A delegation from Zhejiang Energy Group Co. Ltd. led by Mr. Guanghua Qin, Deputy Chief Engineer, visited C-CJCBERI on Dec 8th, 2017.
Our Centre's member Dr. Jack Saddler, the Leader of IEA's Bioenergy Task 39 - "Liquid Biofuels", contributed to a new publication "Technology Roadmap: Delivering Sustainable Bioenergy".
C-CJCBERI has been successfully awarded $4.5 Million Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) 2017 Innovation Fund. The fund will mainly support the building of new labs and equipment for the Centre to conduct biomass and bioenergy research on UBC campus.
C-CJCBERI member Dr. Naoko Ellis visited our Partner institute Hunan Academy of Forestry (HAF) from Sep 19th to 21st.
On September 7th, A delegation led by the Mayor of the City of Vancouver, Mr. Gregor Robertson, and organized by the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC), visited C-CJCBERI at Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT).
C-CJCBERI has successfully hosted the 2017 Annual Workshop on Monday, Aug 21st at UBC. Over 60 attendees from academia, governments, funding agencies and industries of Canada and China got together.
A group of professors from College of Engineering, Beijing Forestry University visited C-CJCBERI on August 10th. C-CJCBERI members Dr. Xiaotao Bi, Dr. Anthony Lau, Dr. Jim Lim, and Dr. Shahabaddine Sokhansanj hosted a seminar on biomass pelletization. Dr. Bi introduced UBC and C-CJCBERI and presented our recent research progress. He led the visitors to tour UBC Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering and UBC Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) afterward. Dr. Sokhansanj also guided a tour to see the research facilities of UBC Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group (BBRG). The visiting professors gave an informative presentation to introduce the research work and commercialization achievements of Beijing Forestry University on biomass pelletization.
The visiting professors are Prof. Guosheng Yu, Dr. Zhongjia Chen, Dr. Aiping Xiao, Dr. Ye Tian.
Congratulations to C-CJCBERI's members Dr. Jim Lim and Dr. James Olson who have been inducted as fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) in recognition of their "distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession."
Nominated and elected by their peers, 50 new fellows and two new international fellows were welcomed by the CAE on June 26, 2017 at a ceremony in Ottawa, in conjunction with the CAE's 2017 Annual General Meeting and Symposium. The CAE is an independent, self-governing and non-profit organization established in 1987 to serve Canada in matters of engineering concern.
The CAE citations read as follows:
Jim Lim
Dr. Jim Lim has made major contributions to the practice, teaching and advancement of chemical engineering. He has shown unique skills in devising new thermochemical processes for industry and in designing and operating pilot scale units to improve and verify these processes. He has been a key figure in training a generation of chemical engineering students in sound design, process simulation and control, and practical skills needed for successful process operations. He has also been an essential team member in a unique group at UBC showing leadership in multiphase reactors.
James Olson
Dr. James Olson is a visionary leader, pioneering researcher, and inspiring educator who has made transformative contributions to the forest products sector of engineering. As a direct result of Dr. Olson’s innovative research and patented inventions, the pulp and paper industry can produce premium pulp using half the energy, has access to more effective fibre separation and refining processes, and is able to measure key properties of fibres more accurately and efficiently. Dr. Olson’s honours include two NSERC Synergy Awards, two NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplements, an APEGBC Meritorious Achievement Award, the BC Lieutenant Governor’s Innovation Award, and nine best papers.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to our Director Dr. Xiaotao Bi for being awarded the Strategic Partnership Grant for Projects by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). These grants support early-stage collaborative research projects in four target areas: advanced manufacturing, environment and agriculture, information and communications technologies, and natural resources and energy. Each collaboration must be between an academic researcher and a supporting organization that will be involved in all stages of the project.
Dr. Bi proposes to develop a new catalytic pyrolysis reactor system to convert biomass into high-quality bio-oil (upgradable to diesel and jet fuels) and biochar (usable as a high-value carbon-based fertilizer and reduction agent for iron ore processing). In addition to stimulating the Canadian bioeconomy, this technology will help the country meet its greenhouse emissions reduction target. The collaborators are Professor Weihsin Chen at National Cheng Kung University, EnWave Corp and G4 Insights Inc in Canada, and China Steel Corp in Taiwan.
By encouraging universities, industry, and governmental organizations to work together in tackling Canada’s greatest challenges, NSERC aims to not only foster innovations that will improve Canada’s economy, society, and environment, but also offer valuable training opportunities for the next generation of scientists and engineers.
News on UBC website: https://apsc.ubc.ca/news/2017/03/nserc-awards-strategic-partnership-grants-five-ubc-engineering-profs
C-CJCBERI has organized a "Collaboration Strategies Workshop on Bioenergy and Bioeconomy" successfully in collaboration with Nexterra and FP Innovations on Feb 23rd. About 70 people from universities, institutions, public sectors, and industry in Canada and China attended the workshop. Dr. Xiaotao Tony Bi opened the workshop on behalf of the organizing committee, followed by welcome speeches by Dr. Marc Parlange, Dean of APSC and Mr. Weiwei Kong, Deputy Consul General of China. Other speakers include representatives from Global Affairs Canada, China Ministry of Science and Technology, Natural Resources Canada, International Energy Agency, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, NSERC, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines, UBC VP Research Office, C-CJCBERI, and the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-IMPACTS).
The goal of the workshop is to strengthen and expend the network on bioenergy and bioeconomy within Canada as well as between Canada and China. After the mutual visits of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Chinese PM Li Keqiang in 2016, clean energy technology became one of the major areas that the two countries aim to develop collaboratively. Both countries have rich bio-resources and recognize the values of bioenergy and bioeconomy for a cleaner and sustainable environment. We believe that it is the right time now for researchers in both countries to exchange ideas, form partnerships so that a solid collaborative work plan can be developed.
The presentations in the morning sessions covered various topics, including clean energy status in Canada, China, and BC; NCE and NSERC network programs overview; current collaborations between Canada and China as well as between Canada and India; and Asia-Pacific business and trade. In the afternoon, the attendees had focused on discussions on the opportunities and challenges of bioenergy R&D, market and policy, and supply and commercialization. The workshop was concluded with a summary of the discussions and a preliminary plan for the next steps.
The workshop was sponsored by NSERC and UBC VP Research, and Chemical and Biological Engineering Department provided logistics support. The Organizing Committee members are Dr. Xiaotao Tony Bi, Director, C-CJCBERI; Dan Green, Executive Director, Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines; Dr. Xuantian Li, Principal Engineer and Group Leader, NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.; Cliff Mui, VP Product Development, Nexterra Systems Corp.; Dr. Jack Saddler, Task Leader, IEA Bioenergy Task 39; Dr. Douglas Singbeil, Research Manager, Process Engineering, FPInnovations; Dr. Jamie Stephen, Managing Director, TorchLight Bioresources.
Here is the program of the workshop. To learn more about the workshop please contact info@ccjcberi.center.
On February 26th, a delegation led by Mr. Huaibin Zhao, Deputy Director-General of Shaanxi Science and Technology Department, visited C-CJCBERI. Dr. Xiaotao Bi introduced UBC and C-CJCBERI and presented the recent work on clean energy. He also led a guided tour to the labs in the UBC Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and UBC Clean Energy Centre (CERC). The delegation also introduced the situations and new policies of energy field in Shaanxi Province, China. Together they discussed on the common areas, experiences, and opportunities for China and Canada as well as Shaanxi Province and BC Province in clean energy field.
The other delegates are: Mr. Chongjun Bai, Director, Division of Science and Technology Industry Development, Shaanxi Science and Technology Department; Dr. Lifa Zhou, President, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Energy Resources & Chemical Engineering; Dr. Lin Li, Dean, Xi'an Shiyou University, Graduate School.
Congratulations to our member Dr. Steven Rogak for winning the BCIC Ignite Award! He worked with Hydra Energy to develop the first dual-fuel hydrogen/diesel heavy-duty class 8 trucks in North America. This is a very competitive award and the team was awarded $300,000.
BCIC Ignite provides funding to accelerate commercialization of new technologies and innovations in the natural resources and applied sciences in British Columbia. The program provides awards of up to $300,000 to consortia that are conducting research projects that address a significant demonstrated problem faced by industry and will commercialize a proposed innovation within a 3-year timeframe.
Check BCIC website for more details.