summer 2002
Message from the Head By the time you receive this newsletter, my five-year term as Head will have come to an end. As noted in a separate article, Professor Robert Sexsmith will be Acting Head for a year while an external and internal search is conducted for a new full term Head. Regrettably, the search conducted in the spring of this year was not successful. Bob takes over a healthy department, as noted in the Department review that was conducted in December 2001. My first two years in office were marked by painful budget cutting exercises. During the last three years our situation has improved quite markedly in the form of stable budgets and some incremental positions. Credit for the turnaround has to be shared amongst the Department, the University Administration, especially the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science, and the provincial and federal governments. The two Federal programs – the Canada Research Chairs and Canada Foundation for Innovation – are especially noteworthy. We are in a time of significant change within the Department. By July 2003, all replacement hiring will have taken place, except for one position to be filled in 2005. After that, the face of the Department will remain unchanged for several years. During the academic years 2001-02, and 2002-03, some 8 new faculty members will have been selected and 4 faculty members will have retired. The rebuilding of our geotechnical group will be finished and substantial changes will have been made to our structures group. SUMMER 2002
Significant progress has been made on our new earthquake facility and we expect, barring any unforeseen events, to be under construction in late July or early August. This facility will be a tremendous addition to the capabilities of the Department. It will house two shake tables, a six-degree of freedom table, and a large linear shake table for testing full scale residential construction and soil structure interaction experiments on buried infrastructure. There were a number of firsts over the last five years. We now have a newsletter, which has given us the means to keep past students and friends of the Department updated on current events. We have created an Advisory Council that meets twice a year. Of especial value is the feedback we receive on the current state of the market place, anticipated future trends, and the kinds of initiatives that the Department might meaningfully pursue over the longer term in its teaching and research programs. Recurring themes from industry deal with maintaining and enhancing a deteriorating physical infrastructure, sustainability, transportation, and drinking water. During the past year, we conducted our first survey of both our undergraduate and graduate students enquiring about their satisfaction with the program, their aspirations, and how the department can best meet their needs. Overall the feedback was very positive, and insightful on a number of subjects. For several years in a row, we have met with representatives of each of the undergraduate and graduate student bodies to hear about issues of importance to them, and we have subsequently been able to address many of those issues satisfactorily. We have also created a faculty seminar series that allows faculty, staff and students to learn about the
In this issue: Message from the Head View from the marketplace Introducing the Acting Head People Spotlight on transportation research Results inspire Pacific-Liaison co-op student Designer in Residence and Architect CISC honours civil engineering students Department review 2001/02 Seminar series
contributions that faculty members have made in their respective areas of expertise over many years, and we now have a Designer in Residence program targeted mainly at fourth year students which exposes them to highly accomplished design professionals and projects of significant technical interest. Challenges ahead involve attracting the best and brightest students to civil engineering as a career, and convincing decision makers in academia and government of the enormous contribution that civil engineering makes to the smooth functioning of society. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation for all of the support I have received from my faculty colleagues, Department support staff who are crucial to the effective daily operation of the Department, the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and his support staff, other key members of the University Administration, members of the Advisory Council, and finally, the tremendous support provided to me by my wife, Elfie. CIVIL ENGINEERING at UBC
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A view from the marketplace Transportation engineering at UBC
by Sany R. Zein, M.Eng., P.Eng., Vice President of Transportation, Hamilton Associates
Transportation plays a critical and often underestimated role in the economy of British Columbia as a whole and Greater Vancouver in particular. Our labour force depends almost exclusively on the road and transit network to go to work every day. Our tourism industry relies on a highway system that provides access to tourist destinations throughout the Province, and our exports are transported by road, rail, sea, and air to our trading partners worldwide. Providing and maintaining an efficient and safe transportation system is vital for British Columbia s economic competitiveness, and there are many challenges that need to be overcome to achieve this objective. These challenges include providing adequate funding for the transportation system, properly managing and integrating the system components, and securing the necessary modern technical skills that are needed to build, operate, and maintain a world-class transportation network. It is in this last area that UBC s
Civil Engineering Department plays a large and important role. The University has been at the forefront of research into many areas of vital importance in transportation engineering including, Intelligent Transportation Systems research that will allow us to deploy information and computer technology to optimize network efficiency; traffic safety research that allows us to plan and build safer roads; transit priority research that allows us to better serve transit passengers; and sustainable transportation research that examines the potential for developing transportation systems that promote a sustainable and desirable living environment. Students who help to conduct such research are in high demand upon graduation. In addition to providing academic excellence, the University interacts closely with the transportation industry to tackle and solve practical transportation issues on a daily basis. Dr. Frank Navin, P.Eng., and Dr. Tarek Sayed, P.Eng., are well-known and wellrespected transportation engineering resources who do not hesitate to assist
the various levels of government, both locally and nationally, in addressing important transportation issues. The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, TransLink, and the City of Vancouver are among many agencies that UBC assists in resolving transportation issues. At the same time, graduate students and undergraduate co-op civil engineering students work closely with industrial partners, in both the public and private sectors, prior to receiving their degrees. Their employers receive the benefits of new ideas and fresh thinking, while the students receive the benefits of valuable real-world work experience prior to graduating. There are many transportation challenges ahead as we face an era of limited resources and competing public interests. The University will undoubtedly continue to play a critical role in helping the transportation industry move forward towards a more efficient and safer system.
Introducing the Acting Head, Professor Robert Sexsmith One year before retiring, Professor Bob Sexsmith has agreed to assume the role of Acting Head for a year, while a new search is conducted for a new, full term Head. Bob graduated from Civil Engineering at UBC in 1961, and received his Master s and PhD degrees in 1963 and 1967 respectively. He then joined Cornell University in 1967 as an Assistant Professor and became Associate Professor there in 1973. He left Cornell in 1976 to return to British Columbia, and for three years worked as a research scientist at the Western Forest Products Laboratory. He joined Buckland and Taylor in 1979 as a design engineer, and became a partner and director in 1981. The Department was very fortunate to have Bob join us in January 1992 as an Associate Professor. He brought a wealth of professional, academic and research experience to the Department. He was promoted to full professor in July 1997. Dr. Sexsmith s areas of expertise include reinforced concrete design, seismic design, bridge engineering, wood structural design and structural reliability. He is active on a number of code bodies. During the next year, Bob will be focusing his energies on completing a substantial hiring program, exploring ways to attract excellent students to Civil Engineering, and helping to ensure a successful launch of a problem-based learning initiative which starts in January 2003.
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People Meet the faces of Civil Engineering at UBC Dr. Sheryl Staub-French, Assistant Professor Dr. Sheryl Staub-French joined the Civil Engineering Department as an Assistant Professor in March 2002. She serves as the liaison to the Engineering Management Specialization in the School of Applied Science and teaches and conducts research in the Construction Engineering and Management program. Sheryl received her B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University and her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She has several years of industry experience and has collaborated with industry to raise awareness about the potential benefits of applying information technology to leverage 3D product models for construction. Sheryl s research focuses on applying advanced information technologies that integrate design and construction information to improve the efficiency of the project delivery process. Specifically, her research focuses on capturing and leveraging construction knowledge about the production impact of product features to determine the cost and schedule implications of different design alternatives. She develops computer models to understand how the features of a building design influence construction activities, resources, and cost. The computer models predict the cost and schedule impact of different design decisions and provide feedback to designers about the specific features of a building design that affect a project s cost and schedule performance.
Dr. Bernard Laval, Assistant Professor Dr. Bernard Laval joined the Civil Engineering Department as an Assistant Professor in June 2002. His background in Engineering Physics (University of British Columbia) provides him with a very versatile technological base. Bernard has a Masters in Physical Oceanography (McGill University) and a PhD in Environmental Engineering (University of Western Australia). During 1995-1998 Bernard worked as a research scientist developing Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (submersibles) for use as instrument platforms for the study of lakes and coastal waters. His research combines field and 3D numerical modeling techniques to describe the spatial and temporal variations of physical processes and their impacts on transport in lakes and coastal waters. A description of physical processes such as transport, mixing, and circulation is crucial for an understanding of a variety of water quality issues. Examples include trapping of nutrients behind upstream reservoirs, nutrient supply to the photic zone supporting phytoplankton and fisheries food supply, effluent dispersal, and the path of contaminants (such as E. coli and Cryptosporidium) to drinking water supply intakes. In addition, changes to reservoir operation, to balance competing demands for water, require an understanding of the impact of these changes on circulation, nutrient pathways, and productivity. Bernard can be reached at blaval@civil.ubc.ca
Paul deLeur, P.Eng., Ph.D., former graduate student The Transportation Group of UBC s Department of Civil Engineering has produced several successful graduates over the years, including Paul de Leur, Ph.D., P.Eng. Paul first came to UBC in 1991 to earn a M.A.Sc. degree in Transportation (Civil, 1992). Following this he spent a short time in consulting, and returned to UBC to pursue his Ph.D. degree (Civil, 2001). Under the direction of Professors Sayed and Navin, Paul s Ph.D. research focused on new analysis techniques to support road safety engineering and the formulation of procedures to improve the overall management of road safety engineering. The results from Paul s research have been of great interest to engineering staff from road authorities, which are tasked with providing a safe roadway network. Paul has been a very active transportation-engineering practitioner. In 1993, he was hired by the BC Ministry of Transportation and Highways as a Safety Research Engineer and was later promoted to Senior Highway Safety Engineer, the ultimate authority for technical advice and decisions concerning road safety for the Ministry. Paul also works in a consulting capacity for the Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) and is a very active participant in road safety projects and committees undertaken through the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC). Paul acknowledges that the credibility and knowledge gained from graduate study has been invaluable in advancing his career. As a practitioner, Paul recognizes that the partnership and cooperation between UBC s Transportation Group and the transportation engineering industry has been extremely valuable, and must continue to flourish to ensure that practitioners can advance the profession by applying research undertaken by the transportation engineering professors at UBC.
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Research
Spotlight on transportation engineering activities Faculty members engaged in Transportation Engineering research currently comprise Professors Frank Navin and Tarek Sayed. Their activities include fundamental and applied research on a variety of transportation engineering research topics such as traffic safety and intelligent transportation systems. TRAFFIC SAFETY RESEARCH The importance of reducing the social and economic costs associated with road collisions can not be overstated. Since the dawn of the automobile age about a century ago, traffic safety problems have been a serious concern. An enormous economic and human toll has been exacted as a result of the public s ongoing reliance on and fascination with the motor vehicle. For example, in Canada approximately 600,000 traffic collisions were reported in 1997, resulting in over 200,000 injuries and 3,000 deaths (Transport Canada). The annual economic costs for these collisions are estimated to exceed $25 billion, a mere fraction of the total societal costs. The focus on traffic safety research at the Department of Civil Engineering started in 1979 with the establishment of the accident research team, which was funded by Transport Canada. Professors Navin and Brown (now retired) provided coordination for the team, whose mandate included conducting experimental vehicle crashes, studying the civil engineering aspects of collisions and assisting police with accident reconstruction, especially with commercial vehicles. The research has led to practical advances in the understanding of areas such as accident reconstruction, vehicle braking and truck rollover. The truck research and publications from UBC are used worldwide by engineers and police involved in truck accident reconstruction. Dr. Sayed s traffic safety research deals with improving methods for traffic safety analysis and evaluation. His work is helping reshape how road safety problems are identified and evaluated. The methods and techniques developed have received wide recognition and are 4
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Screen-shot from an experiment to determine the influence of vertical alignment on horizontal curve perception.
being used by the BCMoTH, ICBC, State Farm Insurance in the US, and the US Federal Highway Administration. One major research initiative is in the area of proactive road safety planning. All too often, engineering strategies aimed at improving road safety are reactions to existing problems that are brought to light by collisions that have occurred after roads are designed and built. Targeting problem locations or black-spots and developing plans to reduce collisions is vital and has proven to be very successful. However, transportation professionals should also take a proactive approach to address road safety before problems emerge. Significant progress will be realized when safety professionals can shift their focus from fixing problems on the road
to helping plan roads that will be problem free. The Transportation Group is very active in developing the methods and framework for proactive road safety planning. A major challenge being addressed by the Group is in the area of human factors and geometric design. About 95% of motor vehicle collisions involve some sort of driver error. Therefore, understanding the limitation of the driver in terms of experience, perception, impairment of physical and mental skills, and other characteristics are important for safe and efficient road system. The Group s research on driver perception of horizontal curves has received wide recognition and is likely to yield changes in geometric design standards.
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Left: A neuro-fuzzy model for predicting real-time bus arrival arrival-time.
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH Road traffic congestion is continuing to increase. The conventional approach of building new roads or adding new lanes to existing roads is recognized to be expensive, disruptive, and involving protracted effort. An alternative approach is to increase the efficiency and safety of an existing road network by using advanced information and communication technologies. These new technologies are known as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). ITS are a group of new technologies intended to offer technological solutions to today s growing surface transportation problems. These technologies are likely to change the ways in which transportation infrastructure and systems are designed, built, operated and evaluated. The objective of ITS is to alleviate congestion, improve driver safety and convenience, and provide significant reductions in energy consumption and pollution. At UBC, the transportation research in ITS covers several areas. One major research initiative is in the area of Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS), where research is conducted in partnership with the Toronto Transit Commission. The objective of the project is to develop a passenger information system for the provision of real-time bus arrival times at bus stops, using SUMMER 2002
information on real-time bus location and real-time scheduling. The real-time bus location is obtained via an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system. The information system consists of (i) a database to store real-time and static information to be used as input for estimation of bus arrival times; (ii) a model to predict bus arrival time at all downstream bus stops; and (iii) a GISbased representation of a bus route for interactive display of real-time data.
Actual implementation of the system is to take place in 2002. Another research initiative is in the area of Transit Signal Priority. The Transportation Group is working with Translink on optimizing the operation of the Rapid Bus service (#98 B-Line) between Richmond and Vancouver. To enhance the travel time and the reliability of the Rapid Bus service, most of the signalised intersections en-route are equipped with an AVL-based Transit Signal Priority (TSP) System. Buses that are behind schedule can extend the green phase or truncate the red phase of the signals upon their arrival at the TSP equipped intersections. On a strategic level, the Transportation Group helped establish a provincial ITS vision and strategic plan for using advanced technologies to help solve provincial, regional and local transportation issues. The project was funded by Translink s ITS Corporation and included several consulting firms.
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People
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Dr. Robert Schubak, P.Eng., Sessional Lecturer Bob Schubak has taught the Department s graduate course in Seismic Response of Structures since 1998. He is also an Instructor in the Department-sponsored Certificate in Structural Engineering Program. Bob earned his B.A.Sc. in 1984, his M.A.Sc. in 1986, and his Ph.D. in 1991 all from UBC. In 1990, he joined Failure Analysis Associates Inc., with whom he investigated structural failures and collapses in locations around North America. Since 1994, Bob has continued his practice at Hooley & Schubak Ltd., where much of his work involves earthquake engineering and failure analysis. He believes strongly in being a generalist, however, and his practice includes working with geotechnical engineers in matters of soil/structure interaction and assisting other structural engineers in dealing with unusual analysis and design problems. He is also active in the design of worker fall arrest systems. Bob has authored a number of articles on structural dynamics and has given expert evidence in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Bob currently serves the profession as ViceChair of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Vancouver Section, as a Director with the Vancouver Structural Engineers Group Society, and as a member of the Certificate in Civil Engineering Program Organizing Committee.
Dr. Peter Byrne, Retiring Geotechnical Engineering Professor After some 34 years of contributions to the Department, Professor Peter Byrne retired effective 30 June 2001. Peter received his BEng from Dublin in 1959. He worked initially as a structural engineer with George Wimpey in London, England. He came to Canada in 1960 and worked for CBA Engineering as a soils and hydraulics engineer from 1960-63 and then as a senior soils engineer with Chuck Brawner and Associates. He left practice to pursue his MASc in geotechnical engineering at UBC, which he obtained in 1966, followed by his PhD (1969) under the supervision of Liam Finn. He became an Assistant Professor in the Department in 1967. Peter was promoted to Associate Professor effective 01 July 1978 and became Full Professor effective 01 July 1983. Dr. Byrne has made an enormous contribution to the international reputation of the Department s geotechnical engineering group. Working with his students and other colleagues, he has greatly enhanced knowledge in the areas of soil dynamics and liquefaction. His expertise is in constant demand from industry and other leading research establishments. In recognition of his sustained contributions over many years, Peter was made a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 2001. Through all of this, Peter has contributed to the Department in a number of service roles and has been generous with his quiet wisdom and useful advice. Peter remains active in research and practice and continues to pursue a number of passions, including research on liquefaction, modeling using FLAC, and sailing with his wife Jane. Most days, he can be found working away at his desk in the emeritus office.
Dr. Yogi Vaid, Retiring Geotechnical Engineering Professor With the retirement of Professor Yogi Vaid on 30 June 2002, the reign of the famous Group of Four Byrne, Campanella, Finn, and Vaid comes to a close. Yogi graduated from Punjab University, India, with a BSc in Civil Engineering in 1959, followed by a Post Graduate Diploma from the University of Roorkee, India, in 1960. During the period of 1960-66, he was an Assistant Professor at Punjab University and worked briefly for the Ministry of Railways. He left India in 1966 to pursue Master s and PhD work in geotechnical engineering at UBC. He completed this work under the supervision of Dr. Campanella in 1969 and 1971, respectively. Following several years as a Research Associate at UBC, he joined McMaster University as an Associate Professor in 1976. He returned to UBC in 1979, and was promoted to full professor in 1984. During his academic career, Dr. Vaid has supervised to completion some 8 PhD students and 20 MASc students. Over the last 30 years, he has made significant contributions in understanding the stress-deformation and strength properties, cyclic earthquake loading behaviour, including liquefaction and cyclic mobility and constitutive models of soils, and his work has been frequently cited. He has excelled at the development of new and improved soil testing equipment and instrumentation, and has played a leadership role in having the lab facilities gain and retain an international reputation for the quality and comprehensive scope of the experimental research work done. In 2001, Yogi, along with two of his students, Dave Stedman and Siva Sivathayalan, received the ASTM Award for Outstanding Article on the practice of geotechnical engineering for their article, Influence of Specimen Reconstituting Method on the Undrained Response of Sand. While maintaining his interest in geotechnical engineering, Yogi is looking forward to exploring a number of his other passions during retirement. 6
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Results inspire Pacific Liaicon co-op student Third-year Civil Engineering Co-op student Andrea Pow feels fortunate to have begun her work terms with Pacific Liaicon and Associates at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR), just as construction was beginning on the West Apron Expansion Project. This project involved construction of three de-icing bays, a glycol lagoon and two taxiways. Andrea s responsibilities included providing site supervision, conducting deficiency inspections and maintaining the deficiency lists, tracking progress and assisting in the monthly progress draws, and carrying out planeness surveys of the finished concrete. At the end of October, Andrea had the satisfaction of seeing the culmination of her work when the new expansion was opened to aircraft traffic. She considers herself fortunate to be able to see out such a large project on a co-op term. Over the course of my work term, I expanded my knowledge on everything from construction and construction materials to contract documents and the roles of different companies in the design, tendering, and construction processes, explained Andrea. Pacific Liaicon and Associates (PLA) has completed major projects valued at over $10 billion, including the Vancouver International Airport New International Terminal and Parallel Runway. PLA also has completed major projects with the UBC Civil Engineering Co-op student Andrea GVRD, City of Vancouver (Advanced Light Rapid Transit System), and the Peace River Pulp Mill. Pow on site at YVR.
CISC honours civil engineering students The Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) honoured three UBC Civil Engineering Co-op students at their annual Steel Design Awards Reception, held November 8, 2001 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver. Student engineers Sean Stofer, Phyllis Chan, and Mehdi Jalayer, worked with various steel fabricators and designers on co-op terms coordinated by the CISC and UBC s Engineering Co-op Program. Last summer, participating companies included George Third & Son, XL Ironworks, and Canron Inc. Based on its early success, the partnership of CISC and our Co-op Program recently expanded to include the Structural Engineering Consultants of BC (SECBC), which began providing two senior Civil Engineering Co-op students with eight-month co-op work terms in January 2002.
Designer in Residence and Architect Earthquake Engineering Research Facility
Mr. Douglas Ramsay, MAIBC, P.Eng.
This year s designer in residence as part of the Department s Designated Design Elective initiative was Mr. Doug Ramsay, the architect for the new earthquake engineering research facility. Although the building is reasonably modest in scale, it has a number of elements of significant technical complexity that made it a challenging commission. Particularly notable amongst them were the geotechnical conditions, design of a very large mass substructure to support the two earthquake tables, and satisfying the University s planning principles. Mr. Ramsay was in residence within the Department of Civil Engineering in early March. During that time, he lectured on the evolution of the design of the earthquake center to meet a complex set of client requirements, gave two overview lectures, not directly related to the earthquake center, to undergraduates and graduate students on the design process, building the design team and managing the design process, and met with students to discuss career opportunities and other topics of interest. Mr. Ramsay also met with Department faculty members for a roundtable discussion on teaching design and problem & project based learning. Accompanying Mr. Ramsay s lectures was a lecture given by the structural engineer for the earthquake facility, Mr. Gerry Epp of Fast + Epp, on the design of the structure for the earthquake facility. Doug Ramsay has 25 years of experience in Architecture, Engineering and Planning. He is the third generation in his family to establish a career in Engineering. He received a Bachelors of Engineering degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1977 and worked as a Construction Administrator and Project Engineer prior to enrollment at the UBC School of Architecture in 1980. After graduation, he worked for several architectural firms in Vancouver including Henriquez and Partners, where he was the Project Architect on a number of high-rises in Vancouver s West End including 1275 Nelson Street and The Eugenea. In 1991, Doug and Bob Worden founded Ramsay Worden Architects Ltd and Architectural and Planning practice. The firm has won a number of architectural awards for their projects from CMHC, UDI, and CHBA including one for the Best Development in BC in 1999 that was a Riverfront Community in New Westminster B.C. Their current projects range from an environmentally sensitive project mix-use project in China that will house upwards of 10,000 people, to the Earthquake Research Facility containing a state-of-the-art earthquake testing equipment at UBC. SUMMER 2002
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Department review results in favourable assessment As part of the University procedure for changing leadership in an academic unit, a comprehensive review is conducted. The involves the preparation of a detailed report on the status and accomplishments of the unit, the appointment of a review committee made up of external experts who assess the report, and who visit the Department and University for interviews with faculty, staff, students, senior administrators, and, where appropriate, members of the profession. When the current Head, Alan Russell indicated a year ago that he did not wish to seek a second term as Head, the review process was initiated by Dean Michael Isaacson. The external review committee members were Denis Mitchell, Professor and Chair, Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, McGill University; Terry Hrudey, Professor and Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Nimal Rajapakse, Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia; and Dave Rudberg, General Manager of Engineering Services/City Engineer, City of Vancouver. The Review Committee visited the Department from 17-18 December 2001. Included here are excerpts from the Summary and Conclusions part of the review report:
n
It was concluded that the Department of Civil Engineering has excellent undergraduate and graduate programs. The faculty has an excellent research reputation in several areas that must be maintained. n Care needs to be taken in nurturing the development of the Geotechnical Engineering area, particularly with the recent retirements of four internationally recognized experts in this field. n Given the strategic importance of Transportation Engineering in Vancouver and the Province, this area should be strengthened in the Civil Engineering Department. n The current Head of the Department has done an excellent job, as recognized by faculty, staff and students as well as by heads of other departments in the Faculty. Other observations concerned the need for enhanced infrastructure for undergraduate teaching, Department space needs, and the cost effective delivery of enhanced infrastructure in the University. The report concluded with the following observations: While areas such as Electrical, Computer and Mechanical Engineering have enjoyed large growth over recent years, it is anticipated that Civil Engineering will see similar trends in the next decade. The following major areas
2001/02 Seminar series The last seminar in our fifth consecutive year of the faculty seminar series was given on Tuesday March 26, 2002. The seminar was open to faculty, staff, students and other interested individuals. The purpose of the series is to have faculty provide perspectives on research carried out within the Department over an extended time period, and how it has influenced civil engineering research and practice. Our thanks to Professors Lawrence, Sexsmith and Vaid for their willingness to make presentations this year. 29 January 2002
Dr. Greg Lawrence, Canada Research Chair holder in Environmental Fluid Mechanics Environment Fluid Mechanics: What is it, and Why do I Study it?
26 February 2002
Dr. Robert Sexsmith Structural Safety and Bridge Engineering in Practice and Academia
26 March 2002
Dr. Yogi Vaid You Can t Model What You Don t Know Why Laboratory Work is Critical in Geotechnical Engineering
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are becoming even more important priorities in both the public and private sectors as we enter an era of sustainable development: n Environmental Engineering (e.g., environmental protection, water and air quality, waste water treatment, site remediation) n Infrastructure renewal and rehabilitation (e.g., improving durability, rehabilitating deteriorated structures, seismic design and upgrading, protection of critical facilities) n Transportation Engineering (e.g., transportation planning and development, operations and control systems). Civil Engineers, trained in these important fields, will need to provide innovative solutions to each of these crucial multi-billion dollar problems. In conclusion, the Department of Civil Engineering is an international leader in civil engineering education and research. As the only Civil Engineering Department in the province, it makes vital contributions to the economic development of British Columbia and Canada. The Department should be provided with sufficient human and infrastructure resources to meet the challenges in emerging and priority areas of civil engineering and to continue with its contributions to the strategic sectors of British Columbia. Civil Engineering at UBC is a publication of the Department of Civil Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science, at The University of British Columbia Production Contributors: Dr. Alan Russell, Department Head Ms Clare Quirk, Administrative Assistant Ms Laurie Dawkins, Faculty Communications Officer, Dean s Office For further information about the Department of Civil Engineering and its programs, contact us at: Department of Civil Engineering CEME Building 2324 Main Mall Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6T 1Z4 Tel: (604) 822-2637 www.civil.ubc.ca SUMMER 2002