Featured Projects
Conifer morphogenesis
Michael Wu, a student in the joint UBC-BCIT Biotechnology program, worked with Sitka spruce embryos over the summer of 2011. The goal was to understand how the spacing of cotyledons (the embryo's first needles) is controlled, and in general how tissues form in the correct positions in embryos. The diameters of the embryos were measured and compared to the number of cotyledons formed. This data is being used to test mathematical theories for how cotyledons are spaced.
Characterizing the airflow characteristics of various wall panels
During the summer of 2011, Jordan Ho, a third-year Mechanical Engineering student from UBC, performed experiments at BCIT's Building Science Center of Excellence (BSCE). Jordan's research project was to characterize the airflow characteristics of various wall panels that are found at BCIT's Building Envelope Test Facility (BETF). This project is part of Dr. Fitsum Tariku's Canada Research Chair research program aimed at advancing sustainable building design. Under the guidance of BSCE Director Dr. Tariku, an investigation into building envelope performance related to airflow was started. Ho was one of the four recipients of the Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
BCIT student studying seismic safety on masonry walls
Supervised by BCIT's Dr. Svetlana Brzev, Porkeang (P.K.) Lim, a fourth year student in the BCIT Civil Engineering Program, was awarded an Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) from the the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to participate in this research. The USRA fellowship was for the 16-week period from May to August 2011. A partial funding for P.K.'s summer work was provided by a NSERC Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) grant which is the funding source for the UBC and BCIT research project, and a significant cash and in-kind contribution was provided by the Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association and the Masonry Institute of British Columbia.
How does one determine what an analog multipurpose PID controller is?
The answer is - one step at a time.
This summer I was involved in prototyping a PID controller developed by Todd Meyrath. A Proportional Integral Derivative, or PID, controller is a mechanism used to control a wide variety of industrial processes. This control compares to the desired input "set point" to the actual output of the system and corrects the system until the output equals the desired set point. Some of the common uses of PID controllers are in temperature control, motor control, ventilation, and insulin pumps.
From garbage to salvage: Creating an ultrafast shutter system
In the summer of 2010, Raphael Wong, a Biomedical Engineering Technology (BMET) graduate, began designing an affordable, high speed, mechanical laser shutter system for Dr. Jim Booth (BCIT Physics) in an NSERC-funded summer research position at BCIT. This 8-shutter system is a fine example of recycling old technology for a different purpose. The mechanical shutters themselves had been constructed from broken, miniature hard drives which had been destined for a landfill. Standard rack mount cases were used to house the controller's electronics. The shutters will be used to turn lasers on and off at precise intervals in Dr. Booth's research into the technological applications of cold atom gas clouds using lasers and magnetic fields.
Ship of dreams to set sail for Tanzania
After a visit to Tanzania in 2009, Vancouver mother Susan Bibbings was inspired to create a remarkable fundraising project for a sustainable, ecologically sound school in Mwanza, Tanzania. During project development, she met Wesley Wollin, a faculty member of the Architectural and Building Engineering Technology department at BCIT. He came up with the idea of pitching the Tujifunze school design to the BCIT architectural science department as a course. BCIT leaped at the idea, and students were charged with coming up with a plan for a sustainable community building that would last, and a simple design that would work in different environments - something that would function as a prototype for other communities in developing countries. The class designed a solid prefab building that could be easily shipped and assembled. Some of the features include a methane recovery system from the septic tank to ensure clean storage of waste, collectible off-gas for cooking, and solar panels that will absorb light and provide power to run a community charging station for mobile devices and rental batteries.
10 questions With GAIT co-op student Harprit Bains
Every day, researchers at BCIT strive to create cutting edge innovations that will help advance our planet. A lot of those concepts cannot come to fruition without the brilliant minds of our students. We profile Electrical Engineering major Harpit Bains, who has just wrapped up a student co-op with GAIT.
A wheelchair that can go 60 km/hr?
That's what Dan Lee, a student in BCIT's technology teacher education program, set out to do. Dan used salvaged and donated items such as the front-end of a kid's bike and the motor of a lawn mower to build a fast moving gas-powered wheelchair. "I thought, this might be kind of cool, for people who have limited mobility," Dan said.
Chemical Science student uses T-XRF to identify provenance of ginseng
Establishing provenance (geographical origin) of Canadian agricultural products is an important step for building consumer confidence in product authenticity and in enforcing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This crucial information helps to distinguish between legally harvested and pirated material. Wade Hurlburt, a student research assistant from BCIT's Chemical Science Technology Program, assessed the utility of total reflection x-ray fluorescence (T-XRF) spectroscopy to determine the provenance of agricultural products.
Advancing the state of practice at BCIT Library
The BCIT Library is partnering with UBC students who are completing their Master of Library and Information Studies to advance the state of practice. Students complete a three credit experiential learning course under the supervision of a BCIT Librarian with participants contributing approximately 120 hours to their professional experience projects. So far, students have worked with Lin Brander to complete the following projects: Monograph budget allocation formula, Second Life, Business Faculty Liaison Plan:
Understanding atom interactions can lead to novel sensors
Dallas Clement's summer project was sponsored by an Undergraduate Student Research Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), which BCIT passes along to qualifying students every year. It was an amazing learning experience. The research, a collaboration between Dr. Booth (BCIT) and Professor Madison (UBC), centered on the study of a rubidium magneto-optical trap (or MOT for short) --- the ubiquitous tool for preparing cold atomic samples. A MOT works by cooling and trapping atoms using both lasers and magnetic fields. These devices can cool atoms down to temperatures below 1 K. (Recall that room temperature is around 298 K and that the coldest possible temperature is 0 K.)
Investigation of dry cup and wet cup measurements
The goal of the research project Elsa Ngudjiharto participated in the summer of 2010 at BCIT was primarily to study the standard test ASTM E96, more commonly known as "the dry cup and wet cup test", and investigate ways to improve the test procedure. ASTM E96 is designed to measure the vapor transmission rate of building materials. The vapor permeability information obtained from this test will contribute to the materials' hygrothermal property data, which is necessary to assess the level of performance of those materials.
Understanding the early shapes of plants
Byron Brook, a student enrolled in the joint co-op UBC-BCIT Biotechnology program, worked mostly with Sitka spruce embryonic tissue in the summer of 2010. The goal was to understand control of the spacing of cotyledons (the embryo's first needles) around a spruce embryo. The diameters of the embryos were observed, and then compared to the number of cotyledons that the embryo formed. The resulting statistical information will be analyzed in terms of mathematical theories for how cotyledons are spaced in the embryos.
Recycling the high tech: salvaging hard drives for laser experiments
From the trash heap to cutting edge science, that's the kind of work that kept Biomedical Engineering Technology student Raphael Wong busy all summer at BCIT. The burning question: how do you make an affordable shutter for lasers that require speed and precision well beyond most commercially available solutions, and at the same time reduce waste from high tech gadgets?
Biomedical device development at the Technology Centre
As a second-year Biomedical Engineering Technology student, Jessica Yu was very lucky to have been able to secure a position this summer as a research assistant at the BCIT Technology Centre. Working alongside the Product and Process Applied Research Team (PART), a group of researchers who conduct research projects and develop innovative devices for industrial clients, she was given the opportunity to contribute to the development of some innovative medical technologies.
How do plants control their shapes?
Tammy Kang, a student in the BCIT/UBC Biotechnology program, did experiments on how conifers such as spruce, douglas fir, and larch control how many needles they first form. She measured the size of conifer embryos, and how many cotyledons ("seed leaves") were formed.
The BCIT smart microgrid
The Group for Advanced Information Technology (GAIT) is building a smart grid for BCIT's Burnaby campus and using it as a model for how they can bring new technolgies to the larger smart grid. They have named it "the Microgrid". So far BCIT has smart metering and photovoltaic sensor data for locations throughout the campus so that an accurate account of power usage and generation on campus is known.
"Derrick mentioned that the student project was to create a map that represents the meters and microgrid device data in a web GUI that maintains the data in the database in a user-friendly manner".
Operations Management students deliver manual and database to the Applied Research Liaison Office (ARLO)
Tim Reitsma of ARLO says, "Working with these Operations Management students has been great. As a recent graduate from the Operations Management program, I understand that entering into a project you know nothing about is not always that easy". "I noticed their growth not only in terms of problem solving; I noticed a sense of confidence in them which reassured us at ARLO that these two students were right for the project".
Evaluating surface cracking due to plastic shrinkage of concrete panels
Dr. Rishi Gupta of BCIT's Civil Engineering Department does research in the area of the development of sustainable cement-based fiber-reinforced materials with improved early-age fracture resistance. In the summer of 2009, BCIT Civil Engineering student Iraj Dehghan Manshadi worked on a project focused on one component of Dr. Gupta's research area: to reduce the amount of surface cracking due to plastic shrinkage of concrete panels.
Summer NSERC USRA research at UBC's Quantum Degenerate Gases Laboratory
This summer, I had the privilege to work with Dr. Jim Booth, Dr. Kirk Madison, and the researchers at UBC's Quantum Degenerate Gases laboratory (QDG for short) for my NSERC-USRA work tenure. Over the span of 16 weeks I performed computer calculations and analyzed experimental data for a cold physics experiment. The work that we've done has both been valuable to my own education, and valuable in furthering a field of science that has a great many practical applications.
Win-win experience for Biomed student and researchers at BCIT
Julie Hrvatin has just started her second year in the Biomedical Engineering Technology program at BCIT. Ask Julie how she spent her summer and she beams from ear to ear and says "I had a great experience working at the BCIT Technology Centre. It reaffirmed why I chose the Biomed program at BCIT, and in fact it has encouraged me to consider a career in research, and possibly an engineering degree." Ask her co-workers about having Julie on the team, and they exclaim at what a contribution she made to their research projects this summer.
BCIT's intelligent micro grid project research activities get a power surge from EE co-op students
This summer the Group for Advanced Information Technology (GAIT) has recruited two co-op students from BCIT's Electrical and Computer Engineering program to be part of GAIT's Intelligent Micro Grid (IMG) research project. Through the IMG project, GAIT is developing a smart grid test bed on BCIT's Burnaby campus to allow researchers and utilities to experiment and demonstrate their leading-edge technologies and solutions.
Undergraduate student's research experience at the Building Science Centre of Excellence
Building enclosures are subjected to a random climatic loading on the exterior surface, and a relatively stable indoor condition on the interior. These loadings result in the transport of Heat, Air and Moisture (HAM) across the structure. Depending on the boundary conditions, a building envelope component may experience wetting or drying as it is exposed to real weather conditions that change by hours and seasons.
From cold atoms to web platforms
What if I could control my toaster or radio or television from my desk at work? What if I could run my factory machines from the comfort of my den? As part of Jim Booth's work developing a portable, robust platform for cold atom technology, he started imagining just this kind of web-based platform for controlling his cold atom apparatus. This summer Doug Penner, a BCIT Computer Systems Technology student, has designed a solution to be able to control any type of computer-interfaced device, adding to its value immeasurably.