Happy New year everyone!

Weekly News is back! Since it is the first week of the term, there isn’t many news to write. But two very important notices.

Room 204 and Room 222 are not available

As you know, next Monday and Tuesday we will be undergoing the CHBE External Review. The meeting rooms 222 and 204 are blocked off during this time for this purpose. The meetings start at 7:45 am on Monday, therefore, we are setting up the rooms today and would appreciate it if you did not use the rooms from now until after the review. – Joanne

Fill in scheduling form for Lunch & Learn Series

In Bring Your Lunch & Learn workshop series, the CHBE Workshop staff, tools & machinery vendors and suppliers provide technical presentations.

Five Lunch & Learn Workshops were presented in the fall:

1. Mechanical Information (pipe fittings, valves, pumps etc) – CHBE Mechanical Workshop
2. Compressed gas handling – Praxair
3. Electrical Component safety – CHBE Electrical Workshop
4. Valves & Fitting – Swagelok
5. Safety Instruments and Devices – Honeywell Safety

The future presentations could include Project management, other aspects of industrial safety and topics of your interest.

You are invited to fill out the form CHBE Lunch & Learn Scheduling . To fill it out, visit:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JP7jcxNYdaqWkdzUtk8Grn9WTtXyE3ut572AkSf_qE0/viewform

Previous Blog post – CHBE Staff Introduction Series

If you are new to the department, please don’t forget to read the staff introduction blog post! Link below
CHBE staff Info series 1: https://blogs.ubc.ca/chbegsc/2013/09/10/weekly-news-1/

CHBE Info Series 2: https://blogs.ubc.ca/chbegsc/2013/09/16/weekly-news-2/

CHBE Info Series 3: https://blogs.ubc.ca/chbegsc/2013/09/25/weekly-news-3/

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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I am relaying the message from GSS to call for Nominations for its Election 2014. Please email elections@gss.ubc.ca if you wish to nominate yourself or a friend for a position.

Dear graduate students,

The Call for Nominations for the 2014 Graduate Student Society (GSS) Elections is now open and will stay so until January 15^th (at noon).

The Graduate Student Society (GSS) is the independent voice of UBC’s graduate students. The GSS represents and advocates on behalf of all UBC graduate students to the University, the Government, and the public and provides academic, professional, social, and recreational services to graduate students. The society also acts as steward of the Thea Koerner House Graduate Student Centre on campus.

The elections are held in order to choose the leadership of the society. The GSS is run by a five-member group of graduate student Executives who serve the graduate student community:

• The President
• The Vice-President Academic and External Affairs
• The Vice-President Services
• The Vice-President Finance
• The Vice-President Administration

The GSS also elects two members to the UBC-Vancouver Senate as student representatives. As part of the Senate, these individuals are responsible for all academic-related matters, such as admissions, exam policy, curriculum changes, and awards and scholarships.

We hope that you are interested in running for any of these positions and encourage you to become familiar with their different responsibilities by consulting our website: http://gss.ubc.ca/main/sample-page/gss-elections-2014/

The website also has the nomination form that all prospective candidates must fill out and return to our office (in the Graduate Student Centre on campus, 6371 Crescent Road) by January 15^th at noon.

We also encourage you to follow the GSS Elections on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/GSSElections) and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/GSSElections). If you have any questions or would simply like to talk to us about elections, please also feel free to contact us at elections@gss.ubc.ca.

Thank you very much for your time!

GSS Elections

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This post summarizes the feedback we received about the CHBE Christmas Party. The figures provide an overview of the responses.

19 people have provided feedback. Majority of the feedback are positive. For example, one praised that the party is well-executed and it is great to honor Dr. Epstein’s birthday. Also, the movie about Dr. Epstein was very nice! Many thanks to Ehsan Beh.

A few responses complain about the length of the speech session and not having enough dessert for everyone. Personally I agree about the lengthy speeches. As for the dessert, that is what the cake is for: satisfy the need for extra dessert!

Thank you so much for all that provided their feedback.

Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas!

Best wishes,
CHBE Grad Student Club

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Dear CHBE members,

I’m relaying messages from two staff members, Joanne, and Marlene.

Message from Joanne:
The Holiday Season is here again. The department will be closed from December 24th until January 1, 2014 inclusive. During this time, NO staff will be working in the department. There are also some staff who are going on vacation earlier (see below for details).

During this time, the building will be on “weekend mode” which means it is locked down. If you require entrance to the building during this time, you will need to use your fob or iClass student card/employee card to gain access to the various floors and the building.

If you plan to work in your lab during this time, please remember to follow UBC’s Working Alone policy. Marlene will be sending out some information about that later.

Message from Marlene:

• Ensure your supervisor is aware and is in agreement with your plan to work alone. Complete a risk assessment with your supervisor determining the hazards which can cause injury and determine the consequences.  The assessment may restrict the activities permitted in work alone situations.
• During the work alone period, the worker must have routine communication with another person either visually or by phone.  With your supervisor, develop the procedure including form and frequency of communication.  The contact person must be trained in assisting the worker should there be an emergency.
• Example 1:  Running reactor while working alone

• Risk assessment – potential of Phosgene gas generation.  High risk, no work alone permitted.

• Example 2:  Testing samples in lab while working alone:

• Risk assessment – no hazardous chemicals.  No hazardous situations associated with testing equipment.  Low risk associated with testing samples while working alone
• Procedure – call contact person when arriving to work and then every hour using cell phone.  Call contact person when finished.  Call Walk Safe for escort when leaving building.

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Hello everyone, this will be the last weekly news before Christmas. The weekly news will resume in 1st week of January 2013. Wish everyone happy holidays and merry Christmas!

Christmas Party Feedback

Thank you everyone who came to the CHBE Christmas Party 2013. It was a blast!
The CHBE Grad Club is requesting feedbacks about the Christmas party.
We wish to have your input about how the party was run and how we can improve next year.
Please fill in the link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MGEFW7MU9HxGrJG4ZTEy8xNSOvGamXm_cadiZ9lvDLg/viewform

CHBE External Review

The Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering will be undergoing an external review on January 6 & 7, 2014. The Faculty of Applied Science would like to invite the Graduate Students in Chemical & Biological Engineering to meet with the External Review Panel. Details of the meeting are:

Date: Monday, January 6, 2014
Time: 11:30am – 12:00pm
Location: Chemical & Biological Engineering, 2360 East Mall, Room 204

Your input to the review panel will help shape the future direction of the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering.

Please RSVP by emailing sue.yee@ubc.ca by Monday, January 2, 2014.

Winter Food Donation

GSS calls for food donation to UBC GSS Food Bin. They will offer your donations to families in need during these winter holidays. Their bin is at the Graduate Student Centre (#225-6371 Crescent Rd). Do your bit to help by dropping off either canned or non-perishable food. More info here: http://gss.ubc.ca/main/gss-food-bin/
You can also donate to UBC AMS Food Bank. For more info here: http://www.ams.ubc.ca/services/food-bank/

Winter Safety News

Happy holidays Message from WorkSafeBC

Please read and share these tips for winter safety at work, at play, and on the roads.

http://www2.worksafebc.com/enews/131205/131205.htm

Fun and Educational News

During this winter break, it might be a good idea to learn some networking and professional skills. April McNeil, a career educator at the University of Victoria, gives tips on what grad students can do to make themselves more attractive to both academic and non-academic employers before they officially enter the job market.

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Following the PPE compliance check last month [https://blogs.ubc.ca/chbegsc/2013/11/12/ppe-compliance-check/], Ivan, our safety officer has drawn three winners, from those who had the highest PPE compliance level!
*The highest PPE compliance level simply means you have lab coat, safety glasses, waterproof footwear and appropriate gloves.

They are
Rob North
Reza Rezaei
Li Zhu

They will each receive $10 starbuck gift cards!
The winners can accept their prizes from Ivan’s office in 4th floor.

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I hope no one feels that 13 is unlucky because today is a happy day! It is the 90th birthday of Dr. Norman Epstein, Professor Emeritus of Chemical & Biological Engineering! Join us today during the coffee break at 3:00 PM in 2nd floor staff lounge to wish him happy birthday!

Christmas Payment Deadline Today

You must either pay today at me at room 503, Ehsan or Hafiz or confirm your registration by emailing me at jslee@chbe.ubc.ca before the day ends.

Free statistical Analyses

As part of Statistic Department ongoing efforts to bring current research into the classroom and promote interdisciplinary collaborations, the students enrolled in STAT 450 (Case Studies in Statistics) will provide free statistical analyses in Term 2 of 2013-2014
Please consider whether the type of feedback described might be helpful to you. If so, please submit your projects, carefully following the guidelines provided HERE.

UBC Molecular Biology Workshop

Next UBC Molecular Biology Workshop (see http://www.bioteach.ubc.ca/mb-workshops/) – Feb 17-21, 2014. This is a content intensive course that covers molecular biology techniques from both a theoretical and practical point of view. They’ve garnered great reviews over the years – partly for providing a syllabus that has high research utility, but also because they pay a lot of attention to making sure our clients have an engaging educational experience (a crucial objective, especially with a course as intensive as this one). Syllabus see HERE.

Water Initiative for the Future (WatIF): 2014 Graduate Conference

The student committee for the Water Initiative for the Future (WatIF): 2014 Graduate Conference would like to our upcoming submission deadline. Students are invited to join our community of early water leaders by participating in the conference as student presenters, workshop facilitators, and university representatives. With less than a month left until our Call for Abstracts deadline, be sure to submit your abstracts before going home for the holidays!
For a sneak peak of what is to come, check out our promotional video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7sljEWTDyQ!
Call for Abstracts Deadline: December 31, 2013
Submission Link: http://www.waterresearchcentre.ca/submit-abstract.html

Fun news

I’m out of fun news this week… It was so hectic that I didn’t read anything fun for a while.
Please suggest any funny news or pictures to jslee@chbe.ubc.ca

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 onhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/chbegsc/ if you are a graduate student or a recent alumni of graduate program of UBC CHBE.

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This week’s news came a bit late because I just had a really busy day…

Break in again!

Last night, we had a break-in on the 4th floor CHBE.   Two  offices were pried open and computer equipment was stolen.  Both computers were secured with security cords which were pried off with pliers. Please do not leave any valuables in your offices! If you are leaving a desktop computer in the room, please make sure that you have backed it up and take your backup disk home with you. 

Christmas Party Reminder

Dear CHBE grad students, please register for the Annual CHBE Christmas Party on Dec 11 in Cecil Green Park House through this doodle [http://www.doodle.com/9i8nyatdcc994n8z] before December 6, 2013. No late registration will be allowed. The ticket price is $15 per person, please pay in cash to me (Jun) or Ehsan Beh. For the info on this party, please click HERE.

Bring Your Lunch and Learn 5

Topic: Honeywell Safety
Date: December 4, 2013, Wednesday
Time & Venue: 12:00PM to 1:00PM in room 202
This is the department’s last Bring Your Lunch & Learn before Christmas.  We will resume with a Due Diligence session in January.

New Dean of Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

Congratulations to Dr. Susan Porter to be appointed as the New Dean of Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies! Since her appointment as Dean pro tem in April 2011, Dr. Porter has been a strong advocate for graduate student needs at UBC and has championed major fundamental changes to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies which allow it to better serve graduate students. We know she will continue to bring forward exciting changes to graduate studies at UBC. Official News release from grad.ubc.ca HERE.

Fun News

Free Bellydance Fitness Workshop

Do you want to use bellydance techniques to get fit and toned? Read on!
The GSS Bellydance Fitness Class is designed to sculpt and tone your core, abs, and legs muscles through the practice of essential bellydance moves, body isolation techniques and various types of shimmies.

GSS is pleased to offer you a free workshop!

Monday Dec 9
5:30 to 6:30pm
GSS Ballroom

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 onhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/chbegsc/ if you are a graduate student or a recent alumni of graduate program of UBC CHBE.

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Hello everyone! Here is our weekly news! Winter is coming, so is the flue season, so please stay active and stay healthy!

Break-ins in PPC last week

There have been several break-ins to buildings on campus over the last week. The PPC was hit and there was a lot of high value items stolen from offices of students and research personnel.
Joanne urged all the members of CHBE to, please check that the door is latched and locked behind you when leaving the building or other buildings after hours,. If there is any issue, please let her know (call, text or email) and/or call security so that the issue can be remedied immediately.

Professional Speaker Seminar Series Next Wednesday-Nov 27!

We are pleased to announce Dr. Shahab Sokhansanj as the speaker of the upcoming seminar in the series on November 27 at 12:00 PM in room CHBE 2.02.

Dr. Shahab Sokhansanj, P.Eng. is a distinguished research and development staff at Oak Ridge National laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He is also a Professor emeritus University of Saskatchewan and adjunct Professor University of British Columbia. Dr. Sokhansanj has developed the Integrated Biomass Supply Analysis & Logistics (IBSAL) modeling environment. The value chain modeling platform is used for design and analysis of biomass feedstock supply in support of the emerging biorefineries in the U.S. and Canada.

To view Dr. Shahab Sokhansanj’s Biography, click HERE.

Doug’s Vacation Days

Doug, our Technical Supervisor, will be off Nov 22nd (Today), 25th (Next Monday), ½ day Dec 20th (Friday), full days Dec 23rd and the 24th 2013. In his absents Marlene Chow will be consulting and supervising shop. You can contact her by e-mail @ (Chow, Marlene Marlene.Chow(at)ubc.ca). Her location is room 173 in stores.

GSS Coffee will fix it schedule

Coffee socials are held every Thursday afternoon from 3pm, at Seedlings Café / the penthouse in the Thea Koerner House.

Thursday November 21 Games Afternoon Christopher Roach, Lili Meng
Thursday November 28 Discussion on GSS Funds Lili Meng
Thursday December 5 Coffee & Cake Yuanyuan Liu, Christopher Roach
Thursday December 12 Christmas social – wear your Christmas sweater!

Fun Picture

I really wish my computer can be faster!

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 onhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/chbegsc/ if you are a graduate student or a recent alumni of graduate program of UBC CHBE.

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Hello friends, it is weekly news again. We have reached a new milestone, a two digit index, our 10th weekly news.

1. CHBE Snow Policy!

I read from Joanne’s email that it might snow this weekend. So better be prepared for it! This link HERE to the CHBE Snow policy PDF! More info:

http://www.hr.ubc.ca/memos/preparing-for-winter-weather-conditions-at-ubc-nov-14-2013/

2. Volunteer Opportunity

Seeking Faculty and Staff Volunteers for AMS Safewalk
Safewalk (http://www.ams.ubc.ca/services/safewalk/) is a free service from the AMS that is looking out for UBC Community members’ safety on campus, and operates most nights during the school year with its walking service. Safewalk will send a co-ed pair of walkers to any point on campus and will walk anyone to any point on campus they need to go between 7:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m.
If you are interested in volunteering with Safewalk, please contact:
Brittany Watson
Safewalk Assistant Coordinator
604-822-2181
Swassist1@ams.ubc.ca

Please let her know your availability (day(s) of the week and the evening times you are available to volunteer) as well as your contact information.

3. Job Opportunity:

Become the GSS Special Events Coordinator!
The GSS is currently looking to start of a new series of events and we need your help to get it off the ground. If you are interested in helping to organize events are a good team player and able to keep deadlines you may want to think about applying.

Deadline: November 20, 2013. More info: http://gss.ubc.ca/main/job-opportunity-become-the-gss-special-event-coordinator/

4. Typhoon Haiyan

The worst typhoon of the century hit Philippines a few days ago and some estimated over 10,000 death toll! As the result of food and water scarcity, this number might unfortunately rise in the next few days. I have posted a call for donation in the previous input. The link is below:

http://www.redcross.ca/donate/donate-online/donate-to-the-typhoon-haiyan-fund

5. Fun News: Movember

Watch this video from youtube about the movement to raise awareness in Men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer and other male cancers; and associated charities. University Affair News Posting on Movember:Here

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 onhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/chbegsc/ if you are a graduate student or a recent alumni of graduate program of UBC CHBE.

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