Student achievements
Spotlight Projects
Faculty of Applied Science Design & Innovation Day 2021 Winners
Congratulations to the following two teams of fourth-year students who tied for first place in the fifth annual Design & Innovation Day (D&ID), winning the Faculty Award for Geological Engineering. The competition, which is sponsored by the Faculty of Applied Science, was forced to move online again in 2021, but continues to showcase challenging design projects completed by upper year UBC students in all disciplines of engineering.
D&ID 2021 Faculty Award for Geological Engineering Co-Winners
TEAM A: KANG Consulting
Project: Jura Creek Risk Assessment and Conceptual Mitigation Design
Project Sponsor: BGC Engineering Inc.
Nandini Bulusu
Arnaud Dione
Gemma Ferland
Andrew Funk
Karina Stapleton
TEAM G: ADTM Engineering
Project Name: Gucci Gold Project Pre-feasibility Open Pit Slope Design
Project Sponsor: Golder Associates
Danielle Bridle
Teri Herbert
Arlena Kamuzima Musinga
Morgan Weller
The Geological Engineering Program’s faculty and students wish to express their gratitude to all our valued Project Sponsors from local industry, who generously volunteer their time to sponsor capstone design projects based on real-world geological engineering challenges. For links to all eight geological engineering project presentations for 2021, refer to the heading EOSC 445 at the bottom of this page.
The Canadian Geotechnical Society’s 2020 Student Competition
Congratulations to Maddy Hughes, Ethan Alban, Lucas Fabbri and Erica Forkheim, who were awarded second place in the Canadian Geotechnical Society’s 2020 Student Competition for their report titled “Pre-feasibility Gucci Open Pit Design.” The Undergraduate Group Report category of the Student Competition recognizes engineering students at Canadian universities for excellence in solving open-ended geotechnical design challenges and preparing formal technical reports, while fostering teamwork skills. UBC geological engineering teams have placed first or second in this nation-wide annual competition eight times in the last eight years. We celebrate all of them for their hard work and tremendous achievements!
"Pre-feasibility Gucci Open Pit Design" by Maddy Hughes, Ethan Alban, Lucas Fabbri and Erica Forkheim
The Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) is the leading organization for geotechnical engineering and related geoscience in Canada. Each year, the CGS sponsors a Student Competition, with entries solicited from across Canada in three categories: Graduate Student Presentation; Undergraduate Report (Individual); and Undergraduate Report (Group). In the last eight years, UBC geological engineering student teams have placed first five times and second three times in the Undergraduate Report (Group) category. Click the accordion below for a summary of the UBC entries.
| Competition Year | CGS Competition Results | Project Sponsor | Student Names | Report Titles |
| 2020 | Second | Golder Associates | Ethan Alban | Gucci Gold Project: Pre‐Feasibility Gucci Open Pit Design |
| Lucas Fabbri | ||||
| Erica Forkheim | ||||
| Maddy Hughes | ||||
| 2019 | First | BGC Engineering | Mat Stephenson | Tailings Storage Facility Prefeasibility Study |
| Stephen Marks | ||||
| Shawn Matthies | ||||
| Jesse Zonneveld | ||||
| 2018 | First | Piteau Associates | Margie Banda | Abundante Open Pit Design |
| Dazy Gosal | ||||
| Adam Mickey | ||||
| Casey Watamaniuk | ||||
| 2017 | First | Piteau Associates | Erik Cernik | Feasibility Geotechnical Evaluation: Slope Design Criteria for the Phase II Bafour Open Pit Project |
| Lea Johnston | ||||
| Takako Miyochi | ||||
| Eric (Suqi) Zhou | ||||
| 2016 | First | Tetra Tech | Roxanne Hasior | Long Lake Tunnel & Surface Cut: Pre‐Feasibility Design & Comparison |
| Michael Kraitman | ||||
| Jacob Nicklen | ||||
| Jacob Nikl | ||||
| 2015 | Second | Tetra Tech | Gavin Black | Long Lake Project: Tunnel Versus Rock Cut Design Option Analysis |
| Savanna Herman | ||||
| Shammai Ugalino | ||||
| Aron Zahradka | ||||
| 2014 | First | Piteau Associates |
Matthew Gray |
Unobtainium & Eludium Mining Ltd Inperfecto Project Pre‐Feasibility Level Slope Design |
|
Carlin Horkoff |
||||
| Jaimie Loughlin | ||||
| Robert Kaplen | ||||
| 2013 | Second | UBC | Jenna Bowling | Foundation and West Approach Embankment Design of the New Fraser River Crossing |
| Ryun Humenjuk | ||||
| Crystal Lei | ||||
| Adam Woods | ||||
| Xiao Qin Yang |
Honors Theses
Undergraduates make significant contributions to the Department’s research output. These are often formative experiences for young scientists and professionals. Click here to discover the quality and diversity of their work by browsing this list of titles with links to the corresponding thesis title page and abstract.
Community and industry engagement
ENVR 400
ENVR 400, “Research Project in Environmental Science” is a capstone course for Environmental Science Students. It involves instructor-guided collaboration between student teams and community partners on community-based environmental science projects. Teams articulate project questions and goals, devise methods, conduct research and communicate results. Click the accordion below to view a representative sample of a few projects from recent years. To see abstracts and reports, copy the Project Title into the search engine at UBC’s cIRcle repository for research and teaching materials created by the UBC community and its partners.
|
Students |
Year |
Project Title |
Community |
|
L. Kummer, |
2021 |
Determining viable small-scale renewable technologies for the Spruce Harbour Marina clubhouse in False Creek, Vancouver. |
False Creek South Neighbourhood Association |
|
N. Cheng, |
2021 |
Creating a Natural Asset and Ecosystem Services Management Framework that Centers Climate and Social Justice for the City of Vancouver. |
City of Vancouver / City Studio |
|
K. Macdonald, |
2021 |
Developing a Biodiversity and Climate Change Based Educational Plan for use in the Riley Park Community Spring Break Program to Instill long lasting Ecological Literacy. |
Little Mountain Neighbourhood House |
|
K. Clarke, |
2021 |
Mapping climate mitigation, adaptation, and justice initiatives and climate policy in MetroVancouver. |
SPEC / CALP |
|
C. Weinhagen, |
2021 |
Mapping the distribution of endangered mosses in BC to inform sampling and assess regional effects of climate change. |
UBC Herbarium |
|
J. Haw, |
2021 |
Electrifying Change: An Analysis of Electric Vehicle Charging of Multi-Residential Units in Vancouver. |
2 Degrees Institute |
|
S. Thornton, |
2021 |
Assessing Avian Biodiversity in the City of Surrey. |
Birds Canada |
|
E. Le, |
2021 |
Holistic Sustainability Indicators for Small Scale Agricultural Practices. |
LiteFarm / UBC Centre for Sustainable Food Systems |
|
M. Bozik, |
2021 |
Reed Canary Grass in Stanley Park: Mapping and Mitigating the Spread of the Invasive Plant. |
Stanley Park Ecology Society |
|
J. Brown, |
2021 |
Assessment of Factors Contributing to Poor Chum Salmon Returns in Spanish Bank Creek. |
Spanish Bank Streamkeepers |
|
M. Yu, |
2021 |
Analysis of the Progress of Ecological Restoration Efforts in Pacific Spirit Regional Park |
MetroVancouver |
|
J. Lin, |
2020 |
Electrification of the Sunshine Coast Transit System: A Feasibility Study. |
2 Degrees Institute |
|
Z. Zhang, |
2020 |
Evaluating municipal waste management strategies between Vancouver and world cities. |
Society Promoting Environmental Conservation |
|
L. Faulkner, |
2020 |
Increasing Riparian Habitat and Ecosystem Function in Lost Lagoon through Shoreline Restoration. |
Stanley Park Ecology Society |
|
J. Cheng, |
2020 |
Modelling the Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Suitable Dunlin Habitat in the Fraser River Delta. Abstract Accepted: Salish Sea Ecology Conference, April 2020; Cancelled due to Covid-19) |
Birds Canada |
|
R. Huang, |
2019 |
Assessing the Policies and Processes of Waste Management in Four Canadian Cities. |
Society Promoting Environmental Conservation |
|
T. Kapoor, |
2019 |
Place-Based Learning (PBL) at Riley Park: An Outdoor Educational Tool for BC Schools. External Funding: CCEL Community Partnership Grant |
Little Mountain Neighbourhood House |
|
M. Poblacion, |
2019 |
Energizing the Public: Designing and Installing a Renewable Energy Demonstration in Riley Park. External Funding: CCEL Community Partnership Grant |
Society Promoting Environmental Conservation |
|
O. Hester, |
2019 |
A spatial analysis of terrestrial salamander distributions and disturbance levels in Pacific Spirit Regional Park. |
MetroVancouver |
|
F. Ramsay, |
2018 |
Beyond Styrofoam: A Life Cycle Analysis and Eco-Efficiency Portfolio of Single-Use Containers (Polystyrene, Plastic, Biodegradable Plastic, Paper, and Aluminum). |
Society Promoting Environmental Conservation |
|
L. Munwar, |
2018 |
Do Ponds on UBC Campus play a role in the well-being of Individuals? |
UBC SEEDS |
|
M. Gray, |
2018 |
The Impact of Experiential, Research- and Community-based Learning in Herbaria on First-year University Students. |
UBC BIOL121 / UBC Herbarium |
|
C. Deduque, |
2018 |
Physical Literacy and Nature Exploration (PLANE): Enhancing Connections Between Families and Nature. |
Little Mountain Neighbourhood House |
EOSC 445
EOSC 445 “Engineering Design Project” is a capstone course for upper-year geological engineering students who work in small teams to solve complex, open-ended design challenges supplied by volunteer Project Sponsors from industry. Click the accordion below for a summary of recent projects.
| Team | Student Names | Project Sponsor | Project |
| A | Andrew Funk | BGC Engineering | Jura Creek Risk Assessment and Conceptual Mitigation Design |
| Arnaud Dione | |||
| Gemma Ferland | |||
| Karina Stapleton | |||
| Nandini Bulusu | |||
| B | Abbas Haider | BGC Engineering | |
| Alexandra Nagy | |||
| Mark-Antoine Berthiaume | |||
| Zai Chern Cheng | |||
| C | Justin Kelly | Klohn Crippen Berger | Mine Water Management Upgrade Project |
| Kendra Mercer | |||
| Logan Haubrich | |||
| Rian Watanabe | |||
| Stephanie Tarnai | |||
| D | Andrew Cleghorn | Thurber Engineering | Deep Excavation for Residential Tower - Shoring and Water Management Solutions |
| Charles Xia | |||
| Ciaran Robinson | |||
| Jeremy Young | |||
| Raphael Bayaban | |||
| E | Heya Gupta | Thurber Engineering | Capstone Creek Highway Widening Design Project |
| Kshitijendra Thakur | |||
| Omar Farahat | |||
| Piradeepan Uthayakumar | |||
| Rachel Choboter | |||
| F | Jacob Ong | Piteau Associates | Burebista Open Pit Slope Design |
| Jordan Fu | |||
| Matthew Ng | |||
| Nodir Musaev | |||
| Vincent Wong | |||
| G | Arlena Kamuzima Musinga | Golder Associates | Gucci Gold Project Pre-feasibility Open Pit Slope Design |
| Danielle Bridle | |||
| Morgan Weller | |||
| Teri Herbert | |||
| H | Gavin Anderson | Piteau Associates | Buchanan Lake Groundwater Supply Feasibility Study |
| Matt Doricic | |||
| Nouran ElAmir | |||
| Youhan Ding |