Having to hurry home at sunset because his family’s farm lacked electricity inspired Ahmed Almansour to study electrical engineering. Read the University of British Columbia student’s story.

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Filed under: e-News, Electrical, Explore Engineering, Meet More Students | Comments Off on A Life in Darkness

Tags: Ahmed Almansour, Electrical Engineering, Electricity, lights, power, University of British Columbia

Special Feature by Guy Wilkins

Hate playing scales or doing fitness drills? In the not-so-distant future, the hours of repetitive practice necessary to learn a musical instrument, new sport, or dance may be a relic of the past. Lara Boyd, a researcher at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, believes a promising new technology called magnetic brain stimulation could cut the practice time required to learn a new motor skill.

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Filed under: Biomedical, e-News, Electrical, Explore Engineering | Comments Off on Thinking Cap May Cut Practice Time

Tags: Lara Boyd, learning, magnetic brain stimulation, motor skill, thinking cap, transcranial brain stimulation, University of British Columbia

What’s in a voice? A new gesture-to-speech synthesizer developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia adds emotion to words that text-to-speech technologies now voice only in a monotone. It also translates gestures into music.

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Filed under: Computer, Electrical, Explore Engineering | Comments Off on Talk to the Hand

Tags: Electrical, Felix Tang, gesture-to-voice, hand, Music, Music engineering, mute, sensors, Sidney Fels, sign language, synthesizer, University of British Columbia

Want to help save the planet? A career in engineering might be what you’re looking for. The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, recently opened North America’s most sustainable building. The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability uses wood destroyed by mountain pine beetles, draws power from the sun, and recycles rainwater for drinking.

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Filed under: Civil, Environmental, Explore Engineering, Materials | Comments Off on Sustainable U

Tags: carbon footprint, Center for Interactive Research in Sustainability, climate change, green building, Green Technology, Sustainability, University of British Columbia

A little piece of red tape – and discovering she had diabetes – changed Wendy Peng’s career plans. Learn how her dreams changed from becoming a Wall Street business woman to a materials engineering major at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

“To be honest, I’ve always wanted to be a business woman since I was in grade seven. I always dreamed that someday in the future I would become one of the most influential women on Wall Street. The reason why I wanted to be a business woman is simple: I wanted to make MONEY. However, things changed dramatically in my 9th grade summer.

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Filed under: Explore Engineering, Materials, Meet More Students | Comments Off on Meet Wendy Peng: Materials Engineering Student

Tags: allergies, biomaterials, diabetes, Engineering, insulin, insulin pump, Materials, materials engineering, student, tape, undergraduate, University of British Columbia, Wendy Peng