Blog Entry 1: Lets Get Started ….. !

CBEL … ?

Community Based Experiential Learning projects enables second year Civil engineering students at UBC to learn project management and professional communication through completing a project for a community organization.

 

Whats New This Year….

This year, we are thrilled to be working with North Shore ConneXions in reconstructing a staircase in their facility located in North Vancouver. The project consists of taking down an old staircase and relocating it to the adjacent wall to create a less steep staircase, all while reusing as much as the material from the old staircase as possible.

Who…? What…?

North Shore ConneXions Society is an organization dedicated to improving social and educational services for children with special needs. They provide valuable programs and services, which support the development and independence of adults, children and families. Their mission is to create a community where people with disabilities have the same opportunities in life as other people and they are acknowledged as contributing members of their community.

 

And We Are …..?

Our project group consists of 6 members: Maryam Abolghassem Tehrani, Pearl Ranchal, Cory Sutherland, Kanish Mathur, Sam Alexander McIlwain and Shanshui Ren. We will be working with Yu Wang, the team mentor and he will be providing us feedback and help, during the process. Below are short biographies of each of the team members:

 

Maryam Abolghassem Tehrani is a second year Civil Engineering student. She transferred to UBC last year From Columbia to continue her studies. After finishing her undergrad, she is planning on getting her Architecture degree and continue in that field.

Pearl Ranchal is a UBC engineering student. He has spent a year in the Electrical Engineering program at UBC and is now in the second year of pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering. Upon graduation, he intends to further his knowledge by attending graduate school.

Cory Sutherland is a UBC Civil Engineering student with an interest in real estate development. He is looking forward to working with North Shore Connexions Society.

Kanish Mathur is an undergraduate Civil Engineering student at UBC with an interest in construction. He hopes to pursue a career in structural engineering and looks forward to the completion of a successful project with the North Shore Connexions Society.

Sam Alexander McIlwain is a UBC Civil Engineering, originally from Invermere BC. He has an interest in both geotechnical and structural engineering, and is excited to help with the design and implementation of the staircase for North Shore Connexions.

Shanshui Ren is a second year Civil engineering student at the University of British Columbia. He is interested in structural engineering, and he is really looking forward to helping design a staircase for the North Shore Connexions.

 

In the past week …..?

We met each other to introduce ourselves and divide responsibilities within the group. Based on the mentor’s recommendation, we split into two groups of three. In each group, one person is assigned as the team leader (Pearl, Cory), one is in charge of sketching -either by hand or sketchup- (Sam, Shanshui) and the third person is to research the appropriate codes and bylaws for North Vancouver District (Maryam, Kanish).

On Jan 21, the mentor visited the facility (pictures below) and discussed the project with Mike Fricker and Wendy Padwick, Directors at North shore ConneXions. They gave us some specifications for the project:

• Dimension of the new staircase (5ft by 13 inches)
• Location of the new staircase (adjacent to the existing wall)
• Their need for a storage space beneath the staircase
• Possible addition of a stair lift in the future

 

    

 

We are excited to start our project as soon as possible and we look forward to work with North Shore Connexions.