Joel Bert Prize won by team of graduate students from the UBC Engineers in Scrubs program

The 2014 winner of the Joel Bert Prize is a team of graduate students from the UBC Engineers in Scrubs program. The winners are: Navid Shirzad (PhD), Jacquline Soicher (MASc), Quan Guo (PhD), and Chao Jin (MASc); the team was supervised by Machiel Van der Loos (Mech Eng).

The $1,000 prize is offered by the School of Population and Public Health to a UBC undergraduate or graduate student who incorporates engineering design and/or principles in the solution of an Occupational/Environmental Health and Safety problem.

The winning entry was a design to efficiently remove potentially hazardous “surgical smoke” created by electrosurgery in a way that did not compromise surgical performance. The winners will present their project as part of the OEH seminar series that runs Fridays at 12:30-13:30 during term.

Joel Bert

Joel Bert was a faculty member of the Department of Chemical Engineering and an associate faculty member of the School of Environmental Health (now part of SPPH) from its inception in 1992 until his death in 2003. Joel was active in teaching, research and service; he was a dedicated teacher who was liked and admired by students. His research interests in occupational health and safety derived from his overwhelming compassion and care for others. His academic and teaching accomplishments notwithstanding, Joel is remembered most for his infectious spirit, sense of humor and devotion to people. He was always willing to listen to others, a highly positive and supportive colleague and mentor who continuously inspired others to do their part to make the world a better place.

Congratulations!

Hugh W Davies
Chair, Joel Bert Prize Committee