neering, mechanics of materials, ENGINEERING Bhattacharya and Michael Ortiz. and computer science, focusing on multiscale modeling of ma- terials, modeling and simulation, and method development.
WHY ENGINEERING? DID A WHAT ARE YOUR RESEARCH IN- HOW DO YOU HOPE YOUR WORK JULIA RUBIN PARTICULAR PERSON OR EVENT TERESTS/CURRENT PROJECTS? WILL IMPACT SOCIETY? INSPIRE YOU? I work on topics related to Today, all aspects of our daily My mom was an engineer and a software security, reliability and lives rely on software. Building software developer. Since I was sustainability. More specifically, software we can trust will five years old, I knew that is ex- my current research focuses improve our quality of life and actly what I wanted to do when on two main areas: one is about well-being. Putting my research I grew up. I was always intrigued security, privacy and energy- work aside, I am also committed by these mysterious machines efficiency in mobile software, to educate the next generation ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, called computers and wanted to and another is about secure and of researchers and engineers so DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL figure out how exactly they work. AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING reliable composition of software they can build a better future for components and cloud-based all of us. microservices.
ADAM RYSANEK WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL WHY ENGINEERING/ARCHITEC- to study engineering in the first AND PROFESSIONAL BACK- TURE? DID A PARTICULAR PER- place, and it took me all the way GROUND? SON OR EVENT INSPIRE YOU? to working for Airbus in Hamburg, I am an engineer by training, For as long as I can remember, Germany during a gap year I but maybe one of non-typical I’ve had an interest in science took in 2004. This experience professional inclinations. [He and design and an inquisitive living in Germany turned out to completed his BASc, MScE nature to go with it. In fact, I be pivotal for me though, as it and PhD in engineering.] I then really can’t remember a time reshaped my career interests in moved on to become a senior in my youth when I wasn’t a completely new direction. researcher at the Institute of somehow fixated on questioning Technology in Architecture and everything, tinkering and trying ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, Future Cities Laboratory of ETH to make things around me look SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND Zurich, managing the 3for2 Be- better and be more useful. I LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE yond Efficiency building design always wanted to grow up to project in Singapore between design, build and fly aircraft. 2014 and 2017. This ambition actually led me
8 ISSUE 37 NEW FACULTY
JONATHAN VERRETT RESEARCH FOCUS: I am also very interested in sup- ACCOLADES: My teaching interests include porting student-led projects that I have been recognized for my peer-learning, leadership devel- develop leadership both inside role in innovative teaching and opment and open educational and outside of the curriculum emphasis on student interaction resources. I aim to facilitate including design teams, research in the classroom. I have collab- classroom environments where and entrepreneurship. orated with colleagues from students are developing their Japan and France, as well as My technical background has knowledge and skills through supervised exchange students touched on a variety of energy- interactions with peers and the from these countries. My tech- related fields including gas INSTRUCTOR, instructor. nical work has been featured DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL hydrates, photocatalysis and in journals such as Chemical AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING biohydrogen production. Engineering Science and Fluid Phase Equilibria.
SABINE WEYAND WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON classroom. I am working on a I am also engaged with GoEng RIGHT NOW? new blended learning module Girl, Women in Science and Along with fellow faculty mem- that will provide students from Engineering, and local science bers Dr. Labun and Dr. Eikenaar, a variety of disciplines with the fairs to recruit more women into I organized the first annual opportunity to obtain certificates engineering. campus-wide, multi-disciplinary (badges) in design thinking, de- Teaching Design Showcase, sign prototyping and manufac- showcasing interdisciplinary turing, and entrepreneurship. teaching and evaluation in the INSTRUCTOR, undergraduate classroom. SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING I am also actively encouraging engineering students to have a more entrepreneurial mindset both inside and outside the
DAVID ZIELNICKI WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO with the remnants of the World’s WHY UBC? PURSUE A CAREER IN LAND- Columbian Exposition still in UBC’s landscape architecture SCAPE ARCHITECTURE? Chicago. After reading the book, program is exceptional. The I grew up in the Chicago area. I looked more into the life and program gains a practical My senior year of high school, work of Olmsted — I had no idea grounding in the large research our humanities teacher assigned landscape architecture was a institution from its historic roots us Devil in the White City by profession, but it seemed ex- in the Faculty of Agricultural Erik Larson. The descriptions citing. I switched from applying Sciences. Its current position of designing and directing the to graphic design and industrial in the collaborative School of INSTRUCTOR, construction of the fairgrounds design programs to applying for Architecture and Landscape SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING and the exposition structures landscape architecture. Architecture demonstrates the fascinated me. The impact of program’s contemporary interest the book was doubled by my in interdisciplinary work and close proximity and familiarity design-forward exploration.
Find out more at apsc.ubc.ca/new-faculty
INGENUITY 9 NEWS
THE DAWN OF THE LEARNING FACTORY
If medicine has teaching hospitals, why does engineering not have learning factories — where production, research and education come together seamlessly? Building on the success of introducing simulation in combination with the rich data from the physical to composites manufacturing to reduce risk, cost factory, to understand, manage and improve and time, UBC is developing — in conjunction with advanced composites manufacturing processes. the Composites Research Network and its industrial The factory will be physically designed to be a mixed- partners — an exciting new initiative to reimagine use facility, satisfying both academic and industrial composites manufacturing for the 21st century, requirements. It will be part of the UBC Okanagan bringing together simulation, sensors and data campus, a key tenant of the new Innovation Precinct analytics, and automation. and will be conducive for interaction and collab- The physical factory will have a core capability which oration. Equal attention is being paid to the virtual is the current, qualified production baseline. The fac- factory, which will be hosted at the UBC Vancou- tory will be immensely data rich, with multiple layers ver campus, where the combination of big sensor of sensors and data analysis. It will be sized to allow and data capacity from the physical factory will be for both standard production and research production. combined with simulation to understand, control It will be highly reconfigurable and multi-layered in and optimize the production of advanced aerospace its ability to allow different sensor and data analysis composites structures. I technologies to be implemented and researched. There will be a digital twin in the cloud, where a For further information visit virtual factory based on simulation will be used, ubcinnovationprecinct.ca and crn.ubc.ca.
10 ISSUE 37 UBC School of Engineering Associate Professor Lukas Bichler founded the metalcasting laboratory for advancement of magnesium and aluminum alloys, which researches the characterization and modification of materials and their properties via advanced techniques, as well as produces novel grain refiners and in-situ composites for Al and Mg-based alloy systems.
UBC AND KAL TIRE RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP
UBC and Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group have formed a research partnership that will allow the two organizations to collaborate in developing technology and innovative solutions for the mining tire industry. In the memorandum of understanding, both parties The MOU lays out an initial three-year term of collab- agree to pursue a research and innovation partner- oration on mutually beneficial areas of research, as ship that matches expertise from the UBC School well as Kal Tire’s significant investment in the part- of Engineering in the Okanagan with the innovation nership. Individual researchers will submit project goals of Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group. ideas that include everything from robotics and metallurgical design to environmentally responsible “We wanted to harness the knowledge and ideas ways to use recycled tire crumb. of our team members to advance innovation, and through this partnership with UBC, we now have “We see this partnership as another key step in our access to the skills, knowledge and facilities that we goal of helping to advance economic development didn’t have prior,” says Dan Allan, senior vice-president, opportunities in our region,” says Deborah Buszard, Kal Tire Mining Tire Group. “Research like this fuels deputy vice-chancellor and principal of UBC’s the innovation that takes great ideas forward.” Okanagan campus. I
INGENUITY 11 NEWS
FIRCOM: A VAST SANCTUARY IN NATURE
On the eastern shore of Gambier Island, encompassing 120 acres of coastal forest, beach and farmland, is a vast “sanctuary in nature” called Fircom (First Community). Established in 1923 by the First Presbyterian Church and Community Services, it was created to serve as a place of rest and healing for people seeking respite from the grim tenements of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The Task: to revive an Today, Fircom offers summer and Landscape Architecture (named Salala, Salamander and overgrown forest clearing camps, outdoor schools and (SALA), who have helped enhance Salarium). In executing their pro- in the location learning tours that promote its Fircom’s values in their own way jects, the students experienced of Camp core values of education, environ- — by planning and constructing first-hand the challenges and Fircom’s original ment, health and wellness, and functional structures for use by rewards of real-world architec- outdoor chapel spirituality. Since 2015, it has also Fircom staff, campers and visitors. tural practice — gaining not only invaluable practical knowledge, hosted students from the grad- To date, these structures include but also a greater familiarity with uate-level Design+Build program an archery pavilion, an amphithe- the discipline’s environmental, at UBC’s School of Architecture atre and three off-the-grid cabins
ROLLING WOODEN PLAT- FORMS PROVIDE BOTH FOR- MAL AND PLAYFUL SEATING ALONG A GENTLE INCLINE THE FIRCOM AMPHITHEATRE
PLATFORMS CANTILEVER BEYOND POST AND BEAM SUPPORT STRUCTURE, CREATING FLOATING SLATS SPACED UNIFORMLY AND EFFECT FASTENED TO PRESSURE-TREAT- ED WOOD SUB-STRUCTURE SEATS UP TO 110 PEOPLE
CUSTOM-DIMENSIONED SLATS CUT FROM LAMI- NATED STRAND LUMBER PLATFORM ARRANGEMENT CREATES AREAS FOR SMALLER GROUP ACTIVITIES OR QUIET MOMENTS
12 ISSUE 37 THE ARCHERY PAVILION
DOUBLED AND TRIPLED UP LUMBER FOR BEAMS
COLUMNS SPACED AND TAPERED TO CREATE A SENSE OF WARMTH AND AIRINESS
ACCOMMODATES UP TO EIGHT ARCHERS AT A TIME MINIMAL FINISHING TO FACILITATE WEATH- ERING: PLATFORM WILL BLEND INTO FIELD MORE WITH EACH PASSING YEAR LOCATED IN FIELD ADJACENT TO MAIN ROAD CONNECTING GOVERNMENT FLEXIBLE BENCH SEATING WHARF WITH REST OF ISLAND MAKES SPACE MORE ADAPTABLE TUCK SHOP STORAGE SPACE FOR ARCHERY RANGE EQUIPMENT VENUE FOR RETAIL SALES CEDAR SIDING FINISHED USING JAPANESE “SHOU SUGI BAN” CHARRING TECHNIQUE
PLATFORMS CANTILEVER BEYOND POST AND BEAM SUPPORT STRUCTURE, CREATING FLOATING EFFECT
psychological and even spiritual actually a rarity among architec- constructed entirely by UBC dimensions in the process. ture schools, notes SALA faculty Design+Build students in the The Task: to member Greg Johnson, who has spring and summer of 2017, expand facilities ““Taking part in the program was overseen the workshop since its with guidance from Johnson. for campers and one of the most valuable experi- I inception. Design+Build students create more ences of my architectural training,” opportunities for devote one school term to design says one of the student partici- For further information visit: engagement with and practical preparations — pro- pants. “I feel that engaging in the blogs.ubc.ca/saladesignbuild/projects. the neighbouring ducing construction documents, community full design-build process so early sourcing building materials and in my career has made me a more applying for permits — before knowledgeable, confident and heading to Gambier in early sum- thoughtful designer.” mer for the six-week build. Though Design+Build is an integral The structures shown on these part of SALA’s graduate degree pages were conceived and curriculum, similar programs are
INGENUITY 13 NEWS
If your child has trouble falling asleep, a new online resource called “Better Nights, Better Days” may soon be here to help. Created by UBC Nursing Professor Wendy Hall and other sleep experts across Canada, and currently being tested in a clinical trial, it aims to give parents greater control over their kids’ sleep habits. As many as one in four Canadian children consistently wake up too early or have difficulty falling or staying asleep. This disorder, known as behavioural insomnia, usually results in sleep issues for the children’s parents as well — negatively impacting the whole family’s mood, behavior and school or work performance.
14 ISSUE 37 Even worse, studies have shown that regularly losing So, Hall and her colleagues (psychologists, nurses even a small amount of sleep during childhood can and physicians among them) set out to develop result in long-term learning and behavioural challen- an accessible tool to help as many sleep-deprived ges. Children who sleep just one hour less than they parents and children as possible. The result is Better should for four nights in a row have worse memories, Nights, Better Days — a web-based intervention that shorter attention spans and a poorer ability to regu- educates parents about the science of sleep prob- late emotions than their better-rested counterparts. lems and offers detailed advice and strategies, based They are also more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. on behavioural principles and clinical best practices, to promote healthy sleep habits in typically develop- In light of these dangers, why do only one per cent ing children aged one to 10. of insomniac children receive effective treatment? Largely because available behavioural treatments “By giving parents the ability to manage their are unknown to many care providers and for the few children’s nighttime sleep behaviour, Better Nights, parents who are aware of them, the treatments are not Better Days has the potential to have a dramatic conveniently accessible. Instead, parents turn to drugs positive impact on the wellbeing — physical, psycho- — including over-the-counter sleep aids like melatonin, logical and emotional — of children and adults alike,” which have not been tested for safety in long-term says Hall. studies, and also fail to address the behavioural causes that frequently underlie poor sleep patterns.
THE PROGRAM Session 1 – Sleep information: What is sleep? How do sleep problems develop? Session 2 – Healthy sleep practices: What can I do during the day to help my child sleep at night? Session 3 – Settling to sleep: How can I teach my child to fall asleep independently? Session 4 – Going back to sleep: How can I help my child fall back asleep after waking at night or waking up too early? Session 5 – Looking back and ahead: Course review, plan for the future.
Right: Professor Wendy Hall explaining the online program Better Nights, Better Days.
Takeaways Set a bedtime and stick to it. Ensure Don’t respond to fussing or crying Address your child’s sleep problems that your child goes to bed at the right away. This will only reinforce as early as possible. If the problems same time — or no more than 30 your child’s crying and interfere with occur at least three times a week for minutes before or after the set time their ability to learn how to self- three months or more, consider con- — every night. soothe. Instead, attend to your child sulting your primary care provider. on a set schedule. Establish a “wind down” routine. As bedtime approaches, dim the lights, Encourage physical activity, as well remove all electronic devices and as exposure to fresh air and natural otherwise create a quiet, calm envi- light, during the day. Doing so will help ronment in preparation for sleep. maintain healthy circadian rhythms.
INGENUITY 15 NEWS
UBC ROCKET
In its first year of existence, UBC Rocket grew from two to more than 100 mem- bers, designed and built a suborbital spacecraft, and outflew MIT to win the most competitive category in the 2017 Spaceport America Cup in New Mexico (rockets launched to an altitude of 10,000 feet using a commercial off-the-shelf motor). 1
As with many success stories, passion Today, UBC Rocket is designing an in- and hard work lie at the heart of the house propulsion system and eagerly 2 amateur rocketry team’s early triumphs. preparing for next year’s competition, In recruiting its members, founders and where they plan to participate in both 3 engineering students Simon Bambey the 10,000- and 30,000-ft categories. 4 and Joren Jackson focused more on the Here is a closer look at Cypress, the
5 applicants’ level of interest and commit- team’s winning rocket, which was lov- ment than their depth of experience — ingly named after the West Vancouver 6 and it clearly paid off. provincial park.
7 1. NOSE CONE 2. TRACKING 3. MADS 4. EMECS 8 LD Haack profile 3D ELECTRONICS PAYLOAD PAYLOAD printed from ABS Contains a GPS bea- Houses GPS tracking Uses sensor data plastic 9 con and ground relay electronics and pay- and a non newtonian to aid in recovery load parachutes for fluid to mitigate safe recovery g-force effects from launch
5. OZONE 6. AVIONICS 7. RING 8. MAIN PAYLOAD BAY RELEASE PARACHUTE Uses atmospheric Uses atmospheric Secures main in Nylon construction. detection module in pressure sensors place during descent Slows descent of order to detect the and accelerometer without placing high rocket to 8m/s. atmospheric bound- data to determine stress on the linear Deployed using a 10 ary layer when to release actuator linear actuator parachutes
11 9. DROGUE 10. ENGINE 11. MOTOR 12. FINS PARACHUTE Cesaroni solid rocket MOUNT Clipped delta design. Nylon construction. fuel engine generat- Holds the engine 3D printed from ABS 12 13 Aids in deployment ing 1790 newtons of securely in place plastic and wrapped of main parachute sustained thrust during flight in carbon fibre by taking the brunt of initial stresses experienced
13. NOZZLE UBC Rocket: Cypress Four members of Directs and acceler- the UBC Rocket ates the hot gases team and Cypress, at from the engine to the 2017 Spaceport produce enough America Cup. thrust to lift the rocket into the sky
16 ISSUE 37 UBC STUDY FINDS OPTIMAL WALKING AND CYCLING SPEEDS TO REDUCE AIR POLLUTION INHALATION
Cyclists should be riding at speeds between 12 and 20 kilometres per hour, while pedestrians should be moving at two to six kilometres per hour on city roads to minimize their inhalation of air pollution while still getting the health benefits of exercise, according to new UBC research. “The faster you move, the harder you breathe and the more their older counterparts should look at reaching at least pollution you could potentially inhale, but you also are four kilometres per hour, to breathe in the least amount of exposed to traffic for a shorter period of time. This analysis pollution over a trip. Bigazzi also computed these ideal travel shows where the sweet spot is,” said Alex Bigazzi, a UBC speeds for other road grades. transportation expert in the Department of Civil Engineer- “If you move at much faster speeds than the MDS — say, ing and School of Community and Regional Planning who cycling around 10 kilometres faster than the optimal range — conducted this analysis. your inhalation of air pollution is significantly higher,” said Using a US Census-based computer model of 10,000 Bigazzi. “The good news is, the MDS numbers align pretty people, Bigazzi calculated ideal travel speeds that he calls closely with how fast most people actually travel.” the minimum-dose speeds (MDS) for different age and The findings, which build on Bigazzi’s recent research on the sex groups. For female cyclists under 20, the ideal speed high amounts of toxic chemicals absorbed by cyclists on linked to the least pollution risk is 12.5 kilometres per hour busy city streets, are described in a paper published in the on average on a flat road. For male cyclists in the same International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. age group, it’s 13.3 kilometres per hour. Ideal travel speeds were at 13 and 15 kilometres per hour for female and male Future research will validate the minimum-dose speed cyclists in the 20-60 age group. estimates with on-road data. I Female and male pedestrians under 20 years old should be walking at speeds around three kilometres per hour, while
OPTIMAL WALKING AND CYCLING SPEEDS FOR CITY ROADS TO MINIMIZE AIR POLLUTION INHALATION
15
12
9 km/h 6
3
0 Male Male Male Female Female Female under 20-60 over under 20-60 over 20 60 20 60
*Bicycle = Biking | **Shoe = Walking
INGENUITY 17 FEATURES
10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MODERN TREATY PROCESS IN BC
TREATY NEGOTIATIONS
The treaty process currently underway in BC is among the most complicated ever undertaken in any jurisdiction. So if it seems like a mystery wrapped in an enigma and served with a side of confusion, you’re not alone. Initiated in 1992, this modern process embodies 150 years of fraught history, during which time the province’s First Nations were systematically stripped of their rights to land, culture and independence. It’s a lot to catch up on. What’s actually going on at those negotiation tables? Who’s involved? And what happens next?
The leaders, students and graduates of SCARP’s Indigenous Commu- nity Planning (ICP) master’s program are experts at working with First Nations to navigate a central treaty component: community planning in a way that accounts for a Nation’s past and present in its future. If community planning is the visioning, treaty-making forges that vision — of a more just and inclusive Canada — into something real. It’s a lot to digest, but this quick reference guide will get you up to speed — at least for the water cooler conversation on Monday.
18 ISSUE 37 Photo: Hans-Jürgen Hübner 1) BC is special. a land-based methodology for planning a ty of anyone living on reserve could be used community. The result is a Nation of people as collateral on a business loan. But the In the nineteenth century, the new Dominion (re)connected to their roots and clear about land and cash settlements that come with of Canada already had a long history of what they want for their land’s future. treaties provide the capital and collateral treaty-making. But when BC joined Confeder- Aboriginal businesses need to thrive. ation in 1871, Aboriginal title on the mainland was unresolved and successive governments 5) Treaties provide certainty. 9) Treaties boost BC’s economy. openly denied Indigenous rights to land. It We’ve all heard the phrase “duty to consult,” wasn’t until the 1990s, after the 1982 Consti- but the federal government has offered min- In 2009, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicted tution Act affirmed Aboriginal title and rights imal guidance on what that means. Treaties that treaty settlement will increase investor that the modern treaty process got underway. define that duty, so that once in possession certainty in development and resource pro- of both a community plan and a ratified trea- jects in BC — to the tune of $10B.¹ The eco- 2) Every treaty is different. ty, First Nations along with government and nomic and territorial certainty that treaties industry can move the development conver- provide means that First Nations are at lower Every Nation has different priorities, but they sation forward, confident about what will work risk for exploitation and industry is at lower all address some central concerns: self- for the land and for everyone it supports. risk for litigation. Trust leads to partnership, government; land title; economic settlement; which leads to prosperity. jurisdiction over natural resources; commu- nity health, education and employment; and 6) The process is just as important historic reconciliation. UBC’s ICP students as the outcome. 10) Treaties play a role in reconciliation. spend eight months on a reserve learning The outcome of Indigenous community plan- This might be the thorniest aspect of the to tailor the planning process to the char- ning leaves First Nations with a clear vision treaty process, because there are high and acter and goals of individual communities they can take to the negotiation table. But the heavy hopes that modern treaties will mark and helping to create visioning documents planning process is what brings community the end of Canada’s history of cultural sup- specific to them. members together in the first place. It makes pression, economic marginalization and bad- clear to everyone their stake in what happens, faith dealings with First Nations. The goal of 3) It’s been a long time coming. which means that all community members — modern treaties is nothing less than to mend not just their leaders — are whole-heartedly relationships for a more prosperous future. For over a century, First Nations in BC have invested in their treaty negotiations. fought for a formal recognition of Aboriginal The first program of its kind in North America, title. The modern treaty process is that ICP is helping lay the foundation for this future long-awaited recognition. As soon as it was 7) Everyone takes part. by building and nurturing strong relationships initiated, 42 nations declared their intent In effective Indigenous government, deci- with First Nations. Of primary importance is to negotiate. Today, 60 First Nations are sion-making lies not with the leaders but Musqueam, on whose traditional lands UBC involved in 49 sets of negotiations. The trea- with the collective. That also means effective sits, and whose elders co-create, co-teach ties with the Tla’amin Nation, the Tsawwas- treaties happen only with collective involve- and co-administer the ICP program. sen First Nation and the five Maa-nulth ment. The treaty process recruits whole First Nations are already concluded. communities, from Indigenous youth to tribal elders, to articulate — in a living, breathing, 4) Treaties protect Canada’s land social contract — what their government will Maybe it’s not so complicated after all. and resources. look like. ICP parallels this approach at the Modern treaties clarify Indigenous rights and community level, ensuring every individual powers through a conversation that is more First Nations see their history and identity as has a voice in the future of the Nation. than a century overdue. As the process intrinsically connected to the land. The land moves forward, it’s a chance for all of us to awarded to a Nation by treaty comes from take part in that conversation with a little Crown land, not private property, and typically 8) Treaties level the economic playing field. more clarity and grace. I amounts to just a fraction of that Nation’s The Indian Act of 1876 and the reserve historical territory. But that fraction often system have prevented First Nations from 1 Financial and Economic Impacts of Treaty Settlements in BC holds spiritual, archaeological or environ- participating in the kind of economic devel- (November 2009) Prepared for the BC Treaty Commission by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. mental significance to that Nation’s people. opment enjoyed by the rest of the country: ICP teaches the primacy of land and imparts neither reserve land nor the personal proper-
INGENUITY 19 FEATURES
A NEXT STEP IN THE ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY
or many years, UBC has hit above its weight in patenting research Foutcomes. Recently, the university has been devoting considerable resources to another innovation pathway: entrepreneurship. The main driver of this initiative is e@UBC (entrepreneurship@UBC), housed in the Graham Lee Innovation Centre, where new ventures work in a collective startup space, and educational workshops equip budding entrepreneurs with startup knowledge. e@UBC provides support for faculty, students, staff and alumni who have graduated within the past five years to help them move new ventures from the idea stage to market launch.
20 ISSUE 37 E@UBC’S BLAIR SIMONITE (APSC ’81 ECE) funding, the opportunity to bring research The process is rigorous, but the LLP encour- spent more than 25 years in Vancouver’s breakthroughs from lab to market is key ages entrepreneurs to “fail forward,” so that tech sector in various executive roles to building out the startup ecosystem in ventures are validated at an early stage. before volunteering as an e@UBC mentor. Vancouver, and globally.” The journey does not stop there. Impressed by the university’s startup When aspiring entrepreneurs approach Entrepreneurs can receive further one- energy and innovations, he jumped at the e@UBC with a venture idea, they are on-one mentoring, apply for the recently opportunity to give back and became encouraged to apply to a venture cohort launched Creative Destruction Lab-West e@UBC program director in 2013. stream that will take them through elements for “massively scalable” ventures and/or In December 2016, e@UBC Managing of building a startup. Along the way, they will apply to join HATCH, for technology-based Director Barry Yates joined the team, apply to participate in the Lean Launch Pad ventures that are building a prototype and bringing over 25 years of entrepreneurial (LLP), a startup accelerator program with building their business. experience in the marketing, software-as- an intensive mentorship component that Launched in October 2016, HATCH is a a-system (SaaS), transportation, telecom, focuses on customer discovery. Venture collaboration among e@UBC, the Institute retail and industrial products sectors. teams are required to contact potential for Computing, Information, and Cognitive customers during the five-week program, “UBC has a critical role to play in providing Systems (ICICS), the Faculties of Science to “test the waters” for their product or ser- support for future entrepreneurs,” stress- and Applied Science, and the Sauder vice. Many end up pivoting as a result, and es Yates. “With $600 million in research School of Business. having a clearer focus on the end market.
INGENUITY 21 FEATURES
e@UBC by the Numbers 800+ Ventures Registered 146 Lean Launch Pad Ventures 120 Industry Mentors $1.6M Invested by e@UBC Seed Fund in 13 Ventures $44M Raised
HATCH provides nearly 750 m² of office, their willingness to be coached and engage “We really want each team to have a mentor project, maker and meeting space in the with their peers,” says HATCH EIR Francis when they join HATCH, and as HATCH grows, ICICS/Computer Science building, for up to Steiner. “We need the teams to be open to we will need more mentors,” says Steiner. 30 ventures at a time. Ventures are eligible mentoring and to learn from one another’s “Mentoring early-stage ventures that have for the donor-supported HATCH Concept successes and missteps. They need to been validated by e@UBC programs can Fund to help them develop their businesses. understand that they can’t do it all alone.” be incredibly rewarding. It also gives you a privileged look at some potentially highly Crucially, a full-time Entrepreneur-in- Venture teams have roughly 12 months in successful companies and people. It is Residence (EIR) advises the ventures daily — HATCH, and a six-month overlap between on business development, product market extremely exciting.” cohorts allows new teams to learn from HATCH labs Photos by: Paul Joseph, fit, marketing and team building, while build- previous ones. The first two cohorts include HATCH itself is a startup, and if things go ing community and mutual support among ventures focused on water purification, well, will outgrow its space in ICICS in the the ventures through CEO roundtables and industrial optics, pipeline inspection, painless coming years to house up to 50 ventures guest speakers. Events, workshops and vaccine injection, electronic micro-gardens, annually. Stay tuned. I informal support from the UBC entrepre- skin animations, autonomous drone flight for neurial community help HATCH ventures infrastructure inspections, realistic motion For more information, please contact reach their goals. for simulated characters, and oil collection [email protected] “We select ventures for HATCH based on the using nano-nets. or visit www.HATCH.ubc.ca. quality of the team, the product market fit and
22 ISSUE 37 DONOR + RECOGNITION
SARAH DAINTREY RECEIVES MCEWEN FAMILY TEACHER AWARD Sarah Daintrey of Clayton Heights Second- building a well in Syria as well as a school ary School is the recipient of the 2017 McEw- in Ecuador and Sierra Leone. “It really was a en Family Teacher Recognition Award, which life-changing experience,” says Wark. celebrates teachers and their influence on “She is not just a teacher, she is a mentor, students, both academically and personally. a motivator and a role model,” says Aly Presented annually by the Faculty of Applied Nuruddin, a former student who supported Science, the award was established by Dr. the nomination. “She has inspired so many James McEwen (BASc ’71, PhD ’75), PEng, students, to not only make a difference in and his family. The award is student nomi- the school but to make a difference in our nated, and was put forth by UBC Engineering community and in the world.” student Nolan Wark (MECH). Clayton Heights Secondary School will Daintrey is involved extensively in charitable receive $5,000 for enrichment activities, pro- work. What she loves most about her job is grams or development and will be allocated a providing students with opportunities to $5,000 scholarship for a current high school make a positive impact, and in that vein, has student to attend UBC. been a large part of a student initiative called “Project Equal,” which has worked in 10 countries, doing work that has included
DESIGN AND INNOVATION DAY Save the date! April 5, 2018 UBC, Point Grey Campus
SHOWCASE: 1:00 - 5:00 pm Experience world-class student design projects.
RECEPTION: 5:30 - 7:30 pm Connect with our brightest stars and stay for the awards ceremony to find out about the year’s top projects. apsc.ubc.ca/event/2018/design-and-innovation-day
INGENUITY 23 FEATURES
FLEXIBLE SENSOR ENGINEERING DECONSTRUCTION
PICTURE A TABLET that you can fold into the size of a phone and put away in your pocket, or an artificial skin that can sense your body’s movements and vital signs. A new, inex- pensive sensor developed in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering could help make advanced devices like these a reality.
JOHN MADDEN MIRZA SAQUIB SARWAR (MASC ‘14 ELEC)
Director, Advanced Materials PhD Student, Electrical and and Process Engineering Labo- Computer Engineering. ratory (AMPEL) and Professor, Researching flexible elec- Electrical and Computer Engi- tronics focusing on human neering. Researching artificial computer interfaces such as muscle and application to touch screens. medical devices, photosynthetic photovoltaics, super-capacitors, batteries, sensors and carbon nanotube devices.
24 ISSUE 37 THE SENSOR USES A HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE GEL sandwiched between layers of silicone that can detect different types of touch, including swiping and tapping, even when it is stretched, folded or bent.
THE PROTOTYPE MEA- SURES 5 CM X 5 CM, but can be easily scaled up in size — as large 50 m x 50 m — as it uses inex- pensive, widely available materials, including gel and silicone.
THE SENSOR PROVIDES INFORMATION ON FINGER POSITION IN 3D, which can be utilized for device input and gesture APPLICATIONS INCLUDE recognition in wearable unobtrusive fitness and patches and flexible health monitoring, other devices. Additionally, it wearable technologies can tell if the sensor has and robotic “skin.” been deformed (i.e. bent THE SENSOR or stretched). TRANSFERS DATA VIA TINY WIRES that carry the electrical signals back to your smart phone or other mobile devices — the next generation of sensor will connect by Bluetooth.
INGENUITY 25 FEATURES
THE NEXT
26 ISSUE 37 “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible,” declared Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, in 1895. “The growth of the Internet will slow dras- tically. … By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s,” announced Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman in 1998. “Two years from now, spam will be solved,” blurted Bill Gates in 2004.
The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented. -Dennis Gabor, Nobel Prize-winning inventor of holography
Why bother trying to predict the future — the distant future, in particular? It’s ultimately unknowable, after all, and publicly prognosticating about it is a thankless endeavor: if you’re wrong, you may be laughed at (albeit posthumously), and if you’re right, you probably won’t be around to enjoy any praise that comes your way. But there is value in looking ahead. It is only by con- templating possible futures for humanity that we can prepare ourselves for what may come to pass. If possible, we might also decide what kind of future looks best to us and steer ourselves, as best we can, in that direction. Since applied science impacts every aspect of our lives — from health and communication to enter- tainment and the environment — its future will, to a large extent, determine the future of our planet. So who better to ask what tomorrow will bring than members of UBC’s applied science community? Here are some of their replies to the question, “What will your field look like in 100 years?”
YEARS OF APPLIED SCIENCE
Illustration by Raymond Biesinger INGENUITY 27 FEATURES
Unbreakable smart skin. Invisible, unobtrusive and that vastly exceed today’s technologies in quality, tougher than graphene, it will not only monitor and complexity and performance will be developed and automatically regulate things like temperature, manufactured at a fraction of the cost and speed humidity, pressure and air flow, but also protect our — thanks in part to advanced 3D printing and com- bodies from scrapes and gunshots and everything puter modeling/simulation capabilities, which will in between. The artificial skin will also be used to enable designs to be tested, iterated and perfected restore full sensory capacity to people with nerve (from both functional and customer satisfaction damage or (when paired with prosthetics, which standpoints) in a digital environment before the first themselves will be seamlessly integrated with the physical version is ever produced. body and brain) missing limbs. Algorithmic architects and planners. Equipped with Microscopic, implantable, body-powered sensor- powerful machine learning algorithms, computers — analyzers. Around-the-clock monitoring of vitals, not human architects, engineers or planners — will blood and just about anything else inside your body design the buildings and cities of the future. By pro- will be performed by implanted sensors just a few cessing user inputs and vast quantities of historical microns in size. Powered by body energy (heat, data, artificial intelligence systems will craft plans sound, movement) and protected by a special coat- that strike an optimal balance between citizen/ ing, they will generate real-time health reports from occupant needs, cost, constructability, social equity, “womb to tomb.” What’s more, these sensors will be cultural diversity and environmental impact. capable of precise stimulation of the brain, nerves, Virtual reality pills. muscles and other parts of the inner body to aid the Forget VR goggles, VR treatment of various disorders. headsets, even VR rooms; if you want Sensors will be capable of precise stim- to feel like you’re in another reality, you ulation of the brain, nerves, muscles and need to alter the chem- istry of your brain. A other parts of the inner body to aid the century from now our understanding of treatment of various disorders. neurochemistry and engineering processes will be such that whole experiences — zipping down the Underground living. Cities will be not just taller, but slopes in the Swiss Alps, or hiking on Mars — will be deeper — much deeper. Extensive interconnected delivered in the form of a pill or some other means tunnels, caverns, shafts and galleries will be used of neural manipulation. for living and office spaces, transportation, Smarter medicine. Using next-level medical simu- warehousing, manufacturing, recreation, energy lation and other technologies, doctors will be able storage/generation and food production. This to design and execute the optimum personalized will increase spatial density and infrastructure treatment strategy for every patient. For their part, efficiency, as well as allow vast swaths of above- surgeons will have detailed real-time medical images ground space to be reclaimed as sustainable, and procedural guidance projected directly into their healthy living environments. brains as they operate with robot assistance. In Faster, better, cheaper manufacturing. Products addition, many clinical procedures will be obsolete;
28 ISSUE 37 We will finally have homes, vehicles and industrial facilities — all intelligently self-controlled — that generate as much clean energy as they consume. instead of joint replacements, for instance, dam- Recycling processes will also be much faster, safer aged cartilage will be selectively regrown. and more accurate, being robot-operated and fed Space materials. The Stone Age, the Bronze Age, products that have been designed with future dis- the Iron Age: materials have defined entire eras and assembly in mind. the twentieth century saw many other materials Space mining. Mining will be more mechanized and (silicon, fibreglass, plastics, polymers and various automated, enabling value to be extracted from alloys among them) transform our world. In the com- lower-grade deposits and in challenging geological ing century, humans will witness the discovery of a environments, including outer space. An advanced completely new material — probably somewhere in understanding of the mineral microbiome will also space — that will enable the development of tech- allow the development of new biotechnologies that nologies unimaginable today, as well as develop and use bacteria and other means to obtain energy and manipulate materials beyond the nanoscale. carbon from minerals. By removing barriers to entry, such technologies will democ- Software everywhere. Just as the industrial revolution saw ratize mineral extraction and machines extending and enhanc- ultimately transform the ing our physical abilities, the mining industry. software revolution is extending Future homes will be tran- and enhancing our mental ones. sitory and biodegradable. With robots taking over or aug- Temporary housing solutions menting most mechanical tasks, will be accessible broadly and there will be more resources for quickly at a fraction of the creative thinking and intellectual environmental and financial advancement. Yet, as ever-larger quantities of soft- stress caused by permanent, traditional residences. ware are produced, the need for quality checks and When “the big one”— the inevitable earthquake that security safeguards will become even more crucial is predicted to decimate a significant portion of the than they are today. Pacific Northwest — hits, millions of people will be rendered homeless. Future community planners and Designer microorganisms. Artificial enzymes and microorganisms will be routinely designed and architects will provide a solution of “pop up commu- synthesized from scratch to enable the creation of nities” for fast response to crisis situations that can products that meet humanity’s health, energy, man- be disassembled and relocated with ease. Unlike ufacturing and other needs. Using cheap, renewable your IKEA furniture (which we know can’t withstand ingredients, these custom-made molecules and more than one or two disassembles before making microbes will produce minutely tailored pharmaceu- its way to the landfill), once these temporary struc- ticals, biofuels, biomaterials and specialty chemicals tures begin to deteriorate, parts can be reused, recy- in any quantity and at low cost. cled or left to biodegrade. I A net-zero energy world. Having figured out how to efficiently and economically harness energy from the sun, wind, waste and other renewable resources, we will finally have homes, vehicles and industrial facilities — all intelligently self-controlled — that generate as much clean energy as they consume.
INGENUITY 29 FEATURES SO CLOSE t isn’t unusual for two people who live or work in close proximity to have little interaction. But Iwhat if they’re both tech entrepreneurs with similar backgrounds, interests and complementary strengths? One might wonder why they don’t con- nect more often. Vancouver and Seattle are kind of like these people. Not only are they just 120 miles apart, they also have many commonalities: diverse, well-educated populations, robust business sectors, close ties with Asia, excellence in areas like biotechnology and computer games. However, as the Boston Consulting Group (BSG) noted in a 2016 report, “their level of connectedness is more akin to cities that are 2,000 miles apart.” This gap (and how to close it) is the focus of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference. Now, going into its third year, the annual conference brings together leaders in business, academia and government in the Pacific Northwest to identify opportunities for stimulating regional growth and collaboration. Featuring discussion on a wide range of topics — from clean tech and education to smart cities and venture capital investment — the confer- ence has signaled a renewed interest in strengthen- ing bonds between BC and Washington. The envi- sioned “corridor” would facilitate the flow of people, ideas and resources across the border, creating a vibrant, unified innovation hub that is competitive on a global scale.
THE ENVISIONED CORRIDOR WOULD FACILITATE THE FLOW OF PEOPLE, IDEAS, AND RESOURCES ACROSS THE BORDER, CREATING A VIBRANT, UNIFIED INNOVATION HUB THAT IS COMPETITIVE ON A GLOBAL SCALE.
30 ISSUE 37 YET SO FAR SO CLOSE A key ingredient in this bubbling tech cauldron is UBC, The idea of fostering closer ties within the Cascadia whose president, Santa Ono, spoke at the 2017 con- region is not new. But at the 2016 Cascadia con- ference. The BSG report identified universities as one ference — a high-profile event whose attendees of five “innovation enablers,” and UBC has been work- included Bill Gates and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella ing to establish stronger collaborations and research — former BC Premier Christy Clark and Washington partnerships in the region. Among these are: Governor Jay Inslee made a formal commitment to help each other make it happen. By signing a mem- • a consortium aimed at reducing carbon orandum of understanding, they agreed to take emissions in commercial aviation; members measures that would facilitate trade and access to capital, as well as advance joint programs in areas include Boeing, Noram Engineering, sustainable such as research, education, workforce develop- jet fuel company SkyNRG and a number of ment and transportation. other stakeholders in the aviation industry, Several promising developments have taken place including Air Canada and WestJet since then. On the transportation front, for instance, there are plans to establish a seaplane route • the Cascadia Urban Analytics Cooperative, between Vancouver’s Coal Harbour and the Seattle a UBC-University of Washington (UW) partner- area, and Washington state has committed $1 mil- ship that uses data science to address major lion to an assessment of the feasibility of building a high-speed rail between Vancouver and the US urban issues like health and homelessness; Northwest; the line would transport commuters supported by a $1 million gift from Microsoft between Vancouver and Washington in under an hour. And the region’s technology sectors will likely • the Global Innovation Exchange, a Bellevue, get a significant boost thanks to the formation of WA-based graduate technology school that UBC the Cascadia Innovation Network, aimed at con- necting entrepreneurs with innovation partners and joined in 2017; founded by UW and Tsinghua each other, and the Seattle-Vancouver Financial University, with support from Microsoft Innovation Network, an “international financial cen- ter” that will facilitate tech financing. • an initiative called “Transportation Futures,” While it is unlikely that this joining of forces will which UBC’s Clean Energy Research Centre is in create another Silicon Valley, greater cooperation discussions with UW to collaborate on; partners between Vancouver and Seattle may make them currently include Simon Fraser University and the more attractive destinations for top talent and University of Victoria enable growth at a level that neither city could achieve independently. I
Illustration by Tom Froese INGENUITY 31 FEATURES
ost “basement stories” begin with a worn-out credit card and Mexcruciating work hours, but this entrepreneurial story also begins with a delivery truck lost in the suburbs, driving in circles and swinging its heavy load of pipe through the North Vancouver streets. Expecting an industrial park, the con- founded driver calls the customer: “Is this the right address?” he asks. “This looks like a residential neighbourhood.” “Just toss the oil pipe on the front lawn,” replies the customer. He will roll it over to the garage later in the day. As CEO Stephen Robinson (BASc ‘05 MECH) relates the basement story of DarkVision Technologies, he smiles almost apologetically, as if we’ve heard it all Clear before. Yet DarkVision has become a bona fide success story, especially for three experienced entrepreneurs who, despite their relatively young age, have not only Image, developed a unique imaging technology for the oil and gas sector, but have also brightened the entrepreneurial path for many UBC students. Dark That such an upstart company would sup- port emerging tech talent may come as a surprise, but UBC is the alma mater of both Stephen (with his passion for imaging Well systems) and Graham Manders (BASc ‘06 MECH) (CTO and engineering mastermind DarkVision Technologies behind DarkVision’s innovations). Like any entrepreneur starting out today their Turns Entrepreneurial careers began with an idea, with technical Light on the Oil Sector talent and business acumen that over the years has led to not one, but two success-
Above: High-resolution imaging ful imaging companies. isn’t just for medical patients anymore. DarkVision has spent Founded in 2005, their first startup, years developing a new ultra- ClearVision, outfitted assembly lines sound-based imaging technology for the manufacture of cardboard boxes that can image an oil well dozens of kilometres long at the sub- with “intelligent camera systems.” After microscopic level. Deployed by a winsome buy-out in 2011, Graham and either wireline, e-coil or tractor, the advanced tool can perform Stephen opted to convert that windfall a 360-degree scan of the deep into an entirely new venture, seeking a dark well. Right: DarkVision’s niche that no other optics company was founders Stephen Robinson (left) and Graham Manders visit UBC, filling — or filling well. their alma mater.
32 ISSUE 37 After some business reconnaissance in been inextricably linked to the development the Alberta oil sands — over the past three of talented, innovative students. After all, their years, Stephen has flown to Calgary over employees are mostly UBC engineering grads. 100 times — a niche began to present itself. “While it’s great that the students got some It became apparent that oil companies value from the experience,” says Stephen, needed to more effectively monitor the “that test well was critical to us. We pushed sludgy, cumbersome gastronomy of gas the team pretty hard because we really wells. “Initially, we looked at many different needed it to test our ultrasound imaging opportunities in oil and gas,” says Stephen, “before deciding to go upstream in the prototypes.” value chain to the wells themselves.” The Why use ultrasound? The team discovered enterprising pair also had the good fortune that while a digital camera would become of meeting Osman Malik, a veteran of the a muddy mess down in a well, ultrasound oil and gas sector who would co-found the would provide high-resolution 3D scans of company with them and become CFO. the wells. The system isn’t dissimilar, at least Though it would take time and patience to in principal, to the ultrasound you might develop, their optics technology would, in undergo at the hospital, but to test whether 2014, be named the top New BC Venture, this tool could weather a tempestuous, snagging the BC Innovation Council’s real-world oil well, they needed to simulate $100,000 prize. Soon Cenovus, Suncor that gooey environment — hence the stu- and other oil corporations would become dent-built tank. DarkVision customers, drawn by this new How does it work? Ultrasound pulses pass paradigm-changing technology that could Over the years DarkVision has enlisted UBC engineering students through the capstone project program. By through the fluid, hit the metal and bounce illuminate the blind spots of an oil well presenting our fourth-year undergrads with an engineer- back, all the while sketching a sub-millimet- whose deep dark inaccessibility can signifi- ing challenge, DarkVision has not only given these future professionals real-world experience, but also benefited itself ric picture over time and space (over several cantly impact operational efficiency, and by incorporating many of their imaginative solutions. potentially the environment. This includes kilometres of underground pipe). To gauge the success of this device, which is housed pipe failures and casing problems, connec- The Shape of the Entrepreneurial Pulse tion cracks and corroded downhole devices, within the aforementioned “router” tool, Enter DarkVision’s impressive maker space: even the build-up of “scale” and other pre- the engineers needed precise feedback on cipitates that affect well production. prime square footage in a North Vancouver those pulses. industrial park which is light years from But how did the trio maneuver their vision For this stage of its development, DarkVision Stephen’s basement. into entrepreneurial success? Like many once again had help from eager students — tech start-up narratives, this story of Along a high table, engineers peck at laptops. this time from engineering physics — who DarkVision involves choices. In this case, Across the vaulted room runs a long, stainless managed to create imaging technology for the there was the question of which technology steel tank of warm liquid — a test well — with measurement of the ultrasound curve. In plain platform to use: Camera? Laser Scanner? a submerged industrial pipe and what resem- terms? Imagine a camera that can assess the bles a high-tech sink router. This curious tank Both of these potential platforms were functioning of your hospital ultrasound. was custom-made; after all, no maker space almost immediately ruled out because of Talking excitedly about the company’s growth has ever required or could possibly make use the sludgy, inhospitable environment of plan and their product’s increased market of a 60-ft long horizontal test well. the average gas well. For any camera to demand, Stephen then apologizes because function in fluid, the conditions must be For this reason, the trio had UBC mechan- he has to leave for a flight to Calgary — to virtually pristine. “You can’t even use a ical engineering students build the tank as meet with another potential customer. I Go-Pro in the Fraser River,” says Stephen. part of their fourth year capstone design “It’s too muddy.” project. A supporter of UBC Engineering So what platform would become the Co-op scholarships, student team awards future of DarkVision? and multiple Engineering Alumni Networking Nights, DarkVision, Stephen says, has always
INGENUITY 33 FEATURES
For thousands of years, members of the Tsilhqot’in Nation lived and flourished in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of what is now WORK British Columbia. But in the 19th century, with the growth of the fur trade, gold min- ing and settler colonies, things took a turn 2 GIVE for the worse; despite community strength and resistance, the Tsilhqot’in people found themselves facing major social and econo- mic challenges presented by colonial rule.
34 ISSUE 37 o this day, racism and marginalization methods and ethnographic approach, Indigenous peoples in the Canadian in the health, educational and social they have steadily built a body of evi- criminal justice system. sectors remain significant barriers dence suggesting that W2G can improve T “Creating tangible objects that can enrich to the wellbeing and economic prosperity health and social wellbeing and strength- a child’s life is very different from typical of the Tsilhqot’in and other Indigenous en cultural identity among incarcerated prison work, which doesn’t usually qual- peoples in Canada. The situation is espe- men and recipient communities. ify as meaningful activity,” says Brown. cially dire in the realm of criminal justice: “Work 2 Give has given inmates the posi- “Making things — useful things that will be despite making up just three per cent of tive sense of self that develops when you valued by others — gives many of these the Canadian adult population, Indigenous help others and feel that you can create men a sense of value and purpose and people account for 26 per cent of admis- a better future for yourself,” says Brown. encourages them to think of people other sions into Canadian correctional facilities. “But what has been more unexpected than themselves. We’ve seen how Work To address some of these inequities, the is the way the Tsilhqot’in families have 2 Give restores community members’ Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) engaged with the items they’ve received support for the men’s healing and rehabil- and the Tsilhqot’in First Nation created and, indirectly, with the people who made itation and fosters accountability among Work 2 Give (W2G), a unique partnership them. The Work 2 Give initiative is fos- offenders — all of which contributes to the that donates high-quality furniture, toys, tering the restoration and strengthening creation of healthier, safer communities.” I clothing and cultural objects, as well as of connections between inmates and the fresh organic vegetables, to Tsilhqot’in communities they come from.” families in the region. The source of these To date, these connections have tak- goods is Indigenous men incarcerated in en a number of different forms. Youth federal prisons across BC, who tend the drumming circles, created as a crime vegetables and craft the donated prod- prevention initiative, use W2G drums. ucts — beds, drums, moccasins, knitted First Nations elders slept in W2G beds hats and mittens — with their own hands. while being hosted at a community In this way, W2G seeks to give Indigenous centre during the BC Elders Gathering inmates not only employment skills, but in 2016. Children removed from their also meaningful work that promotes homes by BC’s Ministry of Children and rehabilitation and improves the quality Family Development (MCFD) have found of Tsilhqot’in families’ lives. What’s more, W2G sock monkeys in the care packages by filling inmates’ long days and nights they receive, and donated beds have with productive activities, W2G aims to been used to support families in meeting curtail the drug use, violence and depres- MCFD requirements to have their chil- sion that are often correlated with life in dren returned home from care. Members hyper-masculine prison environments. of recipient communities want to support In 2014, Drs. Helen Brown and Colleen the men’s rehabilitation, Brown says, and Varcoe, both professors in UBC’s School have even suggested making more direct of Nursing, joined W2G as academic contact with the men in order to show collaborators and set out to determine their gratitude and their investment in how successful W2G was at meeting its the men’s wellbeing. objectives. Their team conducted exten- Working in close partnership with the Rocking orcas, sock monkeys and traditional sive interviews with inmates, Tsilhqot’in CSC, Tsilhqot’in community leaders, drums are just some of the items made for Tsilhqot’in families by Indigenous inmates community members and leaders, and community distribution partners and involved in Work 2 Give. stakeholders within CSC. They observed advisory groups, the UBC-based team is the distribution of W2G items and their now attempting to grow and expand the use in Tsilhqot’in communities, including reach of W2G and to create sustainable cultural events. They collected and ana- models for it within federal prisons and lyzed data from federal prisons to deter- Tsilhqot’in communities. By improving mine what impact, if any, participating in rehabilitation programs for Indigenous W2G had on inmate rehabilitation. Over offenders, Brown hopes to help reduce the course of two years, using this mixed the discrimination experienced by
INGENUITY 35 IN MEMORIAM
Glorious Instrument The Outgoing Design of Bing Thom
36 ISSUE 37 nlike the other interna- sion. Yet Thom, with consider- tional architects bidding able resolve and patience for Ufor the Fort Worth con- bureaucracy, managed to flip a tract, Bing Thom flew to Texas a SALA director Ronald Kellett described Thom, forgotten shopping mall into the few days early. The other competitors had it’s perhaps no surprise that the architect civil nerve-centre of Surrey. already prepared their designs for the new embraced the concept of sustainability long “People liked to work with Bing,” says Heeney, Tarrant County College campus, while Thom, before the term was coined. Commissioned “because of his sense of collaboration.” And even the afternoon before the presenta- to build what became the critically acclaimed yet, if the late Bing Thom was patient and tion, had yet to put pencil to paper. Canada Pavillion for Expo ’96, in the swelter- preferred to collaborate, he was always Instead, as his co-worker Michael Heeney ing summer heat of Seville, Spain, Thom was chasing time too. “One of the regrets most nervously looked on, the Vancouver archi- the first to naturally “air-condition” a struc- of us have,” says Cheng, “is that Bing worked tect meandered the inner city, speaking to ture. He even outfitted the interior courtyard all of his life to get where he is. A lot of doors locals and cab drivers as some architects with glassy walls of water. were just starting to open for him.” Because might consult with an of Thom’s lofty goals, he urban developer. Thom built very few buildings — “FROM AN ECOLOGICAL VIEWPOINT HE WAS LIGHT YEARS AHEAD even asked local artists, far fewer than most archi- “So what is the colour of OF EVERYBODY ELSE, YET WHEN THE APPROACH BECAME FASH- tects of his stature. Though Fort Worth?” Only at the IONABLE YEARS LATER, BING BECAME ALMOST CONTRARIAN. HE as Cheng points out, to eleventh hour did Thom WAS SO DISTRESSED THAT ARCHITECTS WERE BECOMING PRE- have erected a global repu- actually sketch out his tation on the basis of so few OCCUPIED WITH ECOLOGICAL CONCERNS. HE WORRIED THEY design for the campus, projects is a considerable which his firm won after WERE FORGETTING ABOUT DESIGN.” achievement in its own right. presenting details about – Michael Heeney, President and CEO of the Surrey City Development Corporation To establish a career as a the city and the land- designer of performing arts scape that even local administrators “From an ecological viewpoint he was light theatres demands time, Cheng says. “It’s an weren’t aware of. years ahead of everybody else,” says art not a science,” says Cheng. “Lots of per- While Thom’s designs often drove to the Michael Heeney, principal at Bing Thom forming art theatres don’t actually perform.” essence of place and community, the Architects, “and yet when the approach By all accounts, UBC’s Chan Centre solid- realization of those fabled construc- became fashionable years later, Bing ified Thom’s reputation, in part, because tions demanded exceptional patience. became almost contrarian. He was so dis- of its acoustics. Some musicians, even International attention for his performing tressed that architects were becoming famous ones, liken its vaulted acoustics to arts centres and suburban innovation came preoccupied with ecological concerns. He a gargantuan string instrument, with har- fairly late in his career, as Thom was espe- worried they were forgetting about design.” monics resonating outward. cially “persnickety” regarding his choice of Given that Thom eventually garnered inter- As Yo Yo Ma once wrote, addressing projects. Few, if any, of his designs were national renown for his performing arts are- Bing Thom: “Great to play in your glorious motivated by money; his concerns leaned nas, including Washington, DC’s Arena Stage instrument.” I towards what he called “the greater good.” and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts As an “outspoken provocateur with a lively at UBC, his Surrey Central City project might mind on constant alert for a greater good,” as seem an aesthetic, or even career digres-
INGENUITY 37 IN MEMORIAM
JOHN FRIEDMANN URBAN PLANNING PIONEER AND HONOURARY UBC PROFESSOR
he UBC Faculty of Applied Science “His work has challenged generations of Dubbing Friedmann “the epitomic progres- Tmourns the passing of John Friedmann, planning scholars, educators, students sive planner,” the United Nations stated 91, an honourary professor in UBC’s School and practitioners to reveal their normative that “[h]is ideas on regional development, of Community and Regional Planning stance, rethink their explanations, create world cities, participation and empower- (SCARP). visions of good cities, and link knowledge ment, and the importance of civil society in Also a professor emeritus in the Luskin to action for a more humane and just world,” relation to planning and governance have School of Public Affairs at the University of wrote Mike Douglass, a professor at the been extremely important in the evolution California, Los Angeles, where he served as National University of Singapore, in the of ideas on planning in both the developed head of the Urban Planning Program in the Journal of Planning Education and Research and developing world.” university’s Graduate School of Architecture last year. In addition to his honourary professor- and Urban Planning for ship at UBC, Friedmann held many years, Friedmann “[H]IS IDEAS ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, WORLD CITIES, PARTIC- honourary positions at the played a pivotal role in IPATION AND EMPOWERMENT, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CIVIL University of Melbourne planning scholarship and and the National University SOCIETY IN RELATION TO PLANNING AND GOVERNANCE HAVE education for over four of Taiwan. He received hon- decades. BEEN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN THE EVOLUTION OF IDEAS ON ourary doctorates from “I consider John Fried- PLANNING IN BOTH THE DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING WORLD.” Dortmund Technical Univer- mann [to be] the father sity, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and York University, of our urban planning department,” said Friedmann authored or co-edited more Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, associate and advised the governments of Brazil, than 25 books and wrote over 150 chap- dean of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Venezuela, Chile, Mozambique and China, ters, articles and reviews on topics such Affairs, “a huge figure whose vision has where he was appointed Honorary Foreign as regional development planning, transac- guided our department’s structure, overall Advisor to the China Academy of Planning mission and social justice goals.” tive planning, social learning and the world and Urban Design. city hypothesis – work that has been cited Born in Vienna in 1926, Friedmann left John Friedmann is survived by his wife, over 50,000 times. His numerous recog- Europe for the United States at the age Leonie Sandercock, a professor at SCARP; nitions include a Guggenheim Fellowship, of 14. After earning a PhD in planning at his daughter, Manuela Friedmann; and his the Order of Bernardo O’Higgins (con- the University of Chicago in 1955 and brother, Martin Friedmann. The BC and UBC teaching stints at the Federal University of ferred by the President of Chile), the flags (at the North Plaza of the Old Student Bahia, Brazil (1956-58), MIT (1961-65) and Distinguished Planning Educator Award Union Building) were lowered in Friedmann’s the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile from the Association of Collegiate Schools memory on June 14, 2017. I (1966-69), he joined UCLA in 1969 and of Planning and the United Nations Human remained there until his retirement in 1996. Settlements Lecture award.
38 ISSUE 37 REUNION HIGHLIGHTS
Alumni Relations supplied each of us with mementos to mark the occasion. Nineteen of our class of 29 were able to attend and we shared notable events in our lives since we last met 10 years ago. The energy was palpable and our senses of humour were definitely intact! It struck us how much wisdom and life experience we had accu- CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 1966 - 50TH REUNION ENGINEERING PHYSICS 1956 - 60TH REUNION mulated as well as the enormity of our contributions September 21 to 23, 2016 September 30 and October 1, 2016 to nursing and to health care. The majority have now The 1966 Chemical Engineering class held its 50th The 1956 Engineering Physics class held its 60th retired from their nursing and health care positions. anniversary reunion from September 21 to 23. The reunion at UBC. Six of the original nine members of However, it was clear that the knowledge and skills class’ seventh reunion since graduating was based our graduating Engineering Physics class (and some that we acquired during our years of nursing and at the Granville Island Hotel; activities included a family members) attended. We have met as a group health care endeavours are being pressed into action beer night for the grads, a dinner for the spouses, fairly regularly since 1996, when we held our first as we spend time with family and friends, adjust to lunch on campus, dinner at the hotel and breakfast UBC reunion since graduating in 1956. changes in our personal lives and undertake commu- nity projects. Our lives are enriched by pursuing new at the ’Off The Tracks Bistro’ on the Island. The photo The UBC part of our reunion was held Friday, Septem- interests and acquiring new skills. was taken during the lunch at the new Engineering ber 30. We met for coffee in the Hennings Building and Students Centre, a recommended venue for reunions, I felt a thrill as I walked by Hennings 200, site of my We invited a special guest, Dr. Suzanne Campbell, and includes Dr. Englezos, Chemical and Biological first UBC Physics class way back in 1951! Coffee was [former] director of the UBC School of Nursing. Engineering Department head, and retired Chemical followed by a wonderful tour of Engineering Physics Suzanne seemed fascinated by our stories and joined Engineering professors Dr. Epstein, Dr. Branion and Dr. undergraduate project classrooms, given by Dr. John us for a delicious dinner in a private dining room at Wilkinson (all of whom still have an office on campus). Nakane and Bernhard Zender. Finally, we met for lunch the Sylvia. She gave us a brief synopsis of the accom- Sadly missing from the photo, as they are no longer at UBC’s Sage Restaurant. On Saturday, October 1, we plishments of the School, faculty and students and with us, are Ron Nicholson, Morris Mennell and toured the BC Sports Hall of Fame at BC Place, Vancou- also informed us about the newer developments in the Marlene Gosling. Marlene, the only female among the ver. We especially enjoyed seeing display photographs undergraduate and graduate programs. We were also nearly 1,000 engineering students in 1966, passed which include Michael Harris, a member of UBC’s 1956 taken by the change in nursing education technologies away in June 2016. gold medal winning rowing team. and approaches since our UBC exposure years ago. The next day saw many of our classmates, along Submitted by Peter Hemmes, CHML ‘66 Overall, I think and hope that this was a wonderful reunion for all; we feel fortunate to have been part of with spouses, meeting for brunch, again at the this close-knit group. We hope for more reunions! Sylvia. There was no shortage of energy when sharing more stories, despite our previous late evening. We Submitted by Peter Riley, Eng Phys ‘56 concluded that the event was a huge success and that we want to come together again, perhaps in two years and at the same venue.
Submitted by Linda Leonard, BSN ‘66
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 1956 - 60TH REUNION September 22, 2016 On September 22, five Chemical Engineering graduates from the class of 1956, accompanied BACHELOR OF NURSING 1966 - 50TH REUNION by their wives, met at the Chemical and Biological September 9 and 10, 2016 Engineering Building where Dr. Englezos made an The BSN Class of 1966 met for their 50th reunion interesting presentation that provided insight into how in Vancouver on September 9 and 10, 2016. Once large and varied the department had grown in the 60 we recovered from the shock that one half century BSN 2006 - 10TH REUNION November 19, 2016 years since the group graduated. The graduates were had passed since we crossed the stage in UBC’s War very impressed by all that they saw in the building and Memorial Gym on our graduation day, we began our Saturday, November 19, 2016, the UBC Nursing couldn’t help comparing with the facilities that they celebrations! class of 2006 met at the Coast Plaza Vancouver to had left behind in “The Pit” in the basement of the old We gathered at the Sylvia Hotel in an eighth-floor celebrate ten years as nursing graduates. Graduates Chemistry building on Main Mall. There was much talk hospitality suite, arranged by our organizers Diane came from afar to meet and reminisce about their and reminiscing supplemented with excellent food and Hick and Jackie Rohan, who did an incredible job. times in school. It was also a wonderful opportunity wine. All agreed that the reunion had been successful. The UBC School of Nursing and the Applied Science to learn about what each grad had achieved since Submitted by Bob Kendrick, CHML ‘56 completion of nursing school. There is really no limit
INGENUITY 39 REUNION HIGHLIGHTS
to the amazing accomplishments of the group and all left with a warm feeling of reconnecting with friends.
Submitted by Leanne Bulmer, BSN ‘06
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 1987 – 30TH REUNION BACHELOR OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ’92-94 July 14 and 15, 2017 September 29 and 30, 2017 Club Mech ’87 celebrated our 30-year reunion with The UBC Landscape Architecture 25 ‘ish’ Year a pub night on campus, a round of golf and a dinner reunion included alumni from graduating years 1992, MINING ENGINEERING 1977 – 40TH REUNION cruise. Over 30 of us met on Friday night (grads 1993 and 1994. We had a great turnout with class- March 24, 2017 only) at Mahony & Sons, where we shared appies, mates making the trip from Switzerland, California, The Mining Class of 1977 met in the Robert H. Lee bevies and stories. We wandered off along West Mall, Calgary, Whistler, the Caribou, Vancouver Island and Alumni Centre for coffee and treats; it gave us a assessing the new additions to the campus since our from every corner of the Lower Mainland. Patrick chance to catch up and share a bit of history with time; most of them met our approval and some were Mooney led the group on a tour of the new studio and each other before wandering across campus to the astounding! We were very happy to see the old Barn we were able to see how the program has changed Kaiser Building to see Dean Marc Parlange. successfully persist but missed the Old Cheez. We and developed over the years. We were entertained A couple more of the “Magnificent Seven” managed stood around the plaza where the Cheez used to stand with a slide show of photos from our studio years — to join us for dinner on Saturday night, along with a and reminisced about our exploits on and off campus. no, we have not changed a bit — as well as by a couple of Mining Department professors: from the We had so much fun reconnecting with each other few fellow alumni who gave presentations on what past, George Poling, who guided our class through our that we decided we need to meet more frequently. So, mischief they had gotten up to over the last 25 years. shenanigans and mysteries of mineral processing, and we now have annual pub nights in the works. If you are A fantastic dinner followed at Sage Bistro. The party from the present, Malcolm Scoble, who both knew on our reunion list, watch for the announcements. If you carried on at Koerner’s Pub where many growlers were Blue Evans in his final years and has worked hard to would like to be added to our list, let one of us know! enjoyed by all. On Saturday, a few more souls gath- ered at Sue and Hugh’s house for a catered Southern maintain the intimacy in the department that we had Submitted by Katherina Tarnai-Lokhorst, MECH ‘87 th th BBQ — it was a relaxing time where we swapped sto- the privilege of enjoying. 1958 UBC Engineering Class – 59 Reunion Lunch – Sept. 28 , 2017 ries and generally rabble-roused, which even included Submitted by Alf Hills, MINE ‘77 a book signing by Moura Quayle. Everyone agreed we would plan another reunion sooner than later! We are lucky to have graduated from such a creative and inspiring program — our small but close knit group will always celebrate the bond of being a UBC LARC.
Standing, L-R UPCOMING REUNIONS 1.Richard Kania (Mech) 2. Chris Huntley (EngPhys) 3. Fred Schrack (EE) 4. Don Gunning (Met) 5. George Nightingale (EE) 19586. Terry McKimm UBC (EngPhys) Engineering 7. Don Swoboda (Mech) Class: 8.Bob Middlemas 59th (EE)reunion 9. Gerry Hildebrand lunch (Mech) 10. Jack Thompson (Mech) September 28, 201711. Ed Hahn (Met) 12. Allan Bayne (Mech) 13. Dave Kemle (EE) BSN ‘58 ENG ‘78 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 1977 – 40TH REUNION Seated, L-R ENG ‘58 CHML ‘93 1. Bill DiPasquale(Civil) 2. Russ Fraser (Mech) 3. Tom Fawsitt (Mech) 4. Zelma Moore(EngPhys) 5. Ed Frazer (EE) 6. Don Duprey (Mech) 7. Allan Laird (Mech) 8. Tom Boulanger (Mech) MECH ‘68 June 23, 2017 Left early: Bob Dolphin (Civil) We were very impressed with the tour, discovering the high level of technology that has developed since we graduated with only slide-rules and basic calcu- WALTER GAGE BOOK LAUNCH lators in our last year. The cutting edge of robotics “THE AGE OF GAGE: UNTOLD STORIES OF HOW ONE CANADIAN SHAPED using hologram programming awed us all. We thought THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS” the integration of course theory into projects was a You knew him on UBC campus as Dean Gage and later, President Gage. brilliant idea instead of graduating only with a lot of He touched many of us as a math professor and then as the person in theory — far more practical. The alumni group filled charge of running our entire university. The “Friends of Walter Gage” were in all the blanks in order to coordinate the day for us. committed to recognizing his lasting impact on the lives of so many, and to With the cooperation of the weather, we thought the honour his legacy by publishing a book entitled The Age of Walter Gage: How Ideas Lounge venue and the food were excellent. One Canadian Shaped the Lives of Thousands with memorable stories and anecdotes, photos and a biographical summary of his exemplary life. Submitted by David Spears, MECH ‘77
To order the book, visit: waltergagebook.engineering.ubc.ca
40 ISSUE 37 UPCOMING EVENTS
ENGINEERING ’78 – 40TH REUNION Friday, October 19, 2018 11:00 am - 3:00 pm Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre We are excited to announce that the 40th reunion of the entire UBC Engineering class of ’78 will be held the weekend of October 2018! A number of individual departmental reunions will take place around the main event, so watch for further updates and stay in contact with the organising committee. To stay up to date on all of the happenings and see who’ll be attending please join the private Facebook group page: “UBC Engineers ‘78 Reunion.” The committee is looking for additional volunteers to assist with the planning and implementation. If you are interested, please get in touch via the reunion Facebook group or email [email protected].
Committee members: Doug Dean (Chair) (BASc ’78 ENPH, PhD ’85 ELEC) Barb Dabrowski (BASc ’78 CIVL, MASc ’81 CIVL) Fred Dennert (BASc ’78 ELEC) Larry Sunnus (BASc ’78 CIVL)
MARGOLESE NATIONAL DESIGN FOR LIVING PRIZE ANNE CORMIER ALUMNI & PARTNERSHIP 2017 RECIPIENT AWARDS GALA May 3, 2018 @ The Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre PRIZE PRESENTATION EVENT This annual event is our opportunity to thank all of our alumni and MARCH 26, 2018 supporters who have made a deep and lasting commitment to 6:30pm nursing education, teaching and research. We will be presenting UBC Robson Square a number of awards — the Award of Distinction, the Alumni Recognition Award, the Young Alumni Award and the School of Nursing Partnership awards — to celebrate the special contributions and achievements of our colleagues.
For more information visit apsc.ubc.ca/events
INGENUITY 41 INGENUITY ASKS...
The Feedback Loop: with Pharmaceutical Innovator Doug Dean
Likening a career in bio-engineering to one’s mountaineering habit may seem a little off track. Yet UBC alumnus Doug Dean (BASc ‘78 ENPH, PhD ‘85 ELEC), now retired and living in Switzerland, considers his career and certain risks along the way.
What is the riskiest thing you’ve done? Three things are tied: 1) having kids; 2) joining Philip Morris International; 3) in a storm, climbing If your career were a question, what would that solo the North Face of Great Trango Tower in question be? Pakistan. “What does the client need? What is your idea of the perfect innovation? Would you rather have a highly original or Something unanticipated that solves a highly useful idea? significant problem. Neither. I’d prefer highly profitable. What makes a challenge interesting? What’s the most difficult thing about managing Uncertainty of the outcome. thousands of people working towards a single What went through your mind on your first goal? mountain climb? Focus. “How are we going to get down? (I was four.) What do you remember most about your days Who’s your favourite mountain climber? in UBC engineering? Bill March, one of the fathers of modern The nurses. ice-climbing. What do you most value in a collaborator? What is your greatest fear when trying to be Tenacity and a non-proprietary attitude. innovative while working in a large group? Name one innovator who would not, by conven- Trying presupposes failure. My greatest con- tional standards, be considered an innovator at all. cern is that people will hold back ideas because Hidekazu Tojo, the best itamae on the planet. they lack self-confidence. What is the personal trait you wish your career What career success or innovation are you had better made use of? most proud of? I used them all to the max, but wish I had been Jointly with my wife, Fran, “Method for produc- less tolerant of incompetence. tion refactoring of a producing entity” (Patent US20060259308). A practical application of What part of your own mind or imagination some really sophisticated math. contributes most to your inventiveness? The confidence to surround myself with people What do people often overlook when who are smarter and better than me. attempting to reach a goal? That multiple failures are likely before success. If you had a motto, one that followed your name everywhere it went, what would that What quality when you were younger would motto be? you most change if you could? What’s next? Excessive self-confidence. Would you ever give away an innovation of yours for free? Yes.
42 ISSUE 37 INGENUITY 43 A YEAR can CHANGE EVERYTHING