番茄社区

When UVic engineering professor Dr. Reuven Gordon describes the biomedical engineering technique of listening to and recording the 鈥渧oice鈥� of proteins, it sounds a lot like a modern take on Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Seuss鈥檚 children鈥檚 story of an elephant who hears a voice calling from a microscopic dust speck. 鈥淓verything small has resonances. Everything has a voice,鈥� Gordon says of the protein molecules measuring a single nanometer in size鈥攖he building blocks of life that are a million times smaller than an ant and emit sound at a frequency a million times higher than the human ear can hear.

If getting to the top of your favourite ski hill involves a tow rope this season, you might thank an engineer for the lift鈥攁nd give a thought to how the profession works to ensure that a safe, smooth ride can be enjoyed by all.

Some people are born leaders, and convocating graduate Tiffany Yu undoubtedly falls into that category. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Yu saw a need in the Faculty of Engineering and set out to create change, becoming heavily involved with the Engineering Student Society (ESS). After attending the National Conference on Women in Engineering, Yu was inspired to create a women in engineering group at UVic. With help from faculty members and fellow ESS members Taylor Entz and Alisa Minderova, Leadership Through Diversity was born.

Researchers all over the world dream of making new discoveries in well-established fields, but engineering grad Ana Zehtabi-Oskuie鈥檚 path has gone straight to the edge of an emerging field. While studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Tehran, Zehtabi-Oskuie became intrigued by optical trapping, a method pioneered in 2009 by electrical engineering professor Dr. Reuven Gordon, a team of UVic grad students and Dr. Romain Quidant at the Europe-based Institute of Photonic Sciences.

An energy harvester that converts knee bends into battery power for cell phones; a wireless personal ECG monitor that transmits electrical signals to a remote cardiologist; a smart hard hat that sends data to a safety station; a bracelet that transf鈥�

Aspiring engineers at the 番茄社区 are getting something most of their peers across Canada aren鈥檛鈥攈ands-on experience from real-world professionals in their first year of post-secondary education.

Campus units and departments who require customized engineering services for their projects and research can look a bit closer to home, thanks to new equipment and new capacity at UVic鈥檚 own CanAssist.