Although we had rain yesterday, with all the sunshine today, is it officially the summer yet? The CHBE Graduate Student Club have a summer event for you.

The graduate students club of CHBE cordially invites you for a BBQ party, the CHBE Summar BBQ Party.
on Monday, May 26, 12 PM. Come join us to mark the arrival of the summer 2014.
Please stay tuned with the blog for the details.
From the Graduate Student Society (GSS), they are sponsoring WEST Conference. This is a multidisciplinary water/wastewater conference to be held at UBC from June 8-10th. I believe, some students, who are working on this area, in the department might be interested with this conference. You can register at: http://west-conference.ca/

Lets end with some message from the department.To comply with BC’s Workers Compensation Act Policy Guidelines and UBC’s Respectful Environment policy, CHBE has scheduled bullying and harassment training sessions. All employees must complete the course either online or in person. The training sessions are open to all CHBE faculty and staff including summer students. If you have missed the training session on Thursday, you can still join the training session on Next Thursday.
May 13 –     1:00 – 2:00 pm      CHBE Rm 202
RSVP at: http://doodle.com/7w69svmg29a3cht3

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Dear 5th and 6th floor lab users in CHBE,

It was the time to announce the winners of April’s PPE Compliance Survey.

Ivan, our safety officer will conduct monthly PPE check and those who had the highest PPE compliance level, will be put into a draw for a starbuck giftcard!
*The highest PPE compliance level simply means you have lab coat, safety glasses, waterproof footwear and appropriate gloves.

April’s winners are

Babak Adeli
Miguel Garcia

Everyone has equal chance to win the draw if you put on your PPE.

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Hello everyone, happy friday! Special announcement about today’s coffee break!
In celebration of the wonderful weather and the end of exams, we’ll be having coke floats at coffee break today. If you are not familiar with the concept: coke float = coca-cola + ice-cream = foamy deliciousness. So just bring a cup/glass & spoon to the staff lounge room (2nd floor) at15:00, if you would like to join.

A reminder about mandatory safety orientation for those new to CHBE including faculty, staff, students, visitors, interns and employees.  As well, any individuals who missed the January orientation should attend the orientation.

CHBE Safety Orientation
May 5^th, 2014  at 10:00 am
Rm 202

Registration is not required for attendance.  Refreshments will be provided.

All individuals working in labs, including summer students and interns,  must also complete the UBC Risk Management Chemical Laboratory Safety Course.  The course has an online segment followed by a practical session.

http://www.hse.ubc.ca/courses/laboratory-chemical-safety
To take the course, no CWL is required as students create a registration ID.
https://www.hse2.ubc.ca/moodle/login/index.php

Also, there are many sustainability-related events that you can join in May!

SC Program News and Events at a Glance:

· Bike to Work Week
o May 13th: Free Lunch Time Primer for New Cyclists
o May 26 – 30: Bike to Work Week (B2WW), sign up to UBC and create or join a team!
o May 29: Celebration Station at St. Anselm’s Church

· Jane’s Walk
o May 1 & 2: UBC Jane’s Walks
o May 2 – 4: various Jane’s Walks across Vancouver

· Positive Space Training
o May 15 & 21: UBC

· UBC Farm Growing Season Workshop Series
o Various dates in May
· Other Events: Bird Week, 30 X 30 Challenge, Farmers Markets

Finally, a reminder for tomorrow.

A reminder that the Chemical and Biological Building will NOT be accessible on Saturday, May 3rd from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm for a planned power outage by Building Operations. The building emergency generator will be running so that fume hoods will continue operating. Please ensure labs and experimental equipment are left in safe conditions before the shutdown.

The CHBE servers including CHBE email will NOT be operating. FASmail will be unaffected by the shutdown.

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Hello everyone, it is Friday! The sun is out and the temperature is high. The weather starts to feel like summer~ There is a number of good and not-so-good news this week that the grad club would like to share.

Hafiz wins Killiam GT award

Please join me to congratulate Hafiz Rahman, PhD candidate, for winning the Killam GT award as a recognition of his outstanding contribution to teaching and learning in our Department. Hafiz has a Masters degree from the University of Alberta and is currently working under the supervision of Dr.Bi, Grace and Lim. Hafiz is the President of the Department’s Graduate student club and we are all grateful to his contributions to the intellectual life of the Department and the well being of his fellow students.

GSS party has essentially free bzzr

(Re-posting) The GSS is super excited to host an End of Term Party! They have 3 rounds of FREE Beer Tasting including Spring beers, Dark beers, Pale ales! We’ll have a DJ rocking the most happening music (no matter how young or old you are!), we’ll have a dance instructor for the studious among you, mad snacks and desserts! Tickets available now here, or at our front desk during business hours. Get them! Early bird tickets are $5 until April 15th. [http://gss.ubc.ca/main/the-gss-end-of-term-party-is-on/]

Now that we have the good news, please

Beware of Internet Security Risk – Heartbleed Bug

A serious security risk called the “Heartbleed Bug” has been detected on the Internet that can put your private information at risk. Information transmitted to an Internet site affected with this bug, such as a log-on page for online banking, may become available to a third party. It takes minimal effort to intercept and the attack is undetectable. The Heartbleed bug has the potential to expose your private data, including usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and emails. UBC is treating this bug very seriously and is in the process of verifying whether any UBC systems are impacted, and immediately fixing any of those identified. During this process, it may be necessary to suspend some services. If you encounter an unexpected issue accessing a UBC service, please check www.it.ubc.ca/heartbleed to see if your service has been impacted.

Lastly,

some CHBE department updates

Heidi Backous will be joining us on April 14 as an admin assistant to the RES’EAU WaterNET project. Heidi will be working with Madjid and Keyvan on the network finances and administration. She will not be working on any departmental business. Heidi will be siting in the main administration office.

The department (and UBC) will be closed for the Easter weekend starting Friday, April 18 to Monday, April 21 inclusive.

There will no Weekly News next week in conjunction with the Easter Weekend.

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Dear 5th and 6th floor lab users in CHBE,

If you want to win a starbuck gift card, put on your Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) in your lab!

Ivan, our safety officer will conduct monthly PPE check and those who had the highest PPE compliance level, will be put into a draw for a starbuck giftcard!
*The highest PPE compliance level simply means you have lab coat, safety glasses, waterproof footwear and appropriate gloves.

March’s winners are

Roxanne Fournier
Chuan He

Congratulations!

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Hello everyone,

Next week is the end of term! Lots of end of terms events are happening in UBC and CHBE Grad Club is having a hiking trip too!

CHBE GSC End of Term Hiking Trip

Capilano Canyon, which has a wonderful view of both Capilano river and Cleveland Dam. This will be a one-hour trail according to THIS LINK. Then after finishing the trail we can have our lunch in the Capilano park.

Time: Sunday, April 6th, 2014. at 9 a.m.
Location 1: Water font Sea Bus (just before taking the sea bus at the ticket checking gate)
Location 2: (For those of you who wants to drive their own car or are not happy with the Sea Bus, you can find us by 10 a.m. in Capilano Park East Service Rd, North Vancouver, in the parking lot)

Everyone is welcome! please sign up at: http://doodle.com/2tyn988gs9iakx8v or email Hamid, our VP Sports at hhamedani@chbe.ubc.ca for more info.

GSS End of Term Party

The GSS is super excited to host an End of Term Party! They’ll have 3 rounds of FREE Beer Tasting including Spring beers, Dark beers, Pale ales! We’ll have a DJ rocking the most happening music (no matter how young or old you are!), we’ll have a dance instructor for the studious among you, mad snacks and desserts! Tickets available now here, or at our front desk during business hours. Get them! Early bird tickets are $5 until April 15th. PS: Come help them host! We’re looking for 3 volunteers for the night. Your ticket (including a beer or shot) is on us. Come on, email vpservices@gss.ubc.ca. 🙂

Free Statistical Help to Graduate Student

With the end of the semester, Graduate students may have more time to work on their thesis. To help UBC graduate students with the statistical elements of their work, The Statistical Consulting And Research Laboratory (SCARL) in the Department of Statistics at UBC is please to offer limited statistical consulting to UBC graduate students at no charge.

Please visit SCARL’s website for more information about the program and how to apply.
http://www.stat.ubc.ca/SCARL/HowSCARLHelp/Detail/SOS.php

The Statistical Opportunity for Students (SOS) program is made possible through funding from the Office of the Provost and VP, Research and International.

PhD Comics: A little inspiration from a great engineer

Happy End of Term! Enjoy the weekend!

Cheers, UBC CHBE Graduate Student Club

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Happy Friday! Globe 2014 was cool!
Lets get on to the news!

Professional Development Seminar NEXT MONDAY!

We are pleased to announce Dr. Eric Jervis as the speaker of the upcoming seminar in the professional development series. A short biography of him is HERE.
Seminar information:
Title: What do I wish someone had told me 20 years ago – and what has changed since
Date: March 31, 2014
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Place: CHBE 2.02 (2360 East Mall)

Chemical Waste and Sanitary sewer disposal guidelines

RMS Environmental Services would like to remind all CHBE researchers of the following chemical waste and sanitary sewer disposal guidelines:
· Chemical and biological waste MUST be disposed according to the appropriate disposal procedures, more information per links below:

o RMS Web Disposal Guide
http://www.riskmanagement.ubc.ca/environment/hazardous-waste-management/waste-disposal-guide
o RMS Laboratory Pollution Prevention and Hazardous Waste Manual
http://www.riskmanagement.ubc.ca/environment/pollution-prevention-and-hazardous-waste-management-manual
· Corrosive waste (strong acids or bases) that does not exhibit any other hazards MUST be neutralized to an acceptable pH range (5.5-10.5) before going down the drain.

o Dilution will not work for strong acids (or bases) due to the fact that the pH scale is logarithmic, so huge volumes of water would be necessary to dilute the pH to an acceptable range for sanitary sewer disposal (pH = 5.5-10.5 as required by Metro Vancouver’s Sewer Use Bylaw).
o Not neutralizing the acids/bases can cause serious corrosion to the plumbing system.
· To assist lab personnel in better understanding the strict limitations of drain disposal, the following information is available from RMS:

o RMS Sanitary Sewers webpage, including aqueous waste profiles. RMS will help determine if the waste can be disposed of via sanitary sewers after the completion of the aqueous waste profile by waste generators.
http://www.riskmanagement.ubc.ca/environment/sanitary-sewers
http://www.riskmanagement.ubc.ca/sites/riskmanagement.ubc.ca/files/uploads/Documents/Aqueous%20Waste%20Profile.xlsx
o RMS Non-Hazardous Chemical Disposal webpage. A list of chemicals that can be safely disposed of down the drain is available.
http://www.riskmanagement.ubc.ca/environment/hazardous-waste-management/waste-disposal-guide/chemicals

GSS Social Recreational

– 2014 GSS Summer Sports League is back! Create your team and come out and play either Soccer or Softball! Game day will be Fridays over the months of May-July. Click the link for details, then create your team and Register by May 1st!

– The GSS is looking to initiate a Persian Choral Music ensemble and introduce the fundamentals of Persian Music in theory and practice (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Base choir). The GSS will offer 7 workshops on Mondays starting March 31st. This is your last chance to sign up before the March 27th registration deadline! The class will only proceed if it generates sufficient interest. This opportunity is available to Graduate Students at: $35 and non-Grads at $50

– Try out our Belly Dance Fitness class these next two weeks. The GSS is offering a drop-in rate of $7 a class! Secure your spot online, or in cash at our office during business hours! The class takes place on Mondays between 5.30-6.30pm at the GSS Ballroom.

GPS/Mitacs Step* Workshop: Foundations of Project Management I: A Team Based Approach

April 02 & 03, 2014
9:00am to 5:00pm
(Note: students MUST commit to attending the entire duration of both sessions when registering).

For complete session information see: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/about-us/events/10769-gpsmitacs-step-workshop-foundations-project-management-i-team-based-approach
Please register at: https://www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g3218

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Hello everyone, Happy Friday!
Cherry blossoms (Sakura tree) are flowering around Vancouver! You can walk in UBC’s Nitobe Memorial Garden to enjoy the view of soft pink petals falling gently.

Perhaps because of the great weather, there isn’t much news in my inbox in week. Anyhow, below are the news for the week.

Professor David Wilkinson wins Grove Medal

The Grove Medal has been awarded to Professor David Wilkinson. The Medal will be awarded to Professor Wilkinson on 3rd April during the Fuel Cells 2014 Science & Technology Symposium when he will deliver the Grove Medal Address.

Volunteering for GSS Photo Shooting

Help GSS spruce up their communications! The GSS is planning a photo shoot on the afternoon of March 28th, and they’re looking for some volunteers to help them showcase the services they provide to graduate students and the larger UBC community. It will be fun! They won’t ask more than 2hrs of your time, and they will throw in a meal from Seedlings Cafe or Koerner’s Pub! Please drop them an email at: execassistant@gss.ubc.ca

Instructional Skills Workshop

Registration is open for the Instructional Skills Workshop April 26, 27, May 3, 2014. Please note that participants must be able to attend the entire 24 hour workshop.

The Instructional Skills Workshop is an internationally recognized program and students receive transcript notation for their participation. It is a 3-day intensive workshop that develops participant’s teaching skills and confidence. It is appropriate for first time teachers or those with years of experience. Join the thousands of students who have taken this workshop. This workshop is always in high demand. To register for the April 26, 27, May 3 ISW, please go to:

http://events.ctlt.ubc.ca/events/view/3269

GPS Time Management

Registration is now open for :

Graduate Pathways to Success (GPS)/Mitacs Step* Workshop: Time Management
Monday, March 24th, 2014 – 9:00am to 5:00pm
Graduate Student Centre, 6371 Crescent Road, Point Grey Campus

For more information on the session, please visit: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/about-us/events/11295-gpsmitacs-step-workshop-time-management.

To register, see https://www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g3159.

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Hello everyone,
Happy Friday! Did you enjoy the sunshine of the week? I’m sure the trees enjoy it as much as we human do! Speaking about trees,

The International Day of Forests

the Faculty of Forestry will celebrate next Friday the International Day of Forests (March 21) with an open house event (movie marathon, tree planting, etc.). Students, staff, faculty members, researchers – anyone interested in everything-forests is invited to join!

There are the exciting documentary such as MusicWood (screening at 11:30 AM) – and also some amazing acoustic guitar performances. Check out the schedule HERE.

Continue our road to sustainable word,

Oil Sands Speaker Series

Engineers for a Sustainable World UBC will be hosting the third instalment of our Oil Sands Speaker Series On Wednesday, March 12th at 4pm in CHBE 318, . The speaker will be Dr. Kathryn Harrison, a Political Science professor at UBC with a Masters in Chemical Engineering from MIT. Her talk is titled “The Politics of Tar Sands Expansion”. As usual, free coffee and snacks will be provided.

Check out UBC Engineers for a Sustainable World website at https://blogs.ubc.ca/sustainabilityclub/

UBC TACS Free Tax Workshop

UBC TACS will be hosting a free workshop at Marine Drive Residences to teach students how to file their own taxes. We would like to invite international students who live on campus to join us because we feel that this workshop will be invaluable to them. We would greatly appreciate your assistance if you could kindly pass on this opportunity through your channels. The details of the events are as follows:

If you have any suggestion for what you like to see on our weekly news, please email me at jslee@chbe.ubc.ca or comment on this blog post. Also please join the CHBE Grad Student Club Facebook Group on https://www.facebook.com/groups/chbegsc/ if you are a graduate student or a recent alumni of graduate program of UBC CHBE.

Have a great weekend!

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Dear 5th and 6th floor lab users in CHBE,

If you want to win a starbuck gift card, put on your Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) in your lab!

Ivan, our safety officer will conduct monthly PPE check and those who had the highest PPE compliance level, will be put into a draw for a starbuck giftcard!
*The highest PPE compliance level simply means you have lab coat, safety glasses, waterproof footwear and appropriate gloves.

February’s winners are
Mahmoud Ansari
James Butler

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