CIVIL - Key Persons


Adam Lubell

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Adriani Tambunan


Alex Bigazzi

Job Titles:
  • Associate Head ( Undergraduate Program )

Alex Bush

Job Titles:
  • Manager, Student Services

Alex Sy

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Ali Habibzadeh

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Ali Naghibi

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Amir Hassanpour

Job Titles:
  • Sessional Lecturer

Andrew Wood

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Andrés Reyes Parra

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Arcesio Lizcano

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Armin Bebamzadeh

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Arthur Mak

Job Titles:
  • Engineering Technician

Brad Wishart

Job Titles:
  • Chemical Technician

Brian Hubbs

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Brian Samuels

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Brook Robazza

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Caijun Shi

Job Titles:
  • Honorary Affiliate Professor

Cheryl Nelms

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Chris Johnston

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Clark Lim

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Corey Strain

Job Titles:
  • Mechanical Engineer and Machinist

Craig Wallace

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Dana Vanier

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Devarsh Bhonde

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Devdeep Basu

Job Titles:
  • Research Areas

Donald Mavinic

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Donna Seto

Job Titles:
  • Manager, Research and Strategic Initiatives

Doug Hudniuk

Job Titles:
  • Workshop Supervisor

Dr. Alan Russell

Job Titles:
  • Project & Construction Management

Dr. Alireza Forghani

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor
  • Engineering Lead of Numerical Methods at Convergent Manufacturing Technologies Inc. in Vancouver, Canada
Dr. Alireza Forghani is the Engineering Lead of Numerical Methods at Convergent Manufacturing Technologies Inc. in Vancouver, Canada. As the lead of Numerical Methods, Alireza oversees the development of new modeling methods to simulate various aspects of the manufacturing process of composite structures. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Prior to joining Convergent in 2014, Alireza received his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from UBC in 2011 and worked as a research associate and lecturer at that same institution.

Dr. Amy M. Kim

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor
  • Transportation Engineering
Dr. Kim's (she/her) research program in transportation systems analysis focuses on the operations of multimodal networks, and supporting resource allocation strategies across long-distance systems. She aims to better inform the planning of transportation systems that are more adaptable and resilient to a changing world, collaborating with researchers across disciplines in contexts such as strategic planning for wildfire evacuation, transportation infrastructure decisions under climate change impacts, and integrated analysis of air and ground transportation. Dr. Kim received her MS and PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and her BASc in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Prior to joining UBC in March 2021, she was a faculty member at the University of Alberta. Between her MS and PhD studies, she worked in the engineering consulting practice in California and British Columbia. Dr. Kim was most recently awarded a 2022 UBC Killam Accelerator Research Fellowship.

Dr. Barbara Lence

Job Titles:
  • Hydrotechnical Engineering
  • Professor

Dr. Bernard Laval

Job Titles:
  • Professor and Department Head
Dr. Bernard Laval joined the Department of Civil Engineering in June 2002, and currently serves as the Department Head. Additionally, Dr. Laval served as the Associate Head for the Undergraduate Program from 2012-2015 and 2016-2017. His background in Engineering Physics (University of British Columbia) provides him with a very versatile technological base. He has a Masters in Physical Oceanography (McGill University) and a PhD in Environmental Engineering (University of Western Australia). From 1995-1998 Bernard worked as a research scientist developing Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (submersibles) for use as instrument platforms for the study of lakes and coastal waters. Dr. Laval has over 20 years of experience in applied fluid mechanics of inland and coastal waters and has authored several publications on field instrument and numerical model development, as well as description and theory of transport processes in lakes and estuaries.

Dr. Carlos Molina Hutt

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor
Carlos Molina Hutt leads the Engineering for Seismic Resilience Laboratory (ESR Lab) at UBC. Their work focuses on the development of methodological approaches to assess seismic risk in buildings and its implications on urban resilience, and on the translation of this knowledge into tools and information for use by practicing engineers, seismic planners and policy makers. Their goal is to enable seismic policy decision-making with explicit consideration of the societal and economic impacts of the performance of the built environment during major earthquakes. Carlos Molina Hutt joined the Civil Engineering Department at UBC as Assistant Professor in January 2018 from University College London (UCL), where he was a lecturer. He has degrees in Earthquake Engineering (UCL, PhD, 2017), Structural Engineering (Stanford University, MSc, 2009) and Civil Engineering (Villanova University, BSc, 2007). During his PhD studies, Carlos was a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China (2015-2016). Prior to his PhD, he worked as a structural engineer at Arup New York from 2009 to 2013. ​Carlos is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of California in the US and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP). He is also a Chartered Engineer (CEng) Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK. Carlos has experience as an independent consultant and has worked for civil engineering design firms, the humanitarian sector and the insurance and reinsurance sectors. He also provides structural engineering expertise to the European Union and the United Nations and has deployment experience as a technical expert following damaging earthquakes, including Mexico in 2017 and Ecuador in 2016. In 2019, Carlos received the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) - Shah Family Innovation Prize, which rewards younger professionals and academics for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in the field of earthquake risk mitigation and management. ​His research has been funded by Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada's Tri-council New Frontiers in Research Fund, the US Geological Survey, the Applied Technology Council, the US National Institute for Standards and Technology or the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, among others. He actively engages in research collaborations with industry (e.g. Risk Management Solutions, Guy Carpenter, Arup, Glotman Simpson and Bush, Bohlman & Partners), researchers at other academic institutions (Stanford University, University of Washington and Tsinghua University), and cities (including the City and County of San Francisco and the City of Vancouver).

Dr. Carlos Ventura

Job Titles:
  • Director of the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility
  • Professor
Dr. Carlos Ventura is currently the Director of the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility (EERF) at UBC and has more than 30 years of experience as a structural engineer. Dr. Ventura's areas of research are in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering. He has been conducting research on the dynamic behavior and analysis of structural systems subjected to extreme dynamic loads, including severe ground shaking for more than twenty years. His research work includes experimental studies in the field and in the laboratory of structural systems and components. Research developments have included development and implementation of performance-based design methods for seismic retrofit of low rise school buildings, novel techniques for regional estimation of damage to structures during earthquakes, detailed studies on nonlinear dynamic analysis of structures and methods to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of large Civil Engineering structures. His current research is focused on the development of performance-based guidelines for seismic retrofit of schools, on methods to evaluate the interaction between critical infrastructure vulnerable to natural and man-made hazards, and on structural health monitoring of building, bridges and dams. Dr. Ventura has written over 400 technical papers and reports related to the seismic behaviour of structures, and has received numerous awards for his research accomplishments, including the Lieutenant Governor's Award of Excellence (2013), the Innovation Award of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering (2010) and the APEGBC Meritorious Achievement Award (2006). He is a member of several national and international professional societies and advisory committees. He is a member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Fellow of Engineers Canada. He is also a member of several building and bridge code committees. In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Ventura is a recognized international consultant on structural vibrations and safety of large Civil Engineering structures.

Dr. Dharma Wijewickreme

Job Titles:
  • Professor / Geotechnical Engineering
Dr. Wijewickreme joined the UBC Civil Engineering Department in January 2001. His general field of specialty is geotechnical engineering with specific expertise in the fields of earthquake geotechnical engineering and pipeline geotechnical engineering. Dr. Wijewickreme received his Ph.D. and M.A.Sc. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 1990 and 1986, respectively. Immediately prior to joining UBC, Dr. Wijewickreme served in the geotechnical consulting practice in British Columbia, Canada, where he acquired some 11 years of industry experience in the fields of seismic design and pipeline geotechnical engineering. Dr. Wijewickreme pioneered the establishment of new Pipeline Integrity Institute (PII) at UBC in 2015 with industry funding, and is the Co-Director of the institute. He has received numerous awards, including the Horst Leipholz Medal of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering (2013) for outstanding contributions to engineering mechanics research and practice, the Canadian Geotechnical Journal's Editor's Choice Award (2011), and is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering and the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He was the President of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) for the two year term (2017-2018), and he also served as the Vice President Finance of the CGS between 2013 and 2017.

Dr. Don Anderson

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus
Dr. Don Anderson officially retired effective 1 July 1999 after a 33-year academic career with the Department. A gala retirement party was held and attended by active and emeritus faculty, staff, family, friends and former students. Don received his BSc degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Alberta in 1956. He then worked as a design engineer and field engineer in Edmonton from 1956-1960. He received his MS in Civil Engineering in 1962 from the University of Illinois and his PhD in Engineering Mechanics from Stanford University in 1965. He worked as a research engineer at the Stanford Research Institute before joining UBC as an Assistant Professor in July 1966. Don was promoted to Associate Professor in 1976 and Full Professor in 1990. As a faculty member, he has made significant contributions in the areas of nonlinear analysis of structures for seismic excitation, theoretical and experimental analyses of masonry for seismic conditions, code provisions for masonry design, dynamic nonlinear response of blast loaded structures, and wall and shell instability analysis. Dr. Anderson's advice has been sought on several world-class projects both near and far because he is outstanding in his field of applied mechanics. He has been part of special visiting delegations to sites of major earthquakes around the world; documentation of the findings from these visits has helped to shape current practice. He is recognized as the consultant's consultant - a role he excels at among both the members of the external engineering community and his Department colleagues in the areas of structural and geotechnical engineering. Throughout his academic career, Don was always a champion of students. His door was always open, and more often than not, a student was either sitting in a chair talking with Don or discussing concepts on the board. Over many years, Don provided excellent service to the Department in several roles, including course scheduling, graduate advising, curriculum committee work, and five years as Assistant to the Head. Don remains active as an emeritus and member of the Department.

Dr. Eric R. Hall

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus
Dr. Hall obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Biochemistry from McMaster University in 1972 and 1974. He then pursued studies in the Water Research Group at McMaster, where he received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1981. In 1979, he joined Environment Canada's Wastewater Technology Centre, where he worked as a senior process engineer and a part-time Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at McMaster University. In 1992, he came to the Department of Civil Engineering at UBC as Senior NSERC/COFI Industrial Research Chair in Forest Products Waste Management. Dr. Hall has been awarded the Willem Rudolfs Medal by the Water Environment Federation (1994) and the I.H. Weldon Award by PAPTAC (2000). Dr. Hall served as Head of the Department of Civil Engineering from 2003 to 2008, and as Dean pro tem. of the Faculty of Applied Science from 2011 to 2013.

Dr. Frank Navin

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Dr. Gregory A. Lawrence

Job Titles:
  • Canada Research Chair in Environmental Fluid Mechanics
  • Professor
  • Research Chair
Dr. Greg Lawrence holds a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Environmental Fluid Mechanics and has been a faculty member at UBC since 1987. Focusing on the impact of the fluid mechanics of inland and coastal waters on water quality, chemistry and biology, Lawrence is investigating techniques to minimize the environmental impact of waste discharge; restoring and rehabilitating lakes and other water systems that have been polluted. Dr. Lawrence was elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2011 and the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering in 2012, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Camille Dagenais Award for his contributions to the development and practice of hydrotechnical engineering in Canada (2011), the BC Premier's Award (2010), and the Journal of Environmental Engineering Editor's Award (2001). Dr. Lawrence is also an instructor in the UBC Master of Engineering Leadership in Integrated Water Management.

Dr. Jim Atwater

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus
Biography Prof. Jim Atwater completed his B.A.Sc. (1969) and M.A.Sc. (1973) degrees at the University of British Columbia prior to joining the Civil Engineering department as a faculty member in 1979. Prof. Atwater is an expert in solid waste management, and has conducted research on leachate generation, migration and control, and hazardous waste management. He has served as an advisor to federal, provincial and municipal governments on landfill leachate control and the development of regulations to properly handle and control hazardous waste. In 2013, Prof. Atwater was the recipient of the Donald R. Stanley Award from the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering along with his graduate student, Ryan Thoren, and his UBC colleague, Dr. Pierre Bérubé.

Dr. John Howie

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor Emeritus
  • Member of the Department
Biography Dr. Howie has been a member of the Department since August, 1997. Before joining UBC, he worked as a Geotechnical Engineer in consulting practice from 1978 to 1983 and 1988 to 1997 and pursued Ph.D. research during 1983 to 1987. He has Civil Engineering degrees from UBC (Ph.D., 1991), Queen's University at Kingston (M.Sc., 1978), and the University of Glasgow (B.Sc., 1976). His consulting experience was obtained while based in Scotland, Alberta, Hong Kong, and British Columbia. Dr. Howie's research interests are in the field and laboratory characterization of soils for geotechnical engineering design, ground improvement, and foundation engineering.

Dr. Jonathan Fannin

Job Titles:
  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • Professor / Geotechnical Engineering
Jonathan Fannin received a B.Sc. (Civil Engineering) from the Queen's University of Belfast, and a D. Phil. (Geotechnical Engineering) from the University of Oxford. He worked at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, before joining the University of British Columbia in 1989, and receiving promotion to Full Professor in 2001. Dr. Fannin is the recipient of many national and international research awards, including the 4th International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Award for contributions of laboratory and field research to engineering practice, a CGS Quigley Award for the best paper in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal, a Karl Terzaghi Fellowship from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute and more recently, a Distinguished Visiting Fellow award from the U.K. Royal Academy of Engineering. His professional service has included Chair of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) Geosynthetics Division, Board Member of the North American Geosynthetics Society, Associate Editor of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal, and Panel Member on the editorial board of Geotechnique Letters. He became a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 2013.

Dr. Ken Elwood

Job Titles:
  • Honorary Affiliate Professor
  • MBIE Chair
Dr. Ken Elwood serves as the MBIE Chair in Earthquake Engineering and Director of the newest Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE), QuakeCoRE: Centre for Earthquake Resilience. Ken joined the University of Auckland in July 2014 after 11 years as a faculty member at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Ken was drawn to New Zealand to pursue the numerous opportunities for research and implementation in earthquake risk reduction. He is actively involved in research related to the seismic response of existing concrete and masonry buildings. Ken received his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002, M.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995, and BASc from the University of British Columbia in 1993. Ken is a member of several national and international code committees including the seismic provisions of the American Concrete Instititute Building Code (ACI 318). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and Chair of the EERI Learning from Earthquakes program.

Dr. Kenneth J.F. Hall

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Dr. Liam Finn

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus
W. D. Liam Finn graduated from the National University of Ireland in 1954 with a B.Eng. in Civil Engineering. He got his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1957 and 1960 respectively. After the 1964 Niigata Earthquake, he began to specialize in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and started the first program in Canada at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. He was Head of Civil Engineering and Dean of Applied Science at UBC. In 1999, he was appointed as the first Anabuki Professor of Foundation Geodynamics at Kagawa University, Takamatsu, Japan. Liam Finn is also president of Pan-American Engineering and Computing Services Ltd. in Vancouver. He is an Honorary International Member of the Japanese Geotechnical Society and the Chinese Society of Soil Dynamics, PRC. He is also an Honorary Professor of the Metallurgical Institute in Beijing. He is Editor of the International Journal of Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering and is on the editorial boards of other journals. He is Chairman of TC-4 the Earthquake Engineering Committee of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Finn's main research interest is geotechnical earthquake engineering with particular interest in liquefaction, seismic response of sites and earth structures, seismic safety evaluation of dams, seismic response of pile foundations and seismic risk. He has published over 300 papers on these topics. Finn consults internationally especially on the seismic safety of dams, beginning in 1967 with the Ingura dam in the old Soviet Union. He pioneered the use of dynamic effective stress analysis in practice in 1975 and the use of large strain deformation analysis for the analysis of post liquefaction deformation of dams in 1989 on Sardis Dam in Mississippi. Finn is currently working on a major research project funded by the Anabuki Construction Company, Takamatsu, Japan on the seismic response of large diameter cast in place concrete piles in reclaimed land in which liquefaction effects are a major problem.

Dr. Loretta Li

Job Titles:
  • Project Engineer
  • Professor
Dr. Loretta Li joined the Department of Civil Engineering in 1995. She has a strong background in fundamental and applied work on the spread, degradation and treatment of contaminants in water/soil/sediment and the natural environment. Dr. Li led and founded the UBC Cluster for Microplastics, Health and the Environment in 2021 with a group of outstanding researchers. Dr. Li's research has helped influence strategic planning efforts and key policy decisions on issues related to contaminated sites and contamination by per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs), as well as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). She has worked with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Stockholm Convention, Environment Canada, Health Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the BC Ministry of Environment in addressing these chemicals of emerging concern. In the past, Dr. Li has served as a project engineer and as a junior structural engineer, and worked with a number of professional societies and associations. She has made significant technical contributions to her profession. Her findings on metals dispersion and distributions along highway were used by the B.C. Ministry of Transportation (MOT) and Infrastructure. Her research has also been used extensively in environmental assessments along the Sea-to-Sky, Gateway, Okanagan Lake Bridge and Highway 37 Widening projects. Dr. Li's education includes a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in Environmental Soil Science at Queen's University and a M.Eng. in Geo-environmental Engineering at McGill University.

Dr. Marc Parlange

Job Titles:
  • Honorary Affiliate Professor
  • Honorary Affiliate Professor / Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Hydrotechnical Engineering
Biography On August 1, 2021, Dr. Marc Parlange was appointed President of the University of Rhode Island. Prior to this, he was provost and senior vice president of Monash University in Australia. From 2013 to 2017, Dr. Parlange was the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science here at UBC, and a Professor in our Department. He also served as Dean of the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, and held faculty appointments at Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at Davis. His research in the broad area of environmental fluid mechanics primarily relates to the measurement and simulation of air and water flows over complex terrain, with a focus on how air turbulence and atmospheric dynamics (atmospheric boundary layer flow) influence water evaporation and transpiration in plants and soil. Dr. Parlange received numerous awards for his academic achievements, including the Macelwane Medal of the American Geophysical Union in 1997 and the Dalton Medal of the European Geosciences Union in 2007. He has a master of science degree and Ph.D. from Cornell University and a bachelor of science degree from Griffith University in Australia.

Dr. Michael Isaacson

Job Titles:
  • Dean Emeritus
  • Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada
  • Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia
Dr. Michael Isaacson is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia and is registered as a Professional Engineer in British Columbia. He received his degrees in engineering from the University of Cambridge, and was subsequently employed in engineering design and research in Great Britain and the United States. He joined UBC in 1976, and has since remained active in research, teaching, university service and professional service. Research. Dr. Isaacson's primary research interests relate to coastal and offshore hydrodynamics, with a particular emphasis on ocean waves and their effects on structures. In the context of his research, Dr. Isaacson has supervised to completion 36 Masters students and 11 Ph.D. Students; he is the author of over 240 papers, including over 90 in professional journals; he has co-authored two books, including Mechanics of Wave Forces on Offshore Structures that has been widely used in the offshore industry; and he has served as a specialist consultant on a wide variety of coastal and ocean engineering projects for government agencies, major oil companies, consulting engineering companies and law firms. Teaching. Dr. Isaacson's teaching interests relate to fluid mechanics and various aspects of hydrotechnical engineering, as well as to more general aspects of engineering education and the role of engineers in society. Courses taught at the undergraduate level include coastal engineering, engineering design, engineering economics, fluid mechanics, hydraulics, mechanics, and wind engineering; and those at the graduate level include waves and wave effects, coastal and offshore modeling, fluid loads, sedimentation mechanics, and structural dynamics. Over the past few years, Dr. Isaacson has taught or co-taught the courses listed below. University Service. Dr. Isaacson served as Head of the Department of Civil Engineering from 1992-1997, and as Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science from 1997-2008. He has also served in many roles outside his Faculty, including service as a member of UBC's Vancouver Senate for 17 years, and as Special Advisor to the Deputy Vice Chancellor of UBC Okanagan for two years. Professional Service. Dr. Isaacson was Editor / Co-Editor of the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering for 8 years (1995-2003), and has served on many national and international professional committees and boards. Since 2009, he has been a member of Council of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC, including service as President for 2012-13; and since 2011 he has been a member of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. Honours and Awards. Dr. Isaacson is Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is a past Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He is the recipient of several national and international awards, including the R.A. McLachlan Award of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia; the Killam Research Prize from UBC; the Camille A. Dagenais Award from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering; the Julian C. Smith Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada; and the Chairman's Award for Career Achievement from the BC Innovation Council.

Dr. Michael Quick

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus
Professor Emeriti, Dr. Michael Quick was with the Department from 1962-65 and 1967-98. Aside from his many achievements in teaching, research and professional practice in the area of hydrotechnical engineering and his contributions to the Department, Dr. Quick's distinguished career highlights include his authorship of the UBC Watershed Model and his teaching awards - Walter Gage in 1985, Civil Engineering in 1995 and 1996, and the prestigious Killam teaching award in 1996. Michael remains active in research, graduate supervision, and consulting work.

Dr. Obinna Onuaguluchi

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate
  • Department of Civil Engineering As a Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Obinna Onuaguluchi joined the Department of Civil Engineering as a postdoctoral fellow in 2014. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Eastern Mediterranean University in 2012. As a Research Associate, Dr. Onuaguluchi's studies over the past years have been centered mainly on material sustainability and the reduction of the negative carbon footprint of the construction industry. In collaboration with industrial partners, the development of durable cement-based applications, reinforced with biomaterial, and the valorization of industrial byproducts as additives in cement composites are the main thrust of his recent research activities.

Dr. Omar Swei

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor
  • Project & Construction Management
  • Project & Construction Management, Transportation Engineering
Omar Swei joined the Department of Civil Engineering at UBC as an Assistant Professor in 2018. He received his graduate training at MIT in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems Division and was a recipient of a U.S. Fulbright grant for the 2016-2017 academic year. His research broadly centers on the development and implementation of operations research methods to improve the design and maintenance of infrastructure systems. This work emphasizes the development of optimal infrastructure management policies under uncertainty and improving the economic performance and environmental sustainability of existing infrastructure assets. Dr. Swei is also an instructor in the UBC Master of Engineering Leadership in Integrated Water Management.

Dr. Pierre Bérubé

Job Titles:
  • Environmental Systems Engineering
  • Professor / Environmental Systems Engineering
  • Professor With the Department of Civil Engineering
Dr. Pierre Bérubé is a Professor with the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. He has over 25 years of research and consulting experience dealing with the development and optimization of membrane technologies for water and wastewater treatment applications. Dr. Bérubé actively collaborates with researchers nationally and internationally on a number of research projects funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Water Network, the Water Environment Research Foundation, and the European Membrane- Network.

Dr. Rachel Scholes

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor
Dr. Rachel Scholes (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on protecting human and environmental health by addressing contaminants of concern in urban water systems. In particular, she investigates occurrence and transformations of trace contaminants with the aim of optimizing contaminant removal in engineered and nature-based treatment systems. Dr. Scholes earned an MS and PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.

Dr. Reza Vaziri

Job Titles:
  • Professor
Dr. Reza Vaziri is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, and served as Department Head from 2008 to 2014. He obtained his B.Sc. from the University of London, England (1982), and his M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of British Columbia (1985 and 1989), specializing in mechanics of fibre reinforced composite materials. Dr. Vaziri's research is focused on the development of analytical and numerical modelling techniques to simulate the manufacturing process of composite structures as well as their fracture and damage behaviour under service loads including high intensity impact and crash loadings.

Dr. Ricardo Foschi

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Dr. Terje Haukaas

Job Titles:
  • Professor
  • Structural & Earthquake Engineering

Edmund Tedford

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Elnaz Mani

Job Titles:
  • HR Assistant

Farah Rawas

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Felix Shuen

Job Titles:
  • Chemical Technician

Ferya Moayedi

Job Titles:
  • Executive Assistant to Dr. Nemy Banthia

Freda Moraes

Job Titles:
  • Manager, Head Office & Facilities

Genna Tutland

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student Support

Helen Yau

Job Titles:
  • Financial Processing Specialist

Iqbal H. Bhuiyan

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Jasmin Jelovica

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor

John Pao


John Wong

Job Titles:
  • Engineering Technician

Jongho Lee

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor / Environmental Systems Engineering

Jun Sang Song

Job Titles:
  • Engineering Technician

Ken Christison

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Kevin Veltheer

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Student Support

Krista Falkner

Job Titles:
  • Sessional Lecturer

Kwok Siu

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Leili Abkar

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Mahboubeh Mirzaei

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Mahdi Taiebat

Job Titles:
  • Professor and Associate Head ( Graduate Programs )

Manuella Romcy Melo


May Liu

Job Titles:
  • Senior Financial Processing Specialist

Mehrtash Motamedi

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate
  • Laboratory Engineer

Muhammad Abdul Faheem Sadeque

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Nazli Azimikor

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Negar Roghanian

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Nemkumar Banthia

Job Titles:
  • Professor / Structural Materials Engineering

Nina Ricci

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Noboru Yonemitsu

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor of Teaching

Pamela Wolf

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor of Teaching
  • Assistant Professor of Teaching / Engineering
Pamela Wolf, P.Eng. obtained her B.A.Sc. (Geophysics) and B.A. (English) from UBC and her M.Ed. (Adult Learning and Cultures of Curriculum) from SFU. Ms. Wolf works at the intersection of communication and design, with a focus on communication for collaboration, the community consultation process, storytelling, and leadership. Previous to her role at UBC, she co-founded and was CEO of the Engineering Leadership Council, whose programs were developed and scaled internationally under her leadership. Ms. Wolf was a board member of the UN Group Earth Charter Cities Canada and is an active leader with Engineers Without Borders. Ms. Wolf has also worked in major capital procurement strategy, negotiation, and facilitating executive decision making.

Patrick McGrath

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Paul Onkundi

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Perry Adebar

Job Titles:
  • Professor

Pouria Kourehpaz

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Puyan A. Zadeh

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Ramesh Pokharel

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Robert Sexsmith

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Roger Pieters

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Ruth Derksen

Job Titles:
  • Senior Instructor Emerita

Ryan Ziels

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor / Environmental Systems Engineering

Sabrina Draude

Job Titles:
  • Project & Construction Management

Salman Soleimani-Dashtaki

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Sanjei Chitravel

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Sara Beck

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor

Scott Jackson

Job Titles:
  • Director, Safety & Research Facilities

Shannon Remillong

Job Titles:
  • Coordinator, Pipeline Integrity Institute

Shayan Fahimi

Job Titles:
  • Sessional Lecturer

Sheeraz Marfatia

Job Titles:
  • Manager of Business Operations

Sheryl Staub-French

Job Titles:
  • Project & Construction Management

Shota Inoda

Job Titles:
  • Engineering Technician

Sidney Mindess

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Siegfried Stiemer

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Sietan Chieng

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus / Environmental Systems Engineering

Simon Drew

Job Titles:
  • Research Manager

Simon Lee

Job Titles:
  • Engineering Technician

Steven Weijs

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor

Susan Nesbit

Job Titles:
  • Professor of Teaching Emerita / Engineering Education for Sustainable Development

Svetlana Brzev

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Tamara Etmannski

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor of Teaching

Tarek Sayed

Job Titles:
  • Canada Research Chair in Transportation Safety and Advanced Mobility
  • Professor / Transportation Engineering

Terry Moser

Job Titles:
  • EERF Project Assistant ( Drs. C. Ventura and G. Lawrence )

Thomas Froese

Job Titles:
  • Honorary Affiliate Professor / Project & Construction Management

Timothy Rodgers

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Tony Yang

Job Titles:
  • Professor

Trevor Carey

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor

Troy Vassos

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

Uyen Nguyen

Job Titles:
  • Manager, Communications

Victor Lo

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Violeta Martin

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor

William Caselton

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Xiao Pan

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Yahya Nazhat

Job Titles:
  • Lecturer

Yamei Zhang

Job Titles:
  • Honorary Affiliate Professor

Yogi Vaid

Job Titles:
  • Professor Emeritus

Zeina Baalbaki

Job Titles:
  • Lecturer

Zhengbo Zou

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor / Project & Construction Management