Student Ingenuity Abuzz on Design and Innovation Day 2024
Originally published in UBC Engineering News
From addressing environmental challenges to enhancing human well-being, the 240 capstone projects on display at the 2024 Design and Innovation Day showcase were a testament to the ingenuity and commitment of UBC’s aspiring engineers. The diverse array of projects represented the culmination of months of dedicated effort and creative problem-solving by teams of final-year engineering students, who tackled real-world problems proposed by community partners.
One project that had attendees buzzing was centred on an Internet of Things (IoT) solution for beekeeping. Recognizing the critical decline in bee populations and its implications for agriculture, this team of electrical and computer engineering students partnered with the Foundation of the Energy Collective to devise an innovative solution for urban beekeeping. Their modular beehive design allows individuals to host beehives in their backyards or on rooftops. Equipped with a sensor board, the hive monitors vital parameters such as temperature, humidity and weight, ensuring optimal conditions for bee health and productivity, and fostering sustainable beekeeping practices in urban environments.
Another capstone team from the School of Biomedical Engineering developed a robust electromyography (EMG) control scheme for amputees. With the goal of enhancing the quality of life for upper arm amputees, they set out to bridge the gap between human intention and prosthetic function. Existing research showed promise in interpreting nerve signals to facilitate intuitive hand gestures and movements in a lab environment, but these students are incorporating machine learning to gather data and replicate the same success in the real world. Through meticulous data collection and methodological refinement, they are laying the groundwork for a more robust and reliable prosthetic arm technology.
As students presented their projects to curious attendees, it was evident that they had not only acquired technical skills, but also learned the values of interdisciplinary collaboration, perseverance and innovation — qualities that are integral to success in engineering.
In response to the increasing threat of wildfires to residential communities, a team of engineering and business students from the New Venture Design (NVD) course — a collaboration between UBC Faculty of Applied Science and Sauder School of Business — developed an innovative wildfire defence system. Their modular automated prototype provides two-fold protection for homes against ember attacks, which account for a significant portion of wildfire-related loss of homes. By lining the roof with Class A fire retardant foam and creating a humidity bubble around the roof using mist, this three-week self-sustaining system is designed to prevent embers from igniting flammable materials, thereby safeguarding homes during wildfire events. With its scalable design and robust functionality, the system offers a practical and reliable solution for mitigating the impact of wildfires on vulnerable communities.
“Design and Innovation Day embodies the UBC Engineering spirit of exploration, collaboration and relentless pursuit of knowledge,” said James Olson, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science. “At this event, we witnessed the convergence of creativity and skill, yielding solutions with the potential to reshape industries and improve lives. As educators and mentors, it is our privilege to nurture and guide these innovations towards real-world impact.”
Design and Innovation Day is an annual event that showcases the best of what UBC engineering students have to offer to community partners. UBC engineering students bring a spirit of creativity, curiosity and continuous learning to problem solving and addressing the complex challenges of our time.
UBC Okanagan School of Engineering also held their showcase on April 12. Fourth-year engineering students displayed 48 year-end projects based on the categories of advanced manufacturing, biocompatible systems, complex systems, infrastructure and sustainability.
Learn more about capstone projects.
Victor Sira Wins 2024 ECE/UBC Three Minute Thesis People’s Choice Award
Congratulations to Victor Sira, MASc student in Electrical Engineering and supervised by Dr. Sudip Shekhar, who received the ECE and UBC 3MT’s People’s Choice Award for the best presentation on “Robust Clock Generation for Microchips”. Learn more about Victor’s research, participation in 3MT, and advice for future contenders!
Can you explain your research topic/thesis?
My research work is in Analog CMOS circuit design. Specifically, I am working on Multi-Path Ring Oscillators (MPRO) which are a fancy type of ring oscillator used to break the typical frequency and number of stages trade-off that exists in simple Ring Oscillators. These circuits find applications in systems that require lots of phases, high operating frequencies and compact oscillator area, for example Time-Interleaving Data Converters and Phase Locked Loops.
What’s something people wouldn’t expect about your research?
Multi-Path Ring Oscillators have an annoying tendency to oscillate at undesired frequencies and/or phase sequences based on the circuit’s initial conditions. My work is mostly focused on simplifying the complex theory that surrounds this problem so that engineers can use these circuits without worrying about initial conditions.
Based on your experience in 3MT, what advice would you give students looking to participate in this competition?
The 3MT is about presenting your research to a general audience but for some topics in ECE a general audience may have zero background knowledge related to your work. I think it’s useful to spend some time providing a simple context for your research so that everyone in the audience is on the same page.
What did you learn from your experience of participating in 3MT? What was your favourite part of this competition?
I learned a lot during the 3MT and would recommend it for all grad students. Most importantly, I learned how to communicate my research to a lay person in a much better and more efficient way than before the competition. My favourite part was listening to all of the diverse and exciting research going on at UBC.
Where do you see yourself once your program is over/ what are you hoping to work on in the future?
After completing my program I’m planning to work in industry as an Analog IC designer. The future is uncertain but I’m excited for new developments in transistors and what that future will bring for Analog design.
To learn more about UBC 3MT, visit the UBC Graduate and Postdoctoral Page
2024 Design & Innovation Day
Welcome to Electrical and Computer Engineering Design and Innovation Day!
We are excited to share the projects our students have worked on over the final year of their undergraduate program! The capstone design project is a major component of the ECE engineering curriculum where students work in teams of four to six to design a product/service of significance and to solve an open-ended problem in electrical and computer engineering.
April 11th, 2:00-5:00pm
Capstone Video Awards, 3:00pm
Fred Kaiser Building – 2332 Main Mall, UBC Campus – Atrium and Kaiser 2020/2030
https://design-innovation.apsc.ubc.ca/
Browse through our ECE projects and abstracts featured at Design + Innovation Day!
Emerging Technologies and Innovations
Industrial Automation and Processes
Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability
Healthcare and Medical Devices
Transportation and Mobility Solutions
Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems
Map
Projects
| Team Name | Title | Company | Project Theme |
| AI-47 | From Chips to Kits: Demonstrator Kits for Next-Gen Silicon Photonic Chiplets | Dream Photonics Inc. | Industrial Automation and Processes |
| AI-76 | ZEROe Sailing Vessel Electrical Integration | Alberni Yachts Inc. | Transportation and Mobility Solutions |
| AI-79 | Water Level Depth Logger | Opus Petroleum Engineering Ltd. | Emerging Technologies and Innovations |
| CG-22 | Using IoT Devices (Raspberry PI) to Count People For Occupancy or Traffic | UBC Cloud Innovation Centre | Emerging Technologies and Innovations |
| CG-23 | Remote Sensing for Forest Fires | UBC Cloud Innovation Centre | Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability |
| CG-29 | iHear | Deng Audio Research | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| CG-39 | Detecting Buried Metallic or Non-metallic Anomalies | Rampart Detection Systems Ltd | Emerging Technologies and Innovations |
| CG-78 | Precise Detection of Free Street Parking Using AI and Video Processing | UBC – Digital Multimedia Lab | Emerging Technologies and Innovations |
| HA-60 | Development of Renewable Energy Assessment Tool Mine Site | Fluor Canada | Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability |
| HA-61 | Electrification of Harbour Air Beaching Gear | Harbour Air Aerospace Services | Transportation and Mobility Solutions |
| HA-83 | Sizing of Temporary Personal Protective Grounding Cables | BC Hydro | Industrial Automation and Processes |
| HA-84 | Medium Voltage Underground Cable Circuits Ampacity Tool | BC Hydro | Industrial Automation and Processes |
| HA-85 | Frozen Soil’s Impact on the Thermal Resistivity’s Used in Medium Voltage Cable Circuit’s Ampacity Calculations | BC Hydro | Industrial Automation and Processes |
| JM-46 | Bass Guitar Pluck Type Classification Using a 2-D Piezo Pickup | Yamaha Guitar Group, Inc | Emerging Technologies and Innovations |
| JM-58 | Developing a Wearable ExG Device to Study Sleep | SimPL lab | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| JM-67 | Backend Development for Motor Deficits Detection Using Hand Drawing and Facial Expression | NeuroPrior AI | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| JY-68 | Development of a Wearable Sensor Device for Human-Robot Interaction with EEG Capabilities | NeuroPrior AI | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| JY-71 | 3-Axis Motion Control Testing System | NovaSense Technology Ltd. | Industrial Automation and Processes |
| JY-72 | 3-Axis Motion Control Fabrication System | NovaSense Technology Ltd. | Industrial Automation and Processes |
| JY-92 | Wearable System for Health Status Monitoring | Adaptive Microsystems Lab (AdaMist), The University of British Columbia | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| PB-35 | Automated Test Framework Migration | Industrial Automation and Processes | |
| PB-48 | Real-time Market Data Collection System | Tartigrade Limited | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PB-49 | Automated Invoice Processing App | Tartigrade Limited | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PB-50 | Talent Acquisition Automation | Tartigrade Limited | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PB-66 | Slice-based Debugging for Java Development Environments | UBC ECE, ReSeSS Research Lab, Dr. Julia Rubin | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PL-10 | Exploring Uncharted Chemical Space of Environmental Exposures using Graphical Neural Networks | University of British Columbia | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PL-12 | Passive RF System for 24/7 custody of Space Objects in GeoSynchronous, Cislunar Orbits and beyond | MDA Systems Lid | Industrial Automation and Processes |
| PL-40 | Leveraging LLMs for a Course Question-Answer Repository | UBC Cloud Innovation Centre | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PL-44 | Intelligent Intersection Communication Hub | Breeze Labs Inc. | Transportation and Mobility Solutions |
| PN-01 | AI Based “Co-pilot” to Assist Solar Project Managers with Crew Assignment & Scheduling | Scoop Robotix Inc. | Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability |
| PN-05 | Immersio Immy Chat | Immersio | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PN-08 | Wet GPU Software Stack | Samnian Software Inc. | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PN-14 | Open Data: Aerial Drone Footage – Lost Hiker Challenge | UBC Cloud Innovation Centre | Emerging Technologies and Innovations |
| PN-42 | Product Image Generator to Create Variation of Product Images at Scale (Using AI and Content Generation Engines) | Esparkify | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| PN-54 | Efficient HW Implementation of DNN based Frame Rate Up Conversion (FRUC) for Real Time Video Transcoding | NetInt | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| SF-07 | Interactive Augmented Reality Factory | UBC MANU Program | Emerging Technologies and Innovations |
| SF-11 | Event-focused Carpool: Connecting Communities Through Innovative Web-Based Carpooling Solutions | CarPals | Transportation and Mobility Solutions |
| SF-21 | Video Streaming Using Cloud Technology | UBC Cloud Innovation Centre | Artificial Intelligence and Software Systems |
| SF-36 | A Lab in a Shoe: Detecting Trips and Stumbles With a Wearable Device | University of British Columbia | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| SF-41 | Human Anatomy Teaching App | UBC Faculty of Medicine | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| SF-51 | IoT Solutions for Sustainable Beekeeping | FEC | Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability |
| TL-30 | Mapping Below the Forest Canopy (Part 1 – Software) | Korotu Technology Inc. | Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability |
| TL-31 | Mapping Below the Forest Canopy (Part 2 – Hardware) | Korotu Technology Inc. | Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability |
| TL-32 | Use of Frequency Modulated Continuous Wavelength Radar (FMCW) to Detect Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate of Patients in Hospital Waiting Rooms, Seclusion Rooms and those in Police Custody | Aberrant Designs Inc. | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| TL-43 | Gesture Control and Vital Function Detection using 60GHz Radar Sensing and AI/ML processing | Delta Controls Inc. | Healthcare and Medical Devices |
| TL-63 | Measuring Forest Change with AI | Korotu Technology Inc. | Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability |
2022/ 2023 Design and Innovation Day
Design and Innovation Day 2023: Winners, Projects, and Photos
2024 3MT Participants
Get ready for ECE’s Three Minute Competition Heat, happening Wednesday, March 6 at 11am in room Kaiser 2020/2030! If you are interested in attending to watch the competition, please RSVP through the following link: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bQ5suiuRs0LCK1w
To get an idea of the presentations, take a look at some of the thesis topics for this year’s heat!
Mohammadreza Hallajiyan
Security by Design: Systematic Security Assessment of AI/ML-enabled Medical Devices
Mohammed Elnawawy
Risk Profiling Framework for ML Attacks in Safety-Critical Applications
Mohsen Salehi
Enhancing Security in Embedded Devices
Zihuan Wang
Sensing while Communicating: Help Cellular Networks Open Their “Eyes”
Farhad Abbasi
Efficient Battery Chargers: Change of the control method in each charging stage
Hamidreza Aftabi
Unveiling Jaw Restoration: Predicting Functional Outcome of Jaw Surgery via Computer Modeling
Victor Sira
Robust Clock Generation for Integrated Circuits
ECE/ECEGSA Research Day
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and ECEGSA (ECE Graduate Student Association) hosted a Research Day on January 24th, 2024! The event was a graduate student-led effort organized by ECEGSA to showcase the research of ECE graduate students through poster sessions and lightning talks.
The Research Day created an opportunity for students to show their research and creativity and encouraged communication and collaboration in the ECE community. Faculty, students, and staff were able to listen, observe and interact with the many areas of research occurring within the department.
An alumni panel was organized to share “Life After Graduation.” ECE MASc and PhD alumni were invited to share their advice and experience about career development. The alumni panel discussed various topics regarding which skills students should be developing in graduate school, how to consider career options and more. This panel was an interactive opportunity for the audience to ask questions and hear advice.
“The ECE research day provided an amazing opportunity for students to connect, share updates, and gain insights into each other’s research. In addition, presenting my research at this event was a valuable opportunity for me to improve my presentation skills.” -Mani, Masters student
“I found ECE Research Day to be an excellent opportunity to learn about the diversity of research projects conducted in the department, in fields beyond my own research area. Through engaging talks and poster sessions, I was able to exchange research experiences with other graduate students and network with ECE grad alumni.” – Abraham, PhD student
Following the poster and talk sessions, an award ceremony took place, where participants were ranked in various areas.
Award Winners:
People’s Choice Poster Award
- Mateo Rendon; Research Topic: Design of aging and wear-out sensors on a novel 12nm FinFET technology
People’s Choice Lightning Talk Award
- Victor Sira; Research Topic: Multi-Phase Ring Oscillators and Their Applications
Distinguished Poster Award
- Mateo Rendon
- Hooman Vaseli
- Nalin Munshi
- Nima Nasiri
Session 1 Distinguished Lightning Talk Award
- Nikhil Pratap Ghanathe
- Victor Sira
- Abraham Chan
Session 2 Distinguished Lightning Talk Award
- Hooman Vaseli
- Dias Azhigulov
Special thanks to Jonathan Lew (Organizer) and Wanwen Chen (Co-organizer), as well as to the adjudicators, volunteers, and alumni panelists for all the hard work dedicated to the ECE/ECEGSA Research Day!
Two UBC Engineering students awarded 2024 Cansbridge Fellowship
Originally published in UBC Engineering News
University of British Columbia engineering students Lily Watt and Matthew Chow are among this year’s recipients of the Cansbridge Fellowship. They are two of 15 fellows who will be joining a week-long conference in New York, a summer internship in Asia enabled by a $10,000 scholarship, and a lifelong professional network.
Watt, a third-year engineering physics student and previously a research assistant at UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, is interested in quantum computing and applied robotics, and hopes to break into a novel technology industry during her Cansbridge Fellowship. She sees the fellowship as a gateway to both professional growth and personal development, and is eager to immerse herself in a new language and way of life.
“The fellowship not only provides globally-minded training and mentorship, but will also enable unique opportunities to identify with others,” said Watt, who is currently president of the UBC Quantum Club, and part of UBC Subbots and UBC WasteNauts (former) design teams. “My goals for the future are to explore the world and connect with people, and to push forward the development of technologies that will help them.”
Third-year computer engineering student Chow looks forward to connecting with the Cansbridge community and engaging with leaders in entrepreneurship. He aims to use scalable software as a tool to make hardware products safer and higher quality.
“Getting the opportunity to meet founders, investors and business leaders at the Cansbridge Fellowship Conference will expand my understanding of business and entrepreneurship, helping me to create my own company in the future,” said Chow, who has served as technical director of the UBC Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and led the UBC Solar software team. He has also completed co-op placements working on Tesla’s Cybertruck firmware and at Zipline, a unicorn start-up in San Francisco, to design software for autonomous delivery drones.
Previous Cansbridge fellows have gone on to acquire distinctions such as the Thiel Fellowship, YCombinator and Schwarzman Scholars. They have also secured positions at companies like Microsoft and Google, or run their own start-ups like Mosaic, Wombo and One Species.
Currently, the Cansbridge Fellowship is supported by several Canadian universities including UBC, University of Toronto, McGill University, Western University, Queens University, Simon Fraser University, University of Alberta, University of Calgary and University of Waterloo, as well as alumni of the program.
UBC Weather Advisory: January 18, 2024
In-person learning activities at UBC’s Vancouver campus are cancelled for January 18, 2024. Please review communications from your instructors to see whether classes will be moved online or given in another format.
Campus is not closed, but UBC staff may be working remotely where possible. Please visit www.ubc.ca for updates about Vancouver campus.
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering staff are available remotely from 8:30am-4:30pm, but please be aware our physical office is closed. Find staff contact information here to reach them remotely.
For virtual advising options, please visit undergraduate advising and graduate advising.
Contact help@ece.ubc.ca for any questions or concerns.
‘Smart Glove’ Can Boost Hand Mobility of Stroke Patients
Originally published in UBC News
New washable wireless smart textile technology developed at UBC in collaboration with Vancouver startup also has potential uses in virtual reality and American Sign Language translation
This month, a group of stroke survivors in B.C. will test a new technology designed to aid their recovery, and ultimately restore use of their limbs and hands.
Participants will wear a new groundbreaking “smart glove” capable of tracking their hand and finger movements during rehabilitation exercises supervised by Dr. Janice Eng, a leading stroke rehabilitation specialist and professor of medicine at UBC.
The glove incorporates a sophisticated network of highly sensitive sensor yarns and pressure sensors that are woven into a comfortable stretchy fabric, enabling it to track, capture and wirelessly transmit even the smallest hand and finger movements.
“With this glove, we can monitor patients’ hand and finger movements without the need for cameras. We can then analyze and fine-tune their exercise programs for the best possible results, even remotely,” says Dr. Eng.
Precision in wearable electronics
UBC electrical and computer engineering professor Dr. Peyman Servati, PhD student Arvin Tashakori and their team at their startup, Texavie, created the smart glove for collaboration on the stroke project. Dr. Servati highlighted a number of breakthroughs.
“This is the most accurate glove we know of that can track hand and finger movement and grasping force without requiring motion-capture cameras. Thanks to machine learning models we developed, the glove can accurately determine the angles of all finger joints and the wrist as they move. The technology is highly precise and fast, capable of detecting small stretches and pressures and predicting movement with at least 99-per-cent accuracy – matching the performance of costly motion-capture cameras.”
Unlike other products in the market, the glove is wireless and comfortable, and can be easily washed after removing the battery. Dr. Servati and his team have developed advanced methods to manufacture the smart gloves and related apparel at a relatively low cost locally.
Augmented reality and robotics
Dr. Servati envisions a seamless transition of the glove into the consumer market with ongoing improvements, in collaboration with different industrial partners. The team also sees potential applications in virtual reality and augmented reality, animation and robotics.
“Imagine being able to accurately capture hand movements and interactions with objects and have it automatically display on a screen. There are endless applications. You can type text without needing a physical keyboard, control a robot, or translate American Sign Language into written speech in real time, providing easier communication for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.”
The research findings were published in Nature Machine Intelligence.
Interview language(s): English (Servati, Eng, Tashakori), Farsi (Tashakori)
B-roll and images: https://bit.ly/UBCsmartglove
ECE Professor Vincent Wong and Former Postdoctoral Fellow Ming Tang Receive IEEE 2022 Best Paper Award
