Meet ECE's 2022 3-Minute Thesis Winners!

Meet ECE’s 2022 3-Minute Thesis Winners!

We are excited to introduce you to the winners of ECE’s departmental heat last term, and share a snapshot into their research and their experiences so far in ECE! Congratulations to Ivelina Daiss, Hooman Vaseli, and Jonas Welsch on their successful presentations!

3MT (3-Minute Thesis), is a competition held throughout UBC where graduate students are challenged to present their research in just three minutes to a non-specialist audience! Individual departments hold their own heats to determine which students from the department will go on to compete in the UBC-wide competition. Ivelina, Hooman, and Jonas were our ECE winners this year.

We connected with Ivelina and Hooman about their experiences in ECE and in the 3MT competition, where they shared their favorite parts about their programs as well as some tips for their younger selves!

What is the topic of your research?

Ivelina: I am part of the Earthquake Early Warning for the Smart City using 5G (EEW-SC) project. The project belongs to the I2Sim group headed by Dr. Jose Marti in the ECE Department and Dr. Carlos Ventura in the Department of Civil Engineering. We are designing a modern earthquake early warning application and working with Rogers Communications to verify its deployment for Vancouver. My thesis is related to providing an IoT solution for the EEW-SC application. I worked on setting up and testing a network of sensors for collecting seismic data during an earthquake.

Hooman: Broadly, I am researching machine learning and deep learning methods for medical imaging applications. Specifically, in my lab, RCL (Robotics and Control Lab), our group focuses on ultrasound images of the heart (called echo) and prostate to automate the analysis of such data and assist the clinicians. My target is to improve the stroke risk assessment through the use of deep-learning-based analysis of heart ultrasound images. So, I’d like to say I’m specializing in broken hearts! 😉

What inspired you to study this topic?

Ivelina: I feel that my work on this project is a great way to contribute to the well-being of the society I live in. In my undergraduate studies at UBC, I was introduced to Dr. Marti’s extensive expertise in systems and disaster response and management and I really wanted to join his team. In addition, working with industry partners, in particular with Rogers Communications, provided me with an experience few graduate students are able to have.

Hooman: I was first inspired to pursue a biomedical specialization during my undergraduate degree at UBC because, from my childhood, I remember how in the Star Wars universe the technology was so advanced that prosthetic arms and legs could let the user feel and control them as if they were real limbs. I got into the field of machine learning for medical imaging thanks to my current supervisor (Prof. Purang Abolmaesumi) who introduced me to the field when he offered me my first co-op job at RCL after finishing my 2nd year of undergrad at UBC. Working in such a cutting-edge field using real data to have an impact was so satisfying that I decided to continue my graduate studies as a Ph.D. student in the same lab. In 2020 when I started my Ph.D., I got to know about all the ongoing projects in RCL, and this specific project to improve stroke risk assessment by analyzing echo data seemed to me as one of the most impactful projects, especially because stroke is the 2nd leading cause of death worldwide. And honestly, this has been one of the most persistent reasons that have been driving me to do research in the field.

If you could go back in time and meet yourself at the start of your degree, what advice would you give yourself?

Ivelina: I would advise myself to take as many courses as I can. I advise future graduate students to benefit as much as possible from the extensive course offering in ECE. There are many graduate level courses with instructors who are on the cutting edge of research. Taking advantage of the knowledge they communicate is one of the best ways to gain the most from your graduate experience.

Hooman: Take it easy Hooman! Focus more on the tasks at hand rather than thinking of all the things you can do over several years at the same time so you don’t get overwhelmed. Also, celebrate every achievement you get, no matter how small. You’ll get refueled and morale boosts that you’ll need in the difficult path of research.

What made you want to participate in the 3MT competition? What was your favourite part of the experience?

Ivelina: My initial motivation to participate was to spread awareness of the Earthquake Early Warning for the Smart City using 5G project. I also felt that the preparation for the competition would help me to set in perspective what is important to communicate in my thesis. My favourite part was the preparation for the competition. I found that the Department of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies offers extensive resources for our 3MT preparation, and I benefited a lot from the coaching sessions they offered.

Hooman: Other than the prize money, it felt really good to get a platform and present my work to people whom I had not known previously and get acknowledgment for all my efforts. Also, presenting to such an audience was well outside of my comfort zone which by itself is very rewarding. My favorite part was getting to know about all the other cool projects and their researchers in the community and making new friends.

What are you hoping to work on in the future/after your program is over?

Ivelina: I would like to apply my skills and knowledge in a way that benefits society. Working on projects in the IoT space for Smart Cities and Smart Energy and supporting new generation communications networks aligns with my perspective that our quality of life can be improved through conscientious application of technology.

Hooman: I am aiming to work in the industry after graduation, but I really hope what I’d be doing is impactful for the greater good of society rather than just making more profit for the companies. Because for me, nothing can be more satisfying than knowing what I work on makes a real difference in the world.

What non-academic experience has made your time at UBC memorable so far?

Ivelina: The people I have met, both during my undergraduate and graduate time at UBC, have made the greatest impact in my life. I am grateful for the relationships I have built with my undergraduate friends and my current colleagues. I continue to draw inspiration from them and I am so proud to see them succeed.

Hooman: Honestly, the pandemic and remote work made it really hard to get the full experience of UBC. Thankfully, I was here during my undergrad and campus has started reopening. Based on my undergrad experience and what I plan to do in the future, I’d say all the events that I’ve attended and will attend, especially the UBC signature events like Storm the Wall and the Day of the Longboat, are what make my UBC experience memorable.

Congratulations again for all your hard work Ivelina, Hooman, and Jonas!

To anyone interested in taking part in future 3MT heats, stay tuned for our call for participants early next year for the 2023 3MT Competition!

Ivelina is a student in ECE’s MASc program. To connect with her about her 3MT experience, her research, or her MASc program, Ivelina is happy to connect via LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ivelinadaiss

Hooman is a student in ECE’s PhD program. To connect with him about his 3MT experience, his research, or his PhD program, Hooman is happy to connect via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoomanvaseli

Alumni Perspectives – Sebastian Zhou, SoC Global Routing Techniques

Sebastian Zhou is a PhD alumni from our UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering department and part of UBC’s System-on-a-Chip Research Lab.

Sebastian’s PhD research focused on the optimization of System-on-a-Chip global routing techniques, and he has worked on projects developing routability-driven routing strategies. Prior to becoming a doctoral student, Sebastian worked as a Research and Development Engineer at Blackcomb Design Automation, where he designed and developed algorithms to improve hardware repairability. He has also worked as a Research and Development Technical Intern at Synopsys Inc. Sebastian was part of the PrimeTime team, helping to develop one of the best timing signoff solutions in the industry.

Sebastian joins us in an interview where he shares how he became interested in System-on-a-Chip and what excites him about his work, suggestions he would give to his younger self, as well as his talents for go-karting!

Your work mainly focuses on System on a Chip (SoC) global routing techniques. How did you get started studying this topic?

It was the start of the second year of my PhD program- I had just finished all my coursework and felt every bit of myself ready to dive into the world of research. I started working part-time at a local Electronic Design Automation (EDA) company in Vancouver. During this period, I realized that there are so many real-world problems waiting to be optimized, and there is so much room for improvement in SoC global routing. Therefore, it was at that moment I decided to dedicate my Ph.D. life to it.

Why is it important to study SoC? What future impacts could this research have?

Studying how to design better SoCs is very crucial for improving our everyday lives. Let’s think about the things that we can’t live without nowadays like cellphones and computers. They all have chips in them. Even the microwave has chips. I would argue that SoC is the foundation that supports modern human civilization. My research finds ways to accelerate the SoC production while ensuring chips are as powerful as they can be, so that (hopefully) people may get their hands on new iPhones even more frequently.

What aspects of this research did you find most exciting?

During my research, I have developed an encoding/decoding algorithm that bridges the gap between academic and industrial data formats. This algorithm enables me to work on the real chips. So, when I first saw the positive results from my experiments that my work brings to the “real world products,” I felt excited, as if I had changed the world. Of course, this conceit didn’t last long as I recovered my rationality after a good night’s sleep.

If you could go back in time and meet yourself at the start of your Ph.D., what is some advice you would give your past self?

Be more prepared, both mentally and physically. Doing a Ph.D. is nothing like doing a master’s or bachelor’s program. You will encounter hardships that no one has experienced, which means you have no one to talk to when you are down. You will face failures that you have to spend night after night solving, which means you don’t get to sleep. And even if you are in bed, you can’t sleep at all – so just be prepared. However, there are many online mental health resources that helped me throughout my degree.

You also work as a Professional Development TA Facilitator for the Faculty of Applied Science. Why is student learning important to you?

Having a good student learning atmosphere is definitely essential. I’ve been there since I was a first-time TA. I didn’t know what a TA should do, or how I should do it. I felt helpless. Although it didn’t take long to get on the right track, the experience wasn’t actually pleasant for both the students and me. I don’t want the same thing to happen to others. Therefore as a senior, I became a TA facilitator to get new TAs ready by sharing my own experience and real teaching scenarios.

Getting a Ph.D. can get pretty intense, what are your favourite things to do to unwind?

I find myself adventurous when it comes to off-work life. To get away from intensive work, I love to do intensive sports. I drive the go-kart regularly, and I am relatively competitive in this sport. By ‘relatively’ I mean I am usually the best in every day drop-in racings, and I get into the top 10 weekly rankings. However, when it comes to the prized competition and things are getting very serious with my studies, I become just a participant rather than a competitor. Now that I have graduated, maybe it’s time for me to get that trophy!

Where do you hope you’ll be in 5 years?

In 5 years, I hope that I am still working in this field, either in academia or industry. I want to proudly say to the world that some product has my work embedded in it, and that it has been benefiting the world in many aspects.

Congratulations, 2022 Graduates!

Dear Class of 2022,

Congratulations on completing your program and being a member of the ECE graduating class of 2022! This is a wonderful accomplishment, and we are proud to be your staff and faculty that have worked with you throughout your degrees. It means a lot to us that you have achieved this milestone.

To celebrate this accomplishment, we invite you to attend our graduation brunch on June 1st at 11:00 in the Kaiser Atrium. At the event we will be excited to see you and provide you with an ECE gift to remember your program by. We invite you to stay in touch with us wherever life takes you after graduation, and we are always happy to welcome you back to meet other students, attend our social events, or simply to say hello.

Again, congratulations, and all the best in the next stage after graduation!

– Steve Wilton

On behalf of your ECE Department

Sign your name and send a message to your graduating class on the 2022 virtual yearbook!

ECE Graduation 2022 Yearbook

How to Stay Connected with the ECE Community

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ECE PhD Student Mohammad Jafari, Governor General’s Gold Medal Winner

Congratulations to ECE PhD student Mohammad Jafari, who has been awarded the 2022 Governor General’s Gold Medal! This prestigious award goes to the graduating doctoral student who has achieved the most outstanding academic record in their year.

Mohammad’s high-achieving studies took place under supervisor Purang Abolmaesumi at the Robotics and Control Laboratory, where he studied deep learning for medical imaging. After graduation, he will continue his investigations into artificial intelligence as technical director of AI at Aspect Biosystems.

We spoke to him to learn more about this award, his plans for the future, and his insights and advice from his experience at ECE.

How do you feel about this award?

Indeed, it was a surprise! UBC has many outstanding students, and I feel honoured and humbled to be a recipient of this award. Special thanks goes to my PhD supervisor, Prof. Purang Abolmasumi, for his pivotal role, support, and guidance. I am grateful to the selection committee and am eternally thankful to UBC for being home to my study dreams.

What was your PhD research on, and how did you initially get started studying this topic?

My PhD research was on developing robust deep learning methods to promote reliability of computerized echocardiography. My choice of topic was foremost initiated and directed by my PhD supervisor, Prof. Purang Abolmaesumi. My topic further evolved by advancing my research and via fruitful collaborations and discussions within our research group – RCL at the ECE department, and with our clinical collaborators at Vancouver Coastal Health.

What element- experience, event, course, mentor, conference, etc- of your time as a PhD student stood out to you the most, or was most important to you?

One of the most impactful activities for me was attending academic conferences. I was fortunate that my research was recognized by the community through best paper awards and nominations, which reinforced my research motivations and affirmed to me that I was on the correct path. Furthermore, the conference gatherings helped a lot in forming external connections and maintaining a better understanding of research trends in the bigger picture.

What are your plans after graduation?

I plan to continue my research in artificial intelligence (AI) and healthcare. Currently, I work as technical director of AI at Aspect Biosystems, a Canadian company that’s pioneering 3D bioprinting and tissue engineering. I hope to make impactful contributions to this field, working towards the next generation of AI solutions and AI accelerated therapeutics.

If you could go back in time and meet yourself at the start of your academic journey, what is some advice you would give your past self?

One advice would be to simplify your goals and focus on a few high-level purposes. We can do anything, but we cannot do everything.

As well, always appreciate the importance of varied connections; a real asset of the academic journey is the chance to get connected with talented, like-minded people. Be reachable, supportive, and understanding of others.

Connect with Mohammad on Linkedin.

Making Deep Neural Networks Reliable

The wide-ranging possibilities of machine learning are transforming many industries, shaping the development of many essential applications, from self-driving cars, to healthcare, to fraud detection. But what happens when machine learning breaks down?

Like any software, deep learning applications depend on the hardware they run on – hardware that can break down and cause applications to make mistakes. Two ECE graduate students, Zitao Chen and Ali Asgari, are working to prevent these accidents. Their new software solution, Ranger, checks for and corrects faulty values in deep learning systems.

“Basically,” says Zitao Chen, the lead investigator on this project, “The problem we are looking at here is how to make machine learning models be even more reliable.”

Most 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, age, faulty designs, purposeful attacks, and so-on; all can cause a system to malfunction. When the hardware isn’t working properly, the software will be affected, and computation errors are the result. Usually, when a fault arises in a software’s computation, someone can go in and recompute it manually. But this can be difficult and laborious, and is hard to complete under time constraints, like when a self-driving car is operating.

What Zitao and Ali’s tool, called Ranger, does is anticipate and correct errors in the hardware. It performs range checks (hence the name), checking that the values of the software 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 car recognizes the road correctly. In the center, a fault has occurred, affecting the car’s ability to infer which way to go- and directing it into traffic. In the right image, Ranger has corrected this error and the car can proceed safely.

Zitao and co-researcher Ali Asgari began developing this research at the Dependable Systems Lab, led by Karthik Pattabiraiman. “We had been working on another paper, trying to understand why the machine learning model would fail from a hardware fault,” says Zitao. “Long story short….. We came up with a nice way to characterize the patterns of when the model fails and when the model would not fail.” By identifying these patterns, they were able to develop a software that anticipated and corrected errors, bringing values back to a tolerable region.

“The very cool thing about this is that this tool is application-oblivious; so it doesn’t matter if you’re using a self-driving car or you’re using an autonomous robot- you can use this application.” says Ali.

This tool will soon be used in industry. Intel has added this software to OpenVINO – a toolkit that optimizes and improves the reliability of computer vision hardware and software. Ranger will soon be used as part of this toolkit to help develop all different kinds of deep learning technology.

“We can easily incorporate it without a lot of programming interventions.” says Zitao. “You don’t really have to make a lot of changes.” As well, “it’s really low cost…. And super effective. I think this is what makes this technique so appealing for them.”

“Despite its simplicity, it provides a very high level of reliability.” adds Ali.

This was the first project Zitao worked on after joining Karthik’s lab. Says Zitao, “I think to me the most exciting part [of this research] was understanding the problem we’re dealing with… I was playing with tools to see how to model, see how it would fail, and then, through this process, by looking at all these crazy details…gradually this emerged.”

“Once we’d identified what this problem was, we moved on to see how we can make things better based on our understanding.” he says.

“I found this research project interesting because I found it more close to the application.” Ali explains. “This technique is used in the industry and has impact. And the specific area we’re focusing on, artificial intelligence and machine learning, is being used in many applications and is ever-growing in its popularity.”

“I can see an important shift happening- formerly, maybe [developers] didn’t care much about reliability of AI applications.” says Ali. However, he sees this tool as part of a change in the industry. “I think this is a first step that could also lead to looking at reliability [in software] from many different perspectives.”

Explore the research behind Ranger here and here

Learn more about OpenVINO

Connect with Zitao and Ali

Now hiring tenure-track positions!

ECE is hiring for Associate Professor or Professor (Tenure), Canada Excellence Research Chair in Neuroprosthetics!

Sudip Shekhar awarded Killam Teaching Prize

Dr. Sudip Shekhar, Associate Professor at Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been awarded the Killam Teaching Prize.

This award recognizes excellence in teaching, and is awarded through nomination by students, colleagues and alumni. Recipients are noted for their exceptional leadership, mentorship and engagement and for the positive impact they have made on their students’ lives. “[It’s important to me] to influence students in a positive way.” Dr. Shekhar says, “[and] to provide the big picture as well as explain concepts clearly.”

Dr. Shekhar joined the ECE department in 2013. He is a recipient of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS) Predoctoral Fellowship, the Intel Foundation Ph.D. Fellowship, the Analog Devices Outstanding Student Designer Award, the Young Alumni Achiever Award by IIT Kharagpur, the IEEE Transactions on Circuit and Systems Darlington Best Paper Award and a co-recipient of IEEE Radio-Frequency IC Symposium Best Student Paper Award. He serves on the technical program committee of IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC) and Optical Interconnects (OI) Conference. His research interests include circuits for high-speed interfaces, silicon photonics, radio-frequency transceivers and sensor interfaces.

Of the award, Dr. Shekhar says, “I am happy and humbled [to receive this prize]. It will serve as an encouragement and a reminder to keep doing better as a teacher.”

In the quest to build smart skin that mimics the sensing capabilities of natural skin, ionic skins have shown significant advantages. They’re made of flexible, biocompatible hydrogels that use ions to carry an electrical charge. In contrast to smart skins made of plastics and metals, the hydrogels have the softness of natural skin. This offers a more natural feel to the prosthetic arm or robot hand they are mounted on, and makes them comfortable to wear.

These hydrogels can generate voltages when touched, but scientists did not clearly understand how — until a team of researchers at UBC devised a unique experiment, published today.

“How hydrogel sensors work is they produce voltages and currents in reaction to stimuli, such as pressure or touch – what we are calling a piezoionic effect. But we didn’t know exactly how these voltages are produced,” said the study’s lead author Yuta Dobashi, who started the work as part of his master’s in biomedical engineering at UBC.

Working under the supervision of ECE researcher Dr. John Madden, Dobashi devised hydrogel sensors containing salts with positive and negative ions of different sizes. He and collaborators in UBC’s physics and chemistry departments applied magnetic fields to track precisely how the ions moved when pressure was applied to the sensor.

“When pressure is applied to the gel, that pressure spreads out the ions in the liquid at different speeds, creating an electrical signal. Positive ions, which tend to be smaller, move faster than larger, negative ions. This results in an uneven ion distribution which creates an electric field, which is what makes a piezoionic sensor work.”

The researchers say this new knowledge confirms that hydrogels work in a similar way to how humans detect pressure, which is also through moving ions in response to pressure, inspiring potential new applications for ionic skins.

“The obvious application is creating sensors that interact directly with cells and the nervous system, since the voltages, currents and response times are like those across cell membranes,” says Dr. Madden, an electrical and computer engineering professor in UBC’s faculty of applied science. “When we connect our sensor to a nerve, it produces a signal in the nerve. The nerve, in turn, activates muscle contraction.”

“You can imagine a prosthetic arm covered in an ionic skin. The skin senses an object through touch or pressure, conveys that information through the nerves to the brain, and the brain then activates the motors required to lift or hold the object. With further development of the sensor skin and interfaces with nerves, this bionic interface is conceivable.”

Another application is a soft hydrogel sensor worn on the skin that can monitor a patient’s vital signs while being totally unobtrusive and generating its own power.

Dobashi, who’s currently completing his PhD work at the University of Toronto, is keen to continue working on ionic technologies after he graduates.

“We can imagine a future where jelly-like ‘iontronics’ are used for body implants. Artificial joints can be implanted, without fear of rejection inside the human body. Ionic devices can be used as part of artificial knee cartilage, adding a smart sensing element. A piezoionic gel implant might release drugs based on how much pressure it senses, for example.”

Dr. Madden added that the market for smart skins is estimated at $4.5 billion in 2019 and it continues to grow. “Smart skins can be integrated into clothing or placed directly on the skin, and ionic skins are one of the technologies that can further that growth.”

The research includes contributions from UBC chemistry PhD graduate Yael Petel and Carl Michal, UBC professor of physics, who used the interaction between strong magnetic fields and the nuclear spins of ions to track ion movements within the hydrogels. Cédric Plesse, Giao Nguyen and Frédéric Vidal at CY Cergy Paris University in France helped develop a new theory on how the charge and voltage are generated in the hydrogels.

Finding a job after graduation can be an intimidating task. If you’re an ECE student gearing up to enter the industry, the challenges of finding a good position are definitely something on your mind.

ECE alumni Yuan Gao knows this very well. After completing his MEng at ECE in 2021, he began his job search, eventually applying for and successfully landing a position at Google as a software engineer. As a now-veteran of the job application process, we spoke to Yuan to learn about his takeaways from this experience, and his advice and recommendations for other students entering the industry.

Opportunities at ECE and UBC

“UBC and ECE provide various resources and opportunities to help with securing a job. I will share the ones that I attended.

1. Google @ UBC: Building Your Technical Career: ECE department hosted a workshop with two Googlers, Lina and Kevin. They discussed resumes, the technical interview process, and Q&A sessions, and held 1-1 office hours. This event helped give me a better understanding of the hiring and interview process. They also gave me constructive suggestions about my resume and interview preparation in a 1-1 office hour slot. I believe this was the most helpful event for my job search. (Editor’s note: we hope to host more of these events in the coming school year- stay tuned!)

2. Career events and workshops: This page lists the workshops hosted by UBC and companies, and provides personal career advice. I attended some workshops to help me polish my resume and build a professional Linkedin profile. Companies host events to introduce their hiring process and make connections with students. In some events, employees shared their experiences, which helped me learn more about the company culture and values.

3. Career Day: Multiple employers from different industries attend to connect with students to recruit for both paid and volunteer positions.

4. Co-op Program: I secured my first job through the UBC Co-op program. There are many available job opportunities for Co-op students only. Co-op coordinators were enthusiastic and professional, and they provided support with job searching, resume, and mock interviews. I highly recommend it if you want to gain more work experience.”

The importance of co-op

“Before joining Google, I worked at a spending management software company as a co-op student in Vancouver for 12 months. I worked as a backend developer to implement and deliver spending management features.

My co-op experience helped me develop more industrial skills and learn about the software development process, which made me more appealing as a full-time developer.

As a co-op student, you can choose from many different positions, such as backend, frontend, DevOps, and cloud engineer. Based on your co-op experience, you can get an overall idea of your short-term and long-term career goals. It’s also a good opportunity to find what your interests are in your field.”

Interview Process

“My application and interview process at Google had a few steps. This is what it was like:

1. Online application: I submitted my online application through Google Career in September. Google as well as other companies usually open new grad positions in summer, so I set my Linkedin up to get notified if there is a new job posting from followed companies. Besides, I constantly checked a repository to keep track of available new grad positions.

2. Online Coding Exercise: After three weeks, I received a response from Google to complete an online coding exercise within one week. I had 90 minutes to complete 2 standard coding problems, which were based on common Leetcode topics and not tricky at all.

3. Virtual On-site Preparation: I received a survey to schedule a virtual on-site date one week after finishing the online coding exercise. A recruiter reached out to me to help me learn more about the interview process.

4. Virtual On-site: There were five rounds in a single day containing one behavior round and four technical rounds. Each round took ~45 minutes and there was a 15-minute break. I could use my preferred language and write my codes with an online doc. It was an exhausting experience, so make sure to take a good rest before the interview day!

5. Interview results: It took three weeks for me to receive the result due to the Thanksgiving break. Be patient and don’t feel anxious.”

Interview tips

“Some tips from my experience- I hope some of them can be helpful.

1. Watch mock interview videos and practice with peers. There are many mock interview videos on YouTube and they are almost the same as an actual interview. It’s helpful to watch the videos and imagine how to answer the questions under the same situation.

2. After learning about the interview process, you can do mock interviews with peers using prepared questions. Try to be formal and serious, and make sure you completely understand the prepared questions. After each round, give each other detailed feedback. This also helps you learn about expectations from the interviewer’s perspective.

3. Talking while coding. I learnt this lesson from my first mock interview with a Co-op coordinator. While solving a technical problem, we are supposed to demonstrate our knowledge and skills, and the interviewer is there to help us solve the problem- similar to solving a practical problem with a colleague. If you get stuck and just think in silence, it’ll be hard for the interviewer to help. So please try to talk while coding, express what is on your mind, and make sure everyone is on the same page.

4. Practice Leetcode questions!

5. Be confident and relax. You have been well-prepared on the interview day, just take a deep breath and trust yourself :).”

Explore more career resources from UBC Applied Science

Design and Innovation Day 2022: Winners, Projects, and Photos

Thank you to everyone who attended Design and Innovation Day! It was wonderful to see the results of a year of effort and teamwork from ECE’s students. Congratulations, everyone!

Design & Innovation Day was an in-person event showcasing our electrical and computer engineering Capstone projects for 2022. This event was the culmination of 8 months of work where our engineering teams solved technical design challenges from industry and community partners. We also wish to highlight two groups of exceptional teams: our Faculty Awards recognize the best overall projects and the Best Video Awards recognize our teams’ exceptional communication skills.

The winners of the Best Video competition, the Faculty Awards are featured below.

Faculty Award Winners

The faculty awards recognize outstanding projects as selected by all 9 Capstone instructors. In addition to exceptional engineering design, teams also display strengths in professionalism, communication, management, and / or impact on their partner’s organization.

Project Name: Hardware & Software biofeedback for Physiotherapy

Project Client: UBC Tendon Injury Research Group

Project Abstract: Long-term adherence to remote physiotherapy is statistically low. We’ve developed a real-time biofeedback hardware and software package to assist home-based physical therapy. PhysViz supports long-term adherence to rehabilitation exercises as well as allowing clinicians to provide real-time feedback and prescription adjustments, leading to better prognosis.

Check out our feature “Capstone Perspectives” interview, where we took a deeper dive into this award-winning capstone team and their amazing work!

Project Name: Monitor Nature with AI Automatic Change Detection

Project Client: Korotu Technology

Project Abstract: The primary outcome of this project is to create a mobile application and a back-end solution for detecting deforestation changes using AI. Users can select a location on the map and track deforestation changes between different years. Users can also add locations to their watchlist to receive automatic notifications if a significant amount of deforestation has happened in that area. The land cover classification of locations is performed using deep learning. The client’s interest in this project stems from its vision of creating sustainable natural climate solutions that are easily accessible by the general public. The target audience for this project includes individuals and communities interested in tracking the change in land use in the area.

Although there are already existing products regarding natural change detection, they are not easily used by the general public. These tools are used by governments and provinces to monitor changes at large scales. A publicly available, easy-to-use nature-monitoring app has the potential to help protect places that rely on clean air and biodiversity.

Check out our feature “Capstone Perspectives” interview, where we took a deeper dive into this award-winning capstone team and their amazing work!

IoT sensor to improve learning and focus in classrooms

Project Client: Airtame ApS

Project Abstract: “IoT sensor to improve learning and focus in classrooms” is the project that our team (SF-043) has undertaken. The purpose of this project was to design a solution that will aid educators in making decisions and adjustments based on environmental classroom conditions. Studies have shown that classroom environmental conditions play a key role in optimizing student learning.

This project aims to provide actionable recommendations and meaningful representation of the conditions within a classroom setting through the use of IoT sensor hardware. The sensing hardware that our group has designed is focused on sensing and reporting the temperature, humidity, and CO2 environmental conditions within a classroom setting.

Check out our feature “Capstone Perspectives” interview, where we took a deeper dive into this award-winning capstone team and their amazing work!

Best Video Winners

The best video awards recognize our teams’ exceptional ability to communicate their technical design challenge and project’s impact to a general audience. A short list of videos is selected by the Capstone students with the final winners selected by a panel of judges representing diverse perspectives.

First Prize: Slicing-Based Debugging for Java / Android Development Environments

Project Client: UBC ECE, ReSeSS Research Lab, PI: Prof. Julia Rubin.

Our team has worked with the ReSSeS lab to integrate an innovative debugging tool called the Slicer4J Plugin. Slicer4J is a dynamic program analysis tool launched from a command line that allows users to select a statement and take a slice of the program execution to find all the lines which impact that statement. It enables analysis of a full execution of a program with a bird’s-eye view as opposed to the moment-in-time views that are common with traditional debugging tools. The objective of this project is to produce a functional, intuitive, and simple-to-use plugin for IntelliJ IDEA that utilizes the Slicer4J tool.

Danica Xiao
Tristen Raab
Preet Shah
David Fong
John Ramsden

Second Prize: IoT sensor to improve learning and focus in classrooms

Project Client: Airtame ApS

“IoT sensor to improve learning and focus in classrooms” is the project that our team (SF-043) has undertaken. The purpose of this project was to design a solution that will aid educators in making decisions and adjustments based on environmental classroom conditions. Studies have shown that classroom environmental conditions play a key role in optimizing student learning.

This project aims to provide actionable recommendations and meaningful representation of the conditions within a classroom setting through the use of IoT sensor hardware. The sensing hardware that our group has designed is focused on sensing and reporting the temperature, humidity, and CO2 environmental conditions within a classroom setting.

Mitchell Gordon
Matthew Fournier
Lam Hoang
Valentine Sebuyungo
Lary Qian

Third Prize: Hardware and Software Biofeedback for Physiotherapy

Project Client: UBC Tendon Injury Research Group

Long-term adherence to remote physiotherapy is statistically low. We’ve developed a real-time biofeedback hardware and software package to assist home-based physical therapy. PhysViz supports long-term adherence to rehabilitation exercises as well as allowing clinicians to provide real-time feedback and prescription adjustments, leading to better prognosis.

Meet ECE's 2022 3-Minute Thesis Winners!￼

We are excited to introduce you to the winners of ECE’s departmental heat last term, and share a snapshot into their research and their experiences so far in ECE! Congratulations to Ivelina Daiss, Hooman Vaseli, and Jonas Welsch on their successful presentations!

We connected with Ivelina and Hooman about their experiences in ECE and in the 3MT competition, where they shared their favorite parts about their programs as well as some tips for their younger selves!

What is the topic of your research?

What inspired you to study this topic?

If you could go back in time and meet yourself at the start of your degree, what advice would you give yourself?

What made you want to participate in the 3MT competition? What was your favourite part of the experience?

What are you hoping to work on in the future/after your program is over?

What non-academic experience has made your time at UBC memorable so far?

Congratulations again for all your hard work Ivelina, Hooman, and Jonas!

To anyone interested in taking part in future 3MT heats, stay tuned for our call for participants early next year for the 2023 3MT Competition!

Sebastian Zhou is a PhD alumni from our UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering department and part of UBC’s System-on-a-Chip Research Lab.

Sebastian joins us in an interview where he shares how he became interested in System-on-a-Chip and what excites him about his work, suggestions he would give to his younger self, as well as his talents for go-karting!

Your work mainly focuses on System on a Chip (SoC) global routing techniques. How did you get started studying this topic?

Why is it important to study SoC? What future impacts could this research have?

What aspects of this research did you find most exciting?

If you could go back in time and meet yourself at the start of your Ph.D., what is some advice you would give your past self?

You also work as a Professional Development TA Facilitator for the Faculty of Applied Science. Why is student learning important to you?

Getting a Ph.D. can get pretty intense, what are your favourite things to do to unwind?

Where do you hope you’ll be in 5 years?

– Steve Wilton

On behalf of your ECE Department

Sign your name and send a message to your graduating class on the 2022 virtual yearbook!

How to Stay Connected with the ECE Community

Explore ways to stay in touch with the ECE and APSC community as an alumnus.

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Build your network and get started on making those important connections. A lifetime of support and opportunity awaits you!

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If you’ve got time and talent to spare, just a few hours a month can make all the difference to a student or fellow alumni.

Explore APSC career resources

Whether you’re just starting out, navigating change or completely redefining your career, APSC is committed to providing you with programs and resources to help you achieve your professional goals.

UBC alumni benefits

Explore career resources, network connections, mentoring opportunities, and discounts on travel, events, products and attractions.

Explore More Ways to Get Involved as an ECE Alumni

Congratulations to ECE PhD student Mohammad Jafari, who has been awarded the 2022 Governor General’s Gold Medal! This prestigious award goes to the graduating doctoral student who has achieved the most outstanding academic record in their year.

We spoke to him to learn more about this award, his plans for the future, and his insights and advice from his experience at ECE.

How do you feel about this award?

What was your PhD research on, and how did you initially get started studying this topic?

What element- experience, event, course, mentor, conference, etc- of your time as a PhD student stood out to you the most, or was most important to you?

What are your plans after graduation?

If you could go back in time and meet yourself at the start of your academic journey, what is some advice you would give your past self?

One advice would be to simplify your goals and focus on a few high-level purposes. We can do anything, but we cannot do everything.

As well, always appreciate the importance of varied connections; a real asset of the academic journey is the chance to get connected with talented, like-minded people. Be reachable, supportive, and understanding of others.

Connect with Mohammad on Linkedin.

The wide-ranging possibilities of machine learning are transforming many industries, shaping the development of many essential applications, from self-driving cars, to healthcare, to fraud detection. But what happens when machine learning breaks down?

“Basically,” says Zitao Chen, the lead investigator on this project, “The problem we are looking at here is how to make machine learning models be even more reliable.”

“The very cool thing about this is that this tool is application-oblivious; so it doesn’t matter if you’re using a self-driving car or you’re using an autonomous robot- you can use this application.” says Ali.

This tool will soon be used in industry. Intel has added this software to OpenVINO – a toolkit that optimizes and improves the reliability of computer vision hardware and software. Ranger will soon be used as part of this toolkit to help develop all different kinds of deep learning technology.

“We can easily incorporate it without a lot of programming interventions.” says Zitao. “You don’t really have to make a lot of changes.” As well, “it’s really low cost…. And super effective. I think this is what makes this technique so appealing for them.”

“Despite its simplicity, it provides a very high level of reliability.” adds Ali.

“Once we’d identified what this problem was, we moved on to see how we can make things better based on our understanding.” he says.

Explore the research behind Ranger here and here

Learn more about OpenVINO

Connect with Zitao and Ali

Dr. Sudip Shekhar, Associate Professor at Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been awarded the Killam Teaching Prize.

Of the award, Dr. Shekhar says, “I am happy and humbled [to receive this prize]. It will serve as an encouragement and a reminder to keep doing better as a teacher.”

These hydrogels can generate voltages when touched, but scientists did not clearly understand how — until a team of researchers at UBC devised a unique experiment, published today.

The researchers say this new knowledge confirms that hydrogels work in a similar way to how humans detect pressure, which is also through moving ions in response to pressure, inspiring potential new applications for ionic skins.

Another application is a soft hydrogel sensor worn on the skin that can monitor a patient’s vital signs while being totally unobtrusive and generating its own power.

Dobashi, who’s currently completing his PhD work at the University of Toronto, is keen to continue working on ionic technologies after he graduates.

Dr. Madden added that the market for smart skins is estimated at $4.5 billion in 2019 and it continues to grow. “Smart skins can be integrated into clothing or placed directly on the skin, and ionic skins are one of the technologies that can further that growth.”

Finding a job after graduation can be an intimidating task. If you’re an ECE student gearing up to enter the industry, the challenges of finding a good position are definitely something on your mind.

Opportunities at ECE and UBC

“UBC and ECE provide various resources and opportunities to help with securing a job. I will share the ones that I attended.

3. Career Day: Multiple employers from different industries attend to connect with students to recruit for both paid and volunteer positions.

The importance of co-op

“Before joining Google, I worked at a spending management software company as a co-op student in Vancouver for 12 months. I worked as a backend developer to implement and deliver spending management features.

My co-op experience helped me develop more industrial skills and learn about the software development process, which made me more appealing as a full-time developer.

Interview Process

“My application and interview process at Google had a few steps. This is what it was like:

2. Online Coding Exercise: After three weeks, I received a response from Google to complete an online coding exercise within one week. I had 90 minutes to complete 2 standard coding problems, which were based on common Leetcode topics and not tricky at all.

3. Virtual On-site Preparation: I received a survey to schedule a virtual on-site date one week after finishing the online coding exercise. A recruiter reached out to me to help me learn more about the interview process.

5. Interview results: It took three weeks for me to receive the result due to the Thanksgiving break. Be patient and don’t feel anxious.”

Interview tips

“Some tips from my experience- I hope some of them can be helpful.

1. Watch mock interview videos and practice with peers. There are many mock interview videos on YouTube and they are almost the same as an actual interview. It’s helpful to watch the videos and imagine how to answer the questions under the same situation.

Meet ECE's 2022 3-Minute Thesis Winners!