At UBC, we view our entire campus as a living laboratory, a kind of giant sandbox in which there is the freedom to explore—creatively and collaboratively—the technological, environmental, economic and societal aspects of sustainability.
As a living laboratory, UBC faculty, staff and students and private, public and NGO partners use the University’s physical plant, combined with UBC’s education and research capabilities, to test, study, teach, apply and share lessons learned, technologies created and policies developed. We study our own behaviours and discoveries to advance sustainability scholarship inside and outside UBC.
Many members of the Electrical and Computer Engineering community have worked together to incorporate smart grid technology into UBC’s sustainability initiatives. The smart grid project is looking at real-time energy generation, distribution, storage and consumption on campus to develop methods and strategies to optimize the system and meet UBC’s green house gas emissions goals. As part of the Living Lab, ECE will pursue collaborations with industry to provide rich research opportunities for students and faculty, using the University’s physical infrastructure itself as a test bed for new ideas and a demonstration site for innovative technologies.
Please join us on Thursday, January 17th at 12:00 – 13:30, Kaiser 2020/30 to discuss how students can get involved in this vital research.
Presenters:
André Ivanov has championed ECE’s involvement in Campus as a Living Lab. Professor Ivanov recognized the important contribution that Electrical and Computer Engineers could make to the sustainability goals expressed in Place and Promise. As Department Head, Professor Ivanov has led the Department into new outreach and community building activities, as well as industry partnership developments and renewals, including initiatives that use UBC campus as a “living lab”. Working with students and his research colleagues in the Department, Professor Ivanov has begun to develop the relationships with industry to incorporate smart grid technology into both the existing infrastructure of the Vancouver campus and into the research and teaching facilities of the Department.
Paul Lusina is a research associate with the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia. His current role focuses on linking faculty and students to research opportunities with UBC’s Campus as a Living Lab program. This program partners researchers, industry and UBC Operations by incorporating cutting-edge clean technologies and methods to make the university a leader in sustainability. Previous to his role at UBC, Paul worked in the Advanced Technology Department at Research in Motion in the area of channel modelling and wireless communications.
Steve Cockcroft is currently appointed as one of two Academic Directors, Strategic Partnerships, and is charged with the task of securing partnerships with the Clean Technology Sector to both meet UBC’s GHG emission targets and aspiration’s to exploit it’s physical infrastructure as a living laboratory of clean technology. As an example of this, Professor Cockcroft was instrumental in securing the Nexterra-UBC Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Project to be located on UBC’s Point Grey Campus (~$27MM). A current initiative is focused on demonstrating a Smart Energy Micro Grid on Campus including some provision for stored energy. Professor Cockcroft will talk about the “UBC Living Laboratory” initiative, its present status and the vision for the future.
Two ECE Ph.D. candidates who are currently working in our “Living Lab” will present their work. Mohamed Osama Ahmed will discuss his project titled, “ Energy Forecasting using UBC Building Management System Data”. Sina Mashayekhi will discuss “Power Line Communications for Energy Management”.