For every three individuals who have had a stent implanted to keep clogged arteries open and prevent a heart attack, at least one will experience restenosis–the renewed narrowing of the artery due to plaque buildup or scarring–which can lead to additional complications. Now, a team led by UBC electrical and computer engineering professor Kenichi Takahata […]
Hey Alexa: Amazon’s Virtual Assistant Becomes A Personal Assistant To Software Developers
UBC computer scientists have turned Amazon Alexa into a tool for software engineers, tasking the virtual assistant to take care of mundane programming tasks, helping increase productivity and speed up workflow. Software engineers use many different tools for any one project. They work with millions of lines of computer code and run their code through […]
Recycling Experts Hit Milestone In Quest For Zero-Waste Phone
UBC researchers have perfected a process to efficiently separate fibreglass and resin — two of the most commonly discarded parts of a cellphone — bringing them closer to their goal of a zero-waste cellphone. It’s one of the first processes to use simple techniques like gravity separation to cleanly lift organic resins from inorganic fibreglass. […]
UBC Engineers Advance The Capability Of Wearable Tech
Creating the perfect wearable device to monitor muscle movement, heart rate and other tiny bio-signals without breaking the bank has inspired scientists to look for a simpler and more affordable tool. Now, a team of researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus have developed a practical way to monitor and interpret human motion, in what may be […]
Is Road Pricing The Most Effective Way To Reduce Vehicle Emissions?
Motor vehicles are a major source of air pollution in urban areas, and for decades municipal and regional governments have used various traffic management strategies in an effort to reduce vehicle emissions, alongside advancements like cleaner fuel and greener cars. But not all traffic management strategies are created equal, says UBC transportation expert and civil […]
When the Rubber Hits the Road: Recycled Tires Create Stronger Concrete
UBC engineers have developed a more resilient type of concrete using recycled tires that could be used for concrete structures like buildings, roads, dams and bridges while reducing landfill waste. The researchers experimented with different proportions of recycled tire fibres and other materials used in concrete — cement, sand and water — before finding the […]
Better Way to ‘Herd’ Electrons in Solar Fuel Devices
Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered a new way to optimize electron transfer in semi-conductors used in solar fuel solutions. The finding, published today in Nature Chemistry, could have a big impact on devices that convert sunlight into electricity and fuel. Researchers have already […]
Researchers Discover New Glass Technology
Imagine if the picture window in your living room could double as a giant thermostat or big screen TV. A discovery by researchers at the University of British Columbia has brought us one step closer to this becoming a reality. Researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna found that coating small pieces of glass with […]
Expert Promotes Safer Gold Mining
Mention the Mad Hatter and the image that comes to mind is the character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland—a little batty but quite harmless. But for UBC mining engineering professor Marcello Veiga, the words call up a darker image: mercury poisoning, particularly as it occurs among small-scale miners in developing countries. Small-scale or artisanal mining […]
New Technology Can Prevent Cellular Overload, Dropped Calls
When a natural disaster strikes and too many people take to their mobile phones at once, cellular networks easily overload. But a University of British Columbia graduate student has developed a solution to ensure that calls don’t get dropped and texts make it to their destination. In a study published in the journal IEEE Transactions […]