UVic - Department of Mechanical Engineering

In Mech News

Undergraduate Degree Program in Biomedical Engineering The Faculty of Engineering is currently working towards offering a new undergraduate major in Biomedical Engineering starting in the fall term of 2012, for an intake at the second year level. The program has not been approved yet. An update will be posted on this web page when/if it is approved. This program will consist of 8 coursework semesters together with mandatory coop. It shares the common first year of other UVic engineering programs. The program has a common BME engineering core for the majority of the 2nd year consisting of a combination of MECH, ELEC and CSC courses along with 2 courses in quantitative physiology. Students will take a least one biomedical engineering related course per term and in the 4th year, students can take a variety of BME and technical electives. Accreditation will be sought from the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board once the first class has graduated. Biomedical Engineering - University of Victoria.
Dr. Caterina Valeo Joins Our Department and Faculty as an Associate Professor Oct 16, 2011. Dr. Valeo came from University of Calgary as our first faculty member with a full Civil and Environmental Engineering background. She received a BSc in Physics and BASc in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1990 and 1992 respectively, a MEng (Thesis) Degree in Civil Engineering from McMaster University in 1994 and a PhD in Civil Engineering from McMaster University in 1998. Her research interests include: the impacts of climate change, urbanization and forest related disturbances on water supply; sustainable urban development options for stormwater; the influence of hydrological processes on forest regeneration; modelling water resources in remote regions of the Canadian boreal forest, and developing large scale estimates of evapotranspiration and vegetation health with the use of remote sensing.
Best TA Award June 16, 2011. Simon Parkinson (center), a MASc candidate in the department, was presented with the Best Teaching Assistance Award of 2010. The award is based on the evaluations and feedbacks from Mech Eng students. Simon's professional and dedicated services won him this well deserved award. The department appreciates the services and contributions made by all teaching assistants over the past year. Congratulations Simon!
Mech Student Wins Prestigious Awards June 16, 2011. Craig Bakker graduates at the top of his class with both the Governor General's Silver Medal and the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering Medal. Craig will be skipping convocation, as he will be in Japan to present a paper at the World Congress on Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. In the fall, Craig begins a three-year engineering PhD program at the University of Cambridge on a full scholarship, skipping right over a master's degree. More...
Advanced Microscopy Facility Opened June 13, 2011. Located in the Bob Wright Building, the AMF features a high-resolution (1 nm) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with elemental analysis capability using EDX and a nanofabrication facility using a focused ion beam (FIB), as well as, many other accessories such as an Ion Miller, Plasma Cleaner, UV Cleaner, metal and carbon deposition systems. Monthly workshops to train users are available. For more information, please see www.stehm.uvic.ca.
Official Launch of EcoCAR 2: Plugging into the Future April 13, 2011. Phase 2 of the EcoCar project has been announced at the SAE 2011 World Congress in Detroit, by David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and Karl Stracke from General Motors (GM). The mission of EcoCAR 2 is to educate the next generation of automotive engineers through a hands-on, real-world engineering experience. The competition challenges 16 North American universities.. The UVic team led by Curran Crawford and Zuomin Dong, both from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is one of three entries from Canadian Universities.
Society of Manufacturing Engineers Award March 4, 2011. Dr. Martin Byung-Guk Jun is being recognized by the Society (SME) for his"exemplary contributions and achievements in the manufacturing industry." He is one of 12 engineers under 35 receiving the SME's 2011 Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, and the only recipient who is working for a Canadian university. Jun is the founder of UVic's Department of Mechanical Engineering, Laboratory for Advanced Multi-Scale Manufacturing. He is currently working on a number of projects related to micro-machining, nanoparticle spray coating, sustainable metalworking fluid application systems, micro-scale probing systems, and manufacturing of biomedical scaffolds for growing bone implants. More...
Biomedical Engineer Isolates Drug-resistant HIV Genes November 12, 2010. The groundbreaking HIV research by biomedical engineer Dr. Stephanie Willerth using DNA sequencing is all over the news this morning after yesterday's announcement by UVic. Dr. Willerth, 29, discovered the new method of studying genetic material and using it to locate specific genes of HIV that were resistant to drugs while conducting post-doctorate research at the University of California, Berkeley. She and her team studied about 15,000 different versions of HIV, which has never been done before. They were then able to locate the specific genes of the virus that were resistant to the drugs. Dr. Willerth is now an assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. More: Times Colonist, National Post.
Faculty of Engineering Excellence in Teaching Award November 12, 2010. Dr. Henning Struchtrup has been named the recepient of this year's award for excelence in teaching. Dr. Struchtrup, who specializes in the field of thermodynamics, is beeing recognized for his leadership and his innovative approach to education, his involvement in the department curriculum committee and the faculty's teaching evaluation task force. Outstanding teaching reviews and personal notes of thanks from his students continue to serve as a testament to his fine performance. More...
BCIC Innovation Scholars Award November 2, 2010. Ian Lougheed, a MASc candidate in the department of Mechanical Engineering at UVic, has received the British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) Innovation Scholars award. Ian's research focuses on detailed modeling of ultrasonic acoustic transducers for oceanography and process control applications. He is co-supervised by Dr. Bradley Buckham and Dr. Peter Wild. More...
EcoCar Advisors Awarded August 12, 2010. The Assistant Director, Engineering, of the US National Science Foundation has announced that Mech Eng faculty members, Curran Crawford and Zuomin Dong have received the EcoCAR National Science Foundation Outstanding Long Term Faculty Advisor Award.
Fellowship of the Canadian Academy of Engineering June 3, 2010. Dr. Ned Djilali was inducted as Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of fuel cell and clean energy technologies, the leadership of knowledge-based organizations, and the training of young engineers and researchers. Dr. Djilali holds the Canada Research Chair in Energy Systems Design and Computational Modelling and served as Director of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems and as Interim Director of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. More...
EcoCar Wins 8 Awards at Competition May 24, 2010. Despite of the unexpected failure of manufacturer supplied 2-mode transmission, ourEcoCAR team performed very well at Year 2 North American EcoCAR Competition, at the GM Desert Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona. It placed 4th place overall among the 16 team with a total of 8 awards. Congratulations, UVic EcoCAR team!
Machine Facility Updated April 28, 2010. Our expanding Machining Facility in ELW gained new capabilities from three additional machines; a second CNC Lathe, our fourth CNC Milling Machine, and a Laser Welder which incorporates very latest advances in optical, mechanical and electrical design.
Mech Faculty Awarded March 22, 2010. Dr. Andrew Rowe became the recepient of the 2009 Faculty of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award. Congratulations Andrew! More...
Best TA Award March 11, 2010. John Paul Caputa, a MASc candidate in the department, was presented the Best Teaching Assistance Award of 2009. The department presents an Excellent Teaching Assistance Award each term and a Best Teaching Assistance Award every year, based on the evaluations and feedbacks from our students. The department appreciates the services and contributions made by all teaching assistants over the past year.
	The EcoCar is here, and the UVic Green Vehicle Team (GVT) is ready for it! Click to see the car go! Click to enlarge the group photo.

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