Research

Professor Carlos Ventura’s Innovate 2014 Presentation Video Now Online

Last fall, Civil professor Carlos Ventura delivered a dynamic presentation on earthquake engineering at Innovate 2014, the APSC’s first annual showcase of some of the most advanced research coming out of the Faculty. All the presentations are now available online – click to view! 

IC-IMPACTS Update: Dr. Nemy Banthia builds new partnerships in India

Pictured L – R, standing: BC Deputy Minister for Advanced Education Sandra Carroll, Aisa Pacific Foundation President and CEO Stewart Beck, BC Premier Christy Clark, BC Minister for Advanced Education Amrik Virk, UBC President Arvind Gupta, College of Surgeons of India Chairman Gautam Sen. Seated: Nemy Banthia, Reliance Senior Vice President Gunjan Sharma The following […]

The EERF welcomes BC’s Minister of Education

Pictured L-R: Civil Professor and Director of the EERF Dr. Carlos Ventura; Ann English, P.Eng., CEO and Registrar, APEGBC; Hon. Peter Fassbender, Minister of Education; Charlene Fassbender. Photo Credit: Wendy D Photography The Department of Civil Engineering was pleased to welcome Education Minister Peter Fassbender to the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility on Friday. During his visit, […]

The Department of Civil Engineering welcomes Dr. Yahya Nazhat

The Department of Civil Engineering is very pleased to welcome Dr. Yahya Nazhat as the newest member of our faculty team. Dr. Nazhat brings over twenty five years of experience in geotechnical engineering design and implementation; having held senior engineering and management positions in industry in both Australia and Iraq. Dr. Nazhat was appointed as […]

Civil Professor Dr. Tarek Sayed recognized with a Centennial Road Safety Award

UBC Civil Engineering Professor Tarek Sayed receiving the Academic Research Centennial Road Safety Award at the 2014 TAC Conference & Exhibition from Doug McNeil (left), Deputy Minister of Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation and TAC President and Vern Janz (right), Director of Transport Services, Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works and Chair of the Canadian […]

Civil in the news: Dr. Carlos Ventura “on alert for the Big One”

UBC’s Carlos Ventura (Civil Engineering) is part of a team that is developing a new earthquake early-warning system. Photo: Paul Joseph. Click here for a five minute segment on the earthquake early-warning system from CBC News. Placing earthquake sensors in 50 schools is step one of a UBC engineer’s vision for a life-saving warning network. Ten, […]

Civil in the news: Dr. Carlos Ventura provides expert commentary on recent California earthquake

Dr. Carlos Ventura, Civil professor and director of UBC’s Earthquake Engineering Research Facility, provided local media with commentary on a recent strong earthquake in California, and how a similar earthquake would affect BC. Click here to view the on-air interview.

Hitting the road, safely: Q & A with Tarek Sayed

As vacationers embark on summer road trips, a Civil prof talks about new ways for making the highways and byways collision free Tarek Sayed is a road safety engineer in the Faculty of Applied Science. He uses automated video analysis techniques at intersections to make roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. What causes road […]

Civil faculty members awarded over $300,000 in NSERC funding

Civil engineering faculty members were five of the thirty six APSC researchers to receive funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) as part of the 2014 funding competition. Research Tools and Instruments Grants Program awards went to Professor Pierre Bérubé for the Organic Carbon Characterization System research project and Professor […]

Civil engineering research recognized at BC Legislative Assembly

At the BC Legislative Assembly on the technology for recycling of phosphorus from sewage, MLA Ralph Sultan spoke of Civil Engineering Professor Don Mavinic’s research on phosphorus recycling. Dr. Mavinic and his team of UBC engineers recently demonstrated how they extract phosphorus and convert it into a slow-release fertilizer at Annacis Island. Sultan was present at the […]

Civil researchers report exciting findings in the field of superoxygenation

L – R: Civil graduate student Tyler Barber, Professor Don Mavinic, and Ken Christison, principal engineer at Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, pictured with the aeration column and dissolved oxygen monitors used for this research. Supplying oxygen via aeration for water treatment is an energy intensive process, accounting for up to 60% of the energy requirements in […]

Professor Pierre Bérubé co-supervisor of AWWA Student Best Paper Award winner

Dr. Pierre Bérubé was co-supervisor for the paper entitled “Impact of Surface Shear Stress and Pre-Coagulation on Membrane Fouling,” which was selected to receive the American Water Works Association Student Best Paper Award at the 2014 Membrane Technology Conference. Dr. Heather Wray (Ph.D. candidate at the time and now a Civil Postdoctoral Fellow) was the student winner. […]

Civil researchers work toward a sustainable waste management system for the wastewater treatment industry

Dr. K. Victor Lo’s team of graduate students, research associates, and postdoctoral fellows in Civil are approaching pre-commercialization of their “sludge-busting” microwave technology for sustainable waste management in the wastewater treatment industry. The microwave enhanced advanced oxidation process (MW/H2O2) is a patented technology developed by Dr. K.V. Lo’s research team at the UBC’s Civil Engineering […]

Civil professor co-leads Building Information Modeling project

Dr. Sheryl Staub-French is one of the leaders of the Construction and ICT project research team who published a report this week on the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Canada’s construction industry. The report, entitled “The Inevitable Shift Towards Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Canada’s Construction Sector” details the main benefits, challenges and […]

Faculty Seminar Series: Dr. Carlos Ventura gives overview of seismic risk in BC

Images courtesy of Carlos Ventura. At centre: BC Smart Infrastructure Monitoring System Shake Map, showing infrastructure currently being monitored. At right: Engineers inspect field vibration testing equipment at Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing. Dr. Carlos Ventura, Civil Engineering Professor and Director of the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility (EERF), presented the faculty seminar “The Art and Science […]

Civil Engineering unveils new Structural Teaching Lab

The Department of Civil Engineering welcomed industry partners to campus on April 24th, 2013, to mark the grand opening of the new Structural Engineering Teaching Laboratory in the Civil and Mechanical Engineering Building. Those present witnessed a demonstration of the lab’s new Reconfigurable Structure Testing Frame and Small Scale Shaking Table Facility. The new testing […]

Civil professor leads IC-IMPACTS to prevent disease and ensure water supply in India and Canada

Researchers from the University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, University of Toronto and 11 leading institutions in India have joined forces in a $30 million partnership to tackle urgent issues in both countries. Supported by the Canadian government and state and industry partners in India, the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate […]

New Master’s in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering program starts in September

UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science is working with marine industry leaders to develop a new Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NAME) graduate program in Mechanical Engineering.  The Department of Civil Engineering is also a partner to this new program, and Civil Engineering professor Dr. Michael Isaacson serves as the program’s Director.  Students in the NAME program […]

Civil Professor Dr. Jonathan Fannin honoured by the Engineering Institute of Canada

UBC Civil Engineering professor Jonathan Fannin will be inducted as Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) for his exceptional contributions to engineering. Fannin has compiled a body of experimental findings and related field observations that have contributed significantly to the state-of-the-art in geotechnical engineering as it relates to landslide risk management, designing with geosynthetics and seepage-induced […]

Top Canadian, Indian institutions form $30M partnership to improve water and infrastructure safety, eradicate diseases

Scientists from the University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, University of Toronto and 11 leading institutions in India are joining forces to tackle urgent issues in both countries with a $30-million partnership. Supported by the Canadian government and state and industry partners in India, the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community […]

UBC Civil Professor Wins National Award of Excellence in Geotechnical Engineering

UBC Civil Engineering Professor Jonathan Fannin received the 2012 Geosynthetics Division Award from the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) in recognition of his outstanding technical contribution to the application of geosynthetics in civil, geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering in Canada and internationally. From left: Fannin with Bryan Watts, CGS President (photo courtesy of the CGS). Fannin is an expert […]

Public Transit: Lessons from the Great Cities of the World

The world’s largest cities are resorting to tough love to reduce traffic congestion and pollution, according to UBC urban planning and transportation expert Jinhua Zhao.To read more on this expose by Lorraine Chan please visit: http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2012/10/04/public-transit-lessons-from-t…

Robotic Exploration of Aquatic Environments

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 20121:00pm – 2:00pmKAISER 2020/2030 ” Robotic Exploration of Aquatic Environments”By Dr. Bernard LavalAssociate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering Abstract Exploration of the aquatic environment is complicated by extreme pressure and near-zero propagation of radio or microwave radiation. While extreme pressure requires bulky pressure protection vessels, a greater obstacle to exploration of aquatic […]

Christchurch Earthquake: One Year Later

TUESDAY, February 14, 20121:00pm – 2:30pmKAISER 2020/2030 “Christchurch Earthquake: One Year Later”By Dr. Ken Elwood, P.Eng.Associate Professor, University of British Columbia AbstractAt 12:51pm on February 22, 2011, Dr. Ken Elwood was about to sit down for a seminar on Seismic Assessment of Existing Masonry Buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand, when a Mw 6.3 earthquake violently […]

Cleaning Membranes with Bubbles

TUESDAY, March 06, 20121:00pm – 3:00pmKAISER 2020/2030 “Cleaning Membranes with Bubbles”By Dr. Pierre Bérubé, P.Eng.Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering AbstractMembrane systems are increasingly being used in water treatment applications because of their ability to effectively retain contaminants of concern. However, some of the retained material can accumulate. Unless removed, the accumulated material (i.e. foulants) […]

The Art and Science of Engineering Modeling

TUESDAY, March 27, 20121:00pm – 3:00pmKAISER 2020/2030 “The Art and Science of Engineering Modeling”By Dr. Terje HaukaasAssociate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering AbstractThe ultimate goal in engineering is to make decisions about the suitability of candidate designs and actions. To make such decisions, engineers utilize models of various forms and complexity. This presentation aims at […]

ShakeOut BC Earthquake Symposium

Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2011Time: 3:40 – 6:00 p.m.Location: Centre for Integrated Research on Sustainability (CIRS), Room 1250 – 2260 West Mall (map) Don’t miss this earthquake symposium with an expert panel, which was organized by Dr. Carlos Ventura, Director of Earthquake Engineering Research Facility. The symposium will include a shake table demonstration, five presenters […]

Free Public Seminar: Christchurch Earthquake and Lessons for BC

UBC Department of Civil Engineering presents: Free Public Seminar:Christchurch Earthquake and Lessons for BC Tuesday, May 31, 2011 Refreshments 6:00 pm, Presentation 6:30-8:00 pmRoom C300, UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson Street, Vancouver Seating is limited. Pre-registration is recommended at www.seabc.ca/Christchurch Abstract: UBC Seismic expert Dr. Ken Elwood was in Christchurch New Zealand when the M 6.3 […]