ECE PhD Student Awarded Prestigious IBM PhD Fellowship

We are thrilled to celebrate Rui Xi, a PhD student in UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering, who has been awarded the prestigious 2025 IBM PhD Fellowship, one of the most competitive doctoral fellowships in the world. This invitation-only program selects just around 25 PhD students globally each year, and Rui’s selection is a remarkable testament to the quality and real-world impact of his work in artificial intelligence, security, and cloud technologies.

Rui is supervised by Dr. Karthik Pattabiraman and co-supervised by Dr. Zehua Wang in the Dependable Systems Lab (https://blogs.ubc.ca/dependablesystemslab), where researchers work to make computer systems more reliable and secure across hardware, software, machine learning, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Rui’s work focuses on improving the security of blockchain applications using AI-powered transaction analysis, an increasingly important area as decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms handle transactions worth trillions of dollars.

Detecting Attacks at Scale

Blockchain technology enables applications built from programs called smart contracts to run on decentralized networks. These systems allow users to trade digital assets and access financial services without intermediaries such as banks. However, because smart contracts manage real financial assets and their code is publicly visible, attackers can analyze them for weaknesses. Once exploited, attacks are often irreversible.

To address this, one of Rui’s most notable contributions is POMABuster, a system designed to detect Price Oracle Manipulation Attacks (POMAs). These attacks manipulate the price feeds used by blockchain exchanges and decentralized financial platforms, and Rui observed that these attacks resemble traditional stock market manipulation tactics. Drawing on rules used by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Rui developed a detection framework tailored for blockchain systems. By analyzing two years of blockchain transaction data, Rui found that more than $70 billion had been lost to these attacks – far more than previous estimates suggested.

POMABuster significantly outperforms previous detection approaches and was presented at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P), 2024, one of the leading international conferences in computer security.

“Rui takes a systematic approach to finding vulnerabilities in blockchain systems and always thinks about how his research can be applied in the real world,” said Professor Pattabiraman.

Diagram from Rui’s doctoral research illustrating the four research questions at the heart of his work: detecting Oracle manipulation, Tokenization exploits, Governance attacks, and the overarching challenge of a unified Attack Strategy detection framework.

From Pandemic-Era Research to International Recognition

Rui’s drive was evident from the moment he joined UBC as a masters student in 2020. At the time, he analyzed more than two million Ethereum smart contracts and discovered that 95 percent of uses of certain insecure low-level programming functions were unnecessary and could be safely replaced. He developed an automated tool that performs these replacements at scale, helping developers make their smart contracts more secure. The work was published at the IEEE International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering (SANER), 2022, with an extended study later appearing in the journal Software: Practice and Experience.

Beyond the lab, Rui has also gained industry experience through internships at Microsoft Research in Redmond, where he worked on AI-driven web agents, and at WonderFi Technologies in Vancouver, where he developed systems for detecting blockchain attacks in real time. He also received the UBC Blockchain Pathways Fellowship.

Looking Ahead

Rui’s continued doctoral research aims to build a comprehensive AI-powered framework for detecting blockchain attacks with low false-positive rates and minimal user effort. His current work focuses on developing AI tools that can automatically identify suspicious patterns in blockchain transactions. He is also studying how real-world attacks evolve over time, and exploring how large language models can help identify software vulnerabilities. His work thus helps improve the security of blockchain platforms that underpin rapidly growing digital financial systems.

In addition to his research, Rui actively mentors other students in the Dependable Systems Lab on blockchain security and AI-based analysis techniques.

“Rui is an enterprising and driven researcher who has already published at top-tier venues such as the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy and the IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks,” said Professor Pattabiraman. “This IBM fellowship is well-deserved recognition of both his talent and the real-world impact of his research.”

Rui himself shared his excitement: “I am deeply honored to receive the IBM PhD Fellowship. This support will allow me to focus on advancing my research on AI-powered transaction analysis, and I look forward to collaborating with my IBM mentor to explore how these techniques can help address real-world security challenges.”

IBM PhD Fellowship Award recipients receive financial support and mentorship from IBM researchers – a fitting partnership for research that is already making a difference in the real world. Join us in congratulating Rui on this wonderful acheivement!

UBC ECE PhD Student Andrew Gunter Shares His Experience at the Prestigious Heidelberg Laureate Forum

This past September, Andrew Gunter, one of our current PhD students in ECE was selected to attend the 12^th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) in Germany, a prestigious and highly competitive event that brings together outstanding early-career researchers from around the world with laureates of the Turing Award, Fields Medal, and other major international honors! We were thrilled to connect with Andrew to learn more about his research journey, his future ambitions, and what this remarkable achievement meant to him.

1) What are you currently studying at UBC and what drew you to your area within Electrical and Computer Engineering?

Under Professor Steve Wilton’s supervision, I’m researching how machine learning can be applied to electronic design automation for FPGAs.FPGAs are reconfigurable computing devices that can be programmed to implement custom digital circuits, but that reconfiguration process is incredibly complex so we are investigating how modern ML can intelligently solve the problems underlying this complexity. I actually got into this area as a summer-term undergraduate researcher back at the University of Guelph in 2017; I had applied to many potential projects, but this idea of using machine intelligence to improve machinery was the most interesting, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.

2) What keeps you motivated in this field and what do you find most exciting or rewarding about your research?

It’s a mix of the type of problems I get to solve and the impact of solving them. I get to reason about computer hardware problems, which I find fascinating, but I write software to solve these problems, which I find smoother than actually tinkering with hardware. It’s also a field which has global significance but isn’t very heavily populated, so I’m able to have a relatively large impact as an individual researcher. A typical conference in my field may have 100 attendees, whereas other fields may have 10,000.

3) Tell us about your selection to attend the 12th Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Germany this past September! How did you come to apply, and what was it like to be selected?

Professor Wilton sent me an email a year ago saying there was a unique conference with applications open and that it would be highly competitive but worth the time to apply. I thought “Why not?” and applied on a whim. Being selected was highly validating after years of research, but I still didn’t properly understand what the event itself would be like. Actually attending was surreal.

4) For those who might not be familiar, what was the Heidelberg Laureate Forum actually like?

The HLF is not a traditional academic conference. It’s a week of scientific discussion and social interaction between 200 young researchers and the laureates of the highest awards in Mathematics and Computer Science. There are “research talks”, but not the typical kind about incremental results in a paper. The laureates give talks on “big picture” ideas like how we expect the relationship between humanity and AI to develop over the coming decades. Between the talks, we socialized in smaller, intimate settings and enjoyed several excursions in and around the city of Heidelberg. I was also one of 30 young researchers further selected for the HLF “Poster Flash” where we each gave a 2-minute presentation about our research (to the entire HLF audience including laureates and journalists) followed by a poster session where people could ask for more details!

5) What stood out to you most during the week, and what kinds of interactions or moments made the biggest impression?

The most memorable moments of the HLF happen over a cup of coffee, a clink of beer steins, or a shared meal. I will never forget chatting with Professors Jack Dongarra (2021 Turing Award) and David Patterson (2017 Turing Award) for hours over dinner, or my “small group interaction” event, where 7 of us young researchers got to chat with Professor Richard Sutton (2024 Turing Award) for an hour without distraction. I’ll also never forget the boat party, the Bavarian cultural evening, or the adventures I shared with the rest of the young researchers.

6) Were there any particular lessons, ideas, or pieces of advice from the laureates that really stuck with you?

Professor Sutton gave me a few pieces of advice. First, be kind – it’s always a good thing. Second, be humble – it’s best for your mind. Third, be optimistic – it will make your future better. Finally, pursue the obvious ideas that others don’t yet see. He’s one of the pioneers of reinforcement learning, a technique which fuels decision-making in AI; he claimed that, when he first started out, it was obvious the world needed methods which could learn without explicit programming but people were largely ignoring the possibility. In hindsight, he was correct, but I think he has stretched the definition of “obvious” a little!

7) Outside of the academic sessions, the HLF also emphasizes cultural exchange and community among young researchers from all over the world. What was it like connecting with this cohort?

This is secretly the best aspect of the HLF, the camaraderie of young researchers. The laureates provide wisdom while the other young researchers provide a deeper friendship. It was a privilege to meet the other young researchers and spend the week with them; they were, without exception, all wonderful people. They are also a relatively high-achieving demographic, where everybody wants to work on important problems and explore big ideas. This has me still reflecting on my own research trajectory; maybe it’s possible to accomplish more than I had considered before.

8) How do you think your time at the HLF will influence your future career direction?

Most PhD students in ECE eventually ask themselves two questions: First, academia or industry? Second, research or engineering? After the HLF, I feel that the answer to the first question isn’t too important – the best work will be done as a collaboration between academia and industry. However, for me, the answer to the second question ultimately has to be research.

9) What advice or tips would you give to younger students interested in pursuing research or applying to prestigious events like the HLF?

Try to do difficult things. Be prepared for many failures and rejections. They are a necessary part of the process of doing difficult things. Make sure you have a good mentor or two to guide those failures toward success.

10) Where do you hope to be in five years, professionally and personally?

In Vancouver, thinking about difficult problems in computer hardware, ML/AI, and autonomous systems. I also want to be doing more in the realm of research organization, scientific communication, and connecting with local communities. More personally, I enjoy competition and I hope to let my competitive spirit breathe some fresh air after I finish my PhD. Currently it’s looking like I might do that through tennis or a board game like chess, but I need to graduate before deciding!

Andrew Gunter completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering at the University of Guelph in 2019, where his undergraduate research focused on applying machine learning (ML) to field-programmable gate array (FPGA) computer-aided design (CAD). He began his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UBC in 2020, continuing his work by developing ML-based approaches to improve FPGA CAD engineering productivity. His doctoral research has been published at leading conferences including FCCM, MLCAD, FPL, and FPT. Throughout his graduate studies, Andrew complemented his academic efforts with part-time research at Singulos Research Inc., where he applied computer vision techniques to enable mixed-reality gameplay experiences across phones, tablets, headsets, and smart glasses.

To learn more about the Heidelberg Laureate Forum here, or check out more of Andrew’s work through his Poster Flash presentation from the event!

For any students interested in applying for the 2026 HLF, the application deadline is February 11^th through the following link: https://www.heidelberg-laureate-forum.org/forum/13th-hlf-2026/. Andrew is happy to connect with anyone wanting more advice or information on putting together a successful application, or to speak further about his work! He can be contacted through agunter@ece.ubc.ca

UBC ECE Faculty Win Two Prestigious Awards at DSN 2025

UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering is proud to announce that two faculty members, Dr. Prashant Nair and Dr. Karthik Pattabiraman, received major international honours at the IEEE/IFIP Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN 2025) conference held this summer in Naples, Italy.

DSN is the flagship global venue for research in dependable computing. This year marked a historic milestone: This is the first time in the more than 50-year history of the DSN conference that both awards have gone to the same university, and is also the first time a Canadian university has won either award!

Test of Time Award — Dr. Prashant Nair

The Test of Timeaward recognizes outstanding DSN papers published 10 years ago that have had a sustained and important impact on the theory and/or practice of dependable systems and networks computing research. Only two papers are chosen for the award each year.

Dr. Nair received the award for his 2015 DSN paper, “AVATAR: A Variable-Retention-Time (VRT) Aware Refresh for DRAM Systems,” co-authored with colleagues from Georgia Tech, the University of Virginia, and ETH Zurich.

AVATAR proposed a novel system for safely reducing DRAM refresh operations by making the refresh policy aware of variable-retention-time cells and using ECC and background scrubbing to adapt refresh rates on the fly. AVATAR demonstrated significant potential improvements in both performance and energy efficiency for emerging high-density DRAM systems. Over the past decade, the paper has become a key reference for work on memory reliability, refresh optimization, and DRAM scaling in both academia and industry.

Jean-Claude Laprie Award — Dr. Karthik Pattabiraman

The Jean-Claude Laprie Award in Dependable Computing is awarded annually and recognizes outstanding papers that have significantly influenced the theory and/or practice of Dependable Computing. Pattabiraman won the award for his paper titled “Flikker: saving DRAM refresh-power through critical data partitioning” that he published in ASPLOS 2011 together with his colleagues at Microsoft Research and Northwestern University.

According to the award citation,

“Flikker was one of the first papers in the field of approximate computing, and attempted to bridge the worlds of dependability and energy efficiency (i.e., sustainability). The main idea was to trade off hardware reliability to save power in DRAM memories, and to allow programmers to control the tradeoff based on the semantics of their applications. While other papers had also explored the power-reliability tradeoff, Flikker was the first to do so at the programming language level. This was a fundamental innovation, as it allowed fine-grained control over the application’s semantics and quantified the risk that the developer was prepared to tolerate for achieving energy savings. Many other papers have built on the ideas proposed in this paper, as evidenced by the fact that it has been cited more than 650 times since its publication in 2011. … The ideas proposed in the paper have been widely adopted in industry. In particular, Microsoft has used similar techniques for their search cluster (Bing), and other companies have also invested in programmatically controlling DRAM power consumption at the application level”.

Additional Contributions

In addition to receiving the Laprie Award, Dr. Pattabiraman had a strong research presence at DSN 2025, with three papers in the main research track, a paper in the industry track in collaboration with Meta researchers, and a keynote address at the Workshop on Dependable and Secure Machine Learning (DSML). He was also recently elected Vice-Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Dependable Computing and Fault Tolerance, and will assume the Chair role in 2027.

These achievements highlight the strength of UBC ECE’s contributions to dependable computing and the global impact of the department’s research. We congratulate Dr. Nair and Dr. Pattabiraman on these exceptional honours.

Exploring Software Innovation: Faridah’s Journey in ECE

Faridah Akinotcho graduated from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in May 2024 under supervisor Professor Julia Rubin. Since graduation, Faridah has been actively engaged in her research while exploring opportunities in software and mobile engineering.

Discover more about Faridah’s time in ECE, her journey in this field, and advice for current and future ECE students!

Research focus

When you download a mobile app from an official store like the Google Play Store, the last thing you’d want is a buggy, crash-prone, or even insecure experience. That’s why apps go through rigorous testing before release. One popular way to test Android apps is through their graphical user interface (GUI)—essentially interacting with buttons and screens like a human would. Many automated tools have been built for this purpose.

But here’s the catch — these tools struggle with real-world apps like Instagram or WhatsApp, often exploring less than 30% of the app. My research dives into why that happens: is it a tool problem or would humans also struggle (spoiler: they do!). Even skilled testers miss features that are hidden behind conditions they don’t meet such as being at a specific location, on a specific date, with a specific device type, etc., which are common in modern apps. Think about Netflix: no matter how many buttons you tap, you won’t see a show that’s unavailable in your country. Many apps work the same way with features they only activate under specific conditions — like an ad shown only to users in California or a discount available only on Black Friday.

That is why GUI-based testing isn’t enough. To reach the remaining 70%, we need tools that don’t just explore but adapt, recognizing when features are hidden and figuring out why. Instead of: “I couldn’t reach this screen,” future tools should explain: “This ad is only shown to users in California, so I can’t access it right now,” or even better: “I’ll change my location to Los Angeles and try again.” My work lays the groundwork for designing such tools, providing insights into strategies they should employ— with the goal to ultimately shift toward smarter, more explainable testing.

Future research plans

Since graduating, I’ve continued my research on the same topic and worked on a paper, which I’ll be presenting at ICSE 2025 in April! Meanwhile, I’ve been looking for roles in R&D, software engineering or mobile engineering. I’m excited to see how the skills I developed during my time in ECE will transfer to industry and how more work experience will shape my career as an engineer and a researcher. While I’m taking a break from academia for now, I still have ideas for follow-up research in the same area that I’d love to explore in the future as side projects—maybe even a PhD down the road, unless I end up liking industry too much and never look back, haha.

What drew you to ECE?

My undergrad was heavy on theory—I did a dual degree in Math and Computer Science—so for my master’s, I wanted something more hands-on to build on that foundation. That’s when I found out about ECE, specifically UBC’s Master of Engineering (MEng) program, which stood out to me for its practicality and flexibility. I had the freedom to explore different areas—from formal methods to cybersecurity to reinforcement learning—take on co-op placements, work on research projects, transfer to a research-based master’s, and even take Korean courses just because I wanted to!

Funny enough, when I first started the program, I didn’t have a clear idea of what to focus on. Hardware and robotics piqued my interest the most, especially since I knew nothing about them. But I ultimately found myself drawn to software engineering research, mainly because I was encouraged and given the space to explore.

I love how ECE sits at the intersection of theory and application. It’s not only about writing code or formal proofs (both of which I enjoy); it’s also about solving real-world problems, making systems more reliable, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. My research on software testing is a perfect example—better testing means more reliable apps, which impacts millions of users. Whether it’s improving automation, securing systems, or optimizing performance, the work done in ECE shapes the technology we all use every day.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I spend most of my free time reading (novels, manga and webtoons), watching anime, TV shows or YouTube videos. I’m a big foodie, so I love trying out new food spots and cuisines. I also like going to concerts and traveling—though my budget always has the final say.

Favourite place in UBC and Vancouver?

On campus, whenever I wasn’t stuck in my dorm in Thunderbird (COVID habits were hard to break!) or in the lab, I would be in the IKB library, the Nitobe Garden or sometimes just taking a stroll around. Outside of campus, my go-to spot is the Indigo on West Broadway, where I can spend hours reading without getting told off. I also love the Vogue Theatre—the intimate setting made it one of my favorite venues to see artists live. Food-wise, The Rise Eatery in Kitsilano used to be my all-time favorite, but since it closed, I’m on the lookout for their next location!

Favourite memory from your time in ECE?

Graduation was definitely the highlight—my family flew in, friends brought me flowers and honestly, the feeling of being “done” was the best! Now, if I had to pick from my time as a student, it would be a tie between the San Francisco Trip organized by the department in my first year or my first time presenting a paper at a conference in Singapore.

In San Francisco, we visited the Silicon Valley and got to meet former UBC students working there. I had just joined UBC and didn’t know a lot of people, so it was such a fun experience. I made some lifelong friends during that trip, and considering quarantine hit right after we got back, I am so glad I went!

Singapore was my first major research presentation, and as intimidating as it was, the experience was also very rewarding. I attended great talks, met great people and had great food. It gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the research world, and it was the first time I could see myself as a researcher rather than a student in a research lab.

Who inspires you the most?

It’s hard to pick just one person—I’ve met so many incredible people during my journey in the ECE department, from classmates and lab mates to fellow researchers and professors, especially my supervisor who became a mentor for me. But when I think about those who remain a constant source of inspiration in all aspects of my life, I’d have to say my parents. They both had to overcome a lot in life, but they made sure my siblings and I never felt that same struggle. Growing up in Benin, where life couldn’t be more different from Canada, they taught me to believe that nothing is out of reach, no matter how far or unfamiliar. Whenever I think of values that matter to me like hard work, humility, and resilience, I think of my parents — they’re my idea of defining your own success.

To this day, even though they still don’t fully understand what it is exactly that I do or why I can’t “just fix” their computer when it won’t turn on, they keep being supportive, open-minded, eager to learn and ready to brag to any of their friends. I can tell I got the same mindset (minus the bragging) and passion for learning from them, and I hope to carry it with me in everything I do.

Do you have advice for ECE students?

Don’t be afraid to reach out. When I first started at UBC, I had no clue where to begin. The first thing I did was contact the department advisor which led me to meeting my future supervisor and lab mates within my first week at UBC. You don’t need to have it all figured out — reach out, ask questions, and make help@ece your best friend. People are more than willing to help you out.
Do your research and stay up to date. UBC offers tons of resources to students, but they can be easy to miss out on when you’re new. I personally discovered some only after graduating —did you know there’s a dedicated space for Black students on campus? Take the time to look into what’s available early on — whether it’s career services, course advising, international advising or even wellness. Also, check department emails from time to time—they might have info that is directly relevant to you (maybe an invite for an ECE News feature?).
Get involved outside class. UBC isn’t just about courses. Actually talk to people in those classes, join clubs, go to events—this is how you build your community. Even if you’re an introvert like I am, subscribing to a newsletter or checking out a club’s social media can go a long way. Fun fact: the network I built while at UBC has been the greatest help in my job search, so try to connect as much you can!
Do your own thing. There’s no single, one-size-fits-all path. My journey didn’t go as planned —I mean, five years is enough for a master’s and a PhD where I’m from— but it all turned out for the best. Don’t feel like you need to follow anyone else’s timeline and do what makes the most sense for you.
Take it easy. Above all, make sure to enjoy yourself. It’s easy to get caught up in wanting to be done and graduate (trust me, I’ve been there), but university can be one of the most fun and memorable times in your life if you let it.

Continue the conversation with Faridah and connect on LinkedIn!

ECE 3MT Competition: Graduate Students Advanced to Semi-Finals

ECE graduate students Jonas Welsch and Mohammed Elnawawy made a significant impact at the ECE 3MT competition on March 4^th, 2025. Jonas’s first place win and Mohammed’s second place triumph not only showcased their hard-work in ECE but also advanced them to the semi-finals competition hosted by UBC Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

ECE spoke with Jonas and Mohammed about the research they presented during the competition and their future plans. Read on to learn more!

Jonas Welsch

Research presented at 3MT

I am working on small Ultrasound sensors called polyCMUTs to monitor ultrasound signals of microscopic cracks and defects in Materials and structures. The specific topic I presented is the monitoring of hydrogen tanks for aircraft as an alternative fuel to classic kerosene.

What was your favourite part of this experience?

Seeing everybody else’s research and presentation style is always very interesting. It gives you a good chance to connect to grad students from other departments.

What was your biggest challenge?

The overall quality of presentations and presenters was really really high this year so it was a tough competition.

What are your future plans in research and work?

For now I will stay at UBC as a postdoctoral fellow. I’ll try to take one step at a time at the moment due to all the chaos around us.

What is your favourite thing to do outside of school and work?

I love the outdoors, skiing in the winter and hiking and off-roading in the summer.

Do you have any advice for students who want to participate in 3MT?

Especially if you are from engineering try and use as little jargon as possible. Don’t go too much into detail, be aware that all the other people listening have no idea of engineering or all the things familiar to you. Try and make your presentation as easy to understand as possible.

Mohammed Elnawawy

Research presented at 3MT

Safety-critical applications such as healthcare and autonomous vehicles use machine learning models like deep neural networks (DNN) to make predictions and infer decisions. However, DNNs are susceptible to evasion attacks, which trick the DNN into making wrong decisions at inference time, leading to catastrophic consequences. Current defences treat every threat the same, making them either too weak or too slow. My research introduces a smarter defence: one that adapts in real-time using risk profiling. If the system detects a low-risk attack, it uses lightweight defences to stay efficient. If the risk is high, it deploys powerful defences to ensure safety. This approach makes AI systems more secure without sacrificing performance.

What was your favourite part of this experience?

My favourite part was interacting with the audience after the event and seeing their excitement about my research. It was rewarding to hear their questions and realize that I had successfully communicated a complex topic in a way that resonated with them!

What was your biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge was simplifying my research without losing its essence. I’ve always struggled to explain my work to people outside my field, but 3MT pushed me to find creative ways to make it accessible. It was tough at first, but learning to tell a clear, compelling story about my research was incredibly rewarding.

What are your future plans in research and work?

I would love to return to my undergraduate alma mater as a professor, where I can mentor the next generation of researchers and share my passion for AI security. At the same time, I want to continue my research on building robust and resilient AI systems, especially for autonomous vehicles.

What is your favourite thing to do outside of school and work?

I’m a passionate soccer fan—I love both playing and watching the game. I also enjoy board games, especially the fun moments they bring. When the weather is nice, I love going for walks to clear my mind. But above all, I cherish spending quality time with my wife and family—it’s what truly matters most to me.

Do you have any advice for students who want to participate in 3MT?

There’s nothing to stress about…except the 3-minute timer, of course! But seriously, practice your talk until you’ve nailed it. Once you step into the room, let go of the nerves and focus on delivering with confidence. Give it your all, enjoy the experience, and remember—it’s just as much about sharing your passion as it is about the competition!

ECE Professor at UBC Blusson QMI Collaborating to Advance Quantum Photonic Chip Technology

March 14, 2025

Original publication

A collaboration bringing together UBC Blusson QMI researchers with industry and government partners is set to accelerate research and commercialization of innovative photonic chips. With over $1 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the National Research Council Canada (NRC), the project aims to overcome key integration challenges in embedding quantum light sources into semiconductor-based platforms.

“During our previous work on spin-photon quantum computing, we found that photon loss is one of the biggest challenges for photonic-based quantum computing. Photons are precious, and once they are lost, the quantum information is gone,” said project lead and UBC Blusson QMI Investigator Lukas Chrostowski.

SEM image of the single photon sources being studied.

“Hence, our research and commercialization efforts are geared towards solving the problem of efficiently coupling light between different devices and materials. This is critical for quantum photonics, but also for data communications where reducing the optical losses will improve the energy efficiency of data centres.”

The project leverages quantum-dot nanowire light source technology invented at NRC and the hybrid silicon photonics integration technology used and developed at UBC. The commercialization effort will be led by the BC-based company Dream Photonics Inc.

Quantum light sources are essential for next-generation semiconductor and photonic chip technologies, but barriers for integration limits their scalability for industrial applications. The challenge lies in combining III-V semiconductor-based quantum emitters with the silicon platform widely used for electronics and photonics. Current methods struggle to achieve both efficiency and scalability, making a practical solution for deterministic single-photon sources an urgent priority.

Using the advanced equipment at UBC’s Advanced Nanofabrication Facility, Chrostowski and his team have developed a pioneering method for integrating lasers into photonic circuits, overcoming longstanding technical barriers.

“Our goal is to make the commercialization of plug-and-play quantum light sources a reality and simplify their integration with chips,” said Matthew Mitchell, project lead and Senior Scientist at Dream Photonics. “The project will pave the way for more cost-effective and practical applications in optical communication, quantum computing and sensing technology.”

This initiative supports Canada’s National Quantum Strategy (NQS), a federal effort to cement the country’s position as a leader in quantum innovation. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) supports the implementation of the NQS through funding opportunities that advance domestic multisectoral partnerships, the development of talent, and international collaborations in quantum research and innovation. The National Research Council Canada (NRC) supports the NQS through internal programs, interdepartmental projects, and collaborative research Challenge Programs, including the Internet of Things: Quantum Sensors Challenge Program (QSP).

Support provided through this joint initiative aims to reinforce, coordinate, and scale up Canada’s domestic research capabilities in quantum sensing science and technology through partnerships between university researchers, SMEs, the NRC, and other organizations from the private, public, or not-for-profit sectors.

Edna Clarke: UBC’s First Woman in Electrical and Computer Engineering

January 17, 2025

In 1944, Edna Anita Clarke entered the records of UBC history, becoming the first woman to graduate in Electrical Engineering. The life of our first female graduate was one of determination, novelty, and a lifetime of living right on the frontiers of engineering and adventure.

Born in 1921 near Penticton, British Columbia, Edna grew up in a time when opportunities for women in engineering were extremely limited. In 1939, at age 18, she was accepted into UBC’s Engineering program, relocating to Vancouver with her mother and sister.

At UBC, she was well-known. She served as secretary on the student council of her graduating class. She was known two-fold: for being one of the few women in engineering and commuting to school by motorcycle. Edna’s academic path was ever-changing due to her many varied interests. She first enrolled in Mechanical Engineering, then shifted to Aeronautical Engineering, and finally graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1944. Her ability to successfully move between engineering disciplines would be a hallmark of her illustrious career.

Graduation saw Edna’s inclusion in the University of Toronto team, which worked on Canada’s first functional computer, the UTEC Mark I. Anointed by the Globe and Mail as a wonder capable of everything from forecasting weather to playing chess, the UTEC Mark I was a marvel indeed and a credit to the ingenuity of its creators. Edna’s involvement with this groundbreaking project had already begun to make her a forerunner in this growing field.

*Canada’s first functional computer, UTEC Mark I*

During this time in Ontario, Edna met and married Arthur Yuile, a Battle of Britain veteran. Later, they relocated to Connecticut, where Edna was employed as a civil engineer for Northeast Utilities. She had a successful career for those times, not frequently made available for women, and thus was remarkable in both talent and resilience.

Besides her professional achievements, Edna lived a life full of adventure and travel: she skied across North America, often went power boating, and converted to the Baha’i faith, which led her to visit India several times.

Edna was a trailblazer for all the women who came after her in Electrical Engineering. She proved it was possible to succeed as a woman in the field, opening the doors for the 240 women currently in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program. She was quite proud of being the first woman and would be proud to see young women continuing to thrive in the field.

Thank you to her niece, Noni Clarke, for interviewing with our team.

Transforming Hardware Faults in Machine Learning Systems

January 10th, 2025

ECE Professor Karthik Pattabiraman and research group members ECE PhD student Zitao Chen, who is graduating this year, and Assistant Professor Guanpeng Li from the University of Iowa and alumnus of ECE, focus on machine learning (ML) applications in high-stakes environments such as autonomous driving and their reliability to the effect of hardware transient faults. Computer systems are composed of software and hardware working together. However, hardware can be subject to faults such as cosmic rays, stress on the system, and age; all can cause a system to malfunction. Dr. Pattabiraman’s team focuses on understanding and improving the error resilience of ML systems to hardware faults.

The researcher’s paper “A Low-cost Fault Corrector for Deep Neural Networks through Range Restriction” was recently awarded the IEEE Top Picks in Test and Reliability (TPTR). This award was given to 7 papers worldwide published in the computer systems reliability area in the last six years. Additionally, this paper won a Best Paper award runner-up at the DSN’21 conference, the leading venue in the area of Dependable Computing research.

Computation Errors

When the hardware isn’t working properly, the software will be affected, and computation errors are the result. In using these erroneous values for computation, the software can emit a faulty output, such as causing a self-driving system to misidentify the traffic sign. Usually, when a fault arises in a software’s computation, someone can step in and recompute it again. However, the process of recomputing can be laborious and is particularly challenging for use in time-sensitive applications, like when a self-driving car is operating.

“Therefore, the focus of this study is, how can we effectively mitigate hardware faults to ensure the functional safety of ML systems without causing significant runtime delays?”
Dr. Pattabiraman

Process of Developing the Research

To prevent hardware faults from corrupting the program output, Dr. Pattabiraman’s team starts by analyzing why these faults can lead to output corruption. Dr. Pattabiraman explains how his team focused on their area of research, “In a previous study by our team [1], we found that a specific fraction of hardware faults are more prone to causing incorrect program output. We identified that these faults tend to result in abnormally large computation values during software computation, a characteristic influenced by the mathematical properties of ML models [1].

“Building on this insight, in this research, we introduced a technique called Ranger [2] to automatically reduce the damage caused by hardware faults, thereby preventing the program output from being corrupted. Ranger performs range restriction during software computation (hence the name), ensuring the values of the software computation fall within an accepted statistical range. If there is a value that falls outside this range, it brings this erroneous value back to a safe region.”

In the above example, Ranger is correcting an autonomous vehicle’s faulty computer vision. On the far left, the vehicle recognizes the road correctly. In the center, a fault has occurred, affecting the vehicle’s ability to infer which way to go- and directing it into traffic. In the right image, Ranger has corrected this error and the vehicle can proceed safely.

Future Impacts

“As ML applications continue to rely on high-performance hardware, we believe Ranger will have a broader impact in both academia and industry.”
Dr. Pattabiraman

Academic researchers have been building improved solutions on top of the Ranger system to combat hardware faults in emerging ML applications such as Vision Transformers. Meanwhile, the Ranger system has been adopted by Intel’s OpenVINO toolkit for practical use, and Dr. Pattabiraman and his group believe it can benefit practitioners in building dependable ML systems in wider application domains, such as large language models.

Learn more about Dr. Pattibiraman’s Research

[1] Zitao Chen, Guanpeng Li, Karthik Pattabiraman, Nathan DeBardeleben “BinFI: An Efﬁcient Fault Injector for Safety-Critical Machine Learning Systems” In Proceedings of the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis, 2019

[2] Zitao Chen, Guanpeng Li, Karthik Pattabiraman “A Low-cost Fault Corrector for Deep Neural Networks through Range Restriction” The 51st Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, 2021

ECE PhD Student Wins Award for Remote Ultrasound

December 4, 2024

A University of British Columbia researcher is being recognized for his groundbreaking work to develop a mixed reality, immersive environment that makes it easier and more affordable for Canadians to receive ultrasound procedures without having to travel far distances to a medical centre.

The game-changing work has earned David Black (pictured) a Mitacs Innovation Award – Outstanding Innovation, presented by Mitacs, a Canadian innovation leader.

Supported by the Government of British Columbia, Mitacs connects businesses and researchers to drive competitiveness and productivity in sectors such as clean technology, life sciences, emergency management, advanced timber, and agritech. The award will be presented at a ceremony at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on November 19.

Black – a University of British Columbia PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computing Engineering under the supervision of Professor Tim Salcudean – is being recognized for his innovative work to build a compact tele-ultrasound system that allows a novice to perform an ultrasound on a patient while being guided by an expert sonographer or radiologist from a remote location.

The system consists of a mixed reality headset, point-of-care ultrasound probe – equipped with force and position sensors – and tablet or smartphone at the patient end, and a haptic device attached to a dummy ultrasound probe and connected to a computer display at the expert end.

As the remote expert maneuvers the virtual probe, guided by real-time video images transmitted over a high-speed connection, they are able to ‘feel’ the patient as if performing the procedure in person, thanks to the haptic interface.

At the point-of-care, the novice – or even the patient in some cases – aligns their probe with the movements of the virtual probe as they follow along using the mixed reality headset. Two-way verbal communication between the novice and expert is also supported.

“Other emerging teleoperation systems rely on robots to mirror the expert’s motion and, though the technology is impressive to look at, there’s a great deal of complexity and calibration that needs to happen to make it work. The robots are also very expensive,” Black explained.

“By replacing the robot with a human novice and relying on lower cost technology that can perform well over a 5G cellular network, our system is much more viable in the real-world.”

Black, who decided to focus on improving access to healthcare after personal experiences with remote medical emergencies, said Mitacs support is truly impactful.

“It allowed us to advance our technology rapidly to the point of testing and helped enable our partnership with industry leader Rogers Communications, who not only shares their communications infrastructure knowledge, but also helps forge valuable connections with other partners in the community and government,” he said.

The highly functional prototype system developed by Black, with the help of several Mitacs interns, was recently tested in the town of Skidegate, where ultrasounds were accurately performed at a distance of 750 kilometres away.

To date, testing has involved simplistic scans of the abdomen. Moving forward, Black is continuing to optimize the system to handle more complex scans, such as obstetrics, with the aim of launching a start-up company to commercialize the technology in the coming years.

The goal is to offer a lower cost solution that would make it possible to bring expert ultrasound knowledge to remote communities, people at home, or paramedics in the field. For example, Bella Bella, a community of 1,400 people in B.C., spends as much as $500,000 each year transporting patients to Vancouver by airplane in order to receive an ultrasound, said Black, a process that turns a one-hour appointment into a three-day excursion.

“That’s where we aim to come in and divert some of those appointments to a local community centre, medical centre or even to their home,” he said.

The Mitacs Innovation Award – Outstanding Innovation recognizes extraordinary talent from across Canada whose Mitacs-funded research has potential to achieve larger societal and economic impacts, driving innovation and broadening our understanding of the world around us. Mitacs programs are supported by funding from the Government of Canada and provincial and territorial governments across the country.

Black is one of eight Mitacs Innovation Award winners nationally, chosen from thousands of innovators who take part in Mitacs programs each year, and one of four winners in the Outstanding Innovation category. Additional 2024 categories, updated with a fresh look to better reflect Canada’s innovation landscape, include: Canadian Start-Up Innovator of the Year, Canadian Enterprise Innovator of the Year, Outstanding Research Leadership, and Inclusive Innovator of the Year.

In congratulating the winners, Mitacs’ CEO Dr. Stephen Lucas reflected on the organization’s long history and proven track record as a Canadian innovation leader. “Not only do these awards recognize achievements of exceptional innovators across B.C. and Canada, but they also highlight the infinite potential for impact when creative leaders work together,” Dr. Lucas said.

“As Mitacs celebrates 25 years as a leader in Canadian innovation, we reaffirm our belief that partnerships between research, enterprises, and talent – like the ones we honour with the Mitacs Innovation Awards – are key to a successful, prosperous Canada,” he said.

For more information about the Mitacs Innovation Awards and a full list of winners, visit www.mitacs.ca/newsroom.

About Mitacs
As Canada’s innovation organization, Mitacs connects businesses and researchers with unrivaled access to talent, financial support, and the partnerships needed to turn ideas into impactful innovations. Through unique collaborations, Mitacs is driving productivity and positioning Canada as a global innovation leader. Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.

Originally published on Canadian Healthcare Technology

ECE Engineering Professor Appointed Seaspan Chair to Advance Innovation in Marine Sector

November 27, 2024

Originally Published by UBC Applied Science

UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science and Seaspan Shipyards are pleased to announce a new faculty chair position with a focus on marine innovation in robotics and autonomy.

Dr. Adrien Desjardins is the new Seaspan Chair in Robotics for Marine Vessels, a position jointly held between UBC’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

This joint position reflects the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of mobile robotic platforms in both research and industry applications.

Robotics for marine vessels have the potential to enable more efficient and sustainable vessel operations. Developing Canadian expertise and applications opens the door to an important export market, as international interest grows in using autonomous systems, collaborative robotics and integrated sensing in the marine industry.

“The collaboration has huge potential to have a transformative impact on marine engineering innovation in Canada within a short time,” said Dr. Desjardins. “I am excited to develop new paradigms for rapidly accessing and navigating underwater environments. With interdisciplinary teams that include collaboration between UBC and Seaspan, we will move quickly from ideation to solutions that are successfully deployed in the ocean.”

Dr. Desjardins has an extensive background in sensing and robotics. His interdisciplinary research is focused on the development of novel sensing methods, machine learning, and autonomous robotic platforms for navigating complex environments, with marine, ocean science, and biomedical applications.

He will research and teach in emerging areas such as adaptive sensing and imaging, autonomous navigation, underwater inspection, monitoring of natural environments, and collaborative swarms.

This is the third chair to be funded by Seaspan, further enhancing a joint commitment to advance Canadian shipbuilding and support technological innovation in the marine sector.

“We are proud to continue and strengthen our partnership with Seaspan in driving forward innovative teaching and research within our local and Canadian marine communities,” said Dr. James Olson, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science. “Strategic partnerships like this play a critical role in building BC’s economy, fulfilling our commitment to protecting our environment, and attracting and training talented students to this important sector.”

UBC Applied Science is committed to addressing emerging areas of research to reduce the impacts of climate change, while fostering local and global collaboration. Dr. Desjardins will bring together a wide range of academic and industrial expertise in robotics, advanced sensing, data analytics and AI to develop new solutions for autonomously inspecting marine vessels, measuring environmental impact, and monitoring vessel performance.

Seaspan’s $1-million investment into this chair over the next five years—which will be equally matched by the UBC President’s Academic Excellence Initiative—is part of the company’s broader commitment to supporting innovation, sustainability, and skills development under Canada’s value proposition program within the National Shipbuilding Strategy.

“We are excited to build on our existing relationship with UBC and further invest in the future of Canadian marine technology,” said Dave Hargreaves, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Business Development and Communications, Seaspan Shipyards.

“Dr. Desjardins will lead important research that advances novel sensing and robotic systems that support high-functioning fleets and sustainable ship operations. At Seaspan, we believe this kind of forward-thinking collaboration is essential to ensuring Canada’s shipbuilding industry remains competitive on the global stage.”