Innovation September-October 2023

The 2023 Engineers and Geoscientists BC Awards recognize the outstanding professional, technical, and community contributions of registrants and firms. We are pleased to announce the winners of the McLachlan Award, the Westerman Award, the Meritorious Achievement Award, the Lambert Award for Volunteer Service, the Young Professional Award, the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award, and the Innovation in Sustainability Award.

THE MERITORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD PHALGUNI MUKHOPADHYAYA, PhD, P.ENG.

THE LAMBERT AWARD FOR VOLUNTEER SERVICE ABDOLHAMID GHANBARI, PhD, P.ENG., FEC

The recipient of the Meritorious Achievement Award, Dr. Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya, P.Eng., sets research into action. A professor in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Victoria, Phalguni's highly regarded research has sparked building envelope advancements in moisture management and thermal insulation around the world. "My professional goals are focused on the development of construction

Over his 40-year career, Dr. Abdolhamid (Hamid) Ghanbari, P.Eng., FEC, has worked in project management and building design as well as research, teaching, and curriculum development in Canadian universities and colleges. He is principal and senior project manager at EduBuild Solutions, which he founded in 2011. His extensive volunteer experience

goes back to 1999. He has had a positive impact on many local and immigrant engineers and students, especially at the Iranian Engineers of BC Association (IEBCA), where he has served on the board of directors since 2017, including president for two years. His mentorship has helped many find their direction, navigate the professional registration system and pursue meaningful professional engineering careers. He is known for his dedication, support and commitment. "Volunteering helped me stay connected with the community as I learned and developed while helping others besides my professional work practice," Hamid says. "Volunteering without any reward expectations helped me delve into problems more deeply and help others more effectively, and thus experiencing a good feeling myself." Hamid's volunteer experience includes Engineers and Geoscientists BC, where he has taken roles in nomination, registration, professional development, and mentoring—earning the organization's 2021 Mentor of the Year award. He has also been an executive member of the Richmond/Delta Branch since 2012 (chair 2015-2016) and the organization's liaison on the Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair Committee since 2015. At the City of Richmond, he served on the Board of Variance (2006-2018) and the Richmond Community Services Advisory Committee (2011-2018). He has also been part of the Annual Conference and AGM Planning Committee of the BC Building Envelope Council since 2013. He has been the “voice of patients” on various committees and councils of Vancouver Coastal Health, Doctors of BC, and BC Patient Safety and Quality Council since 2009. "I am honoured to receive this special award," Hamid says. "This award means a lot to me. It tells me that love and social values and devotion to the community is honoured, and it encourages me to continue and improve upon my professional engagement with the community. Thanks to the organizations and individuals who trusted and provided me with volunteering opportunities and thanks to Engineers and Geoscientists BC for promoting volunteerism."

technologies for low-carbon building envelopes and structures," said Phalguni. "It is of utmost importance for me and all global citizens to innovate, design, and construct low-carbon buildings and structures, which can retard and reverse the drivers of climate change." Phalguni started his professional research career at the National Research Council Canada in 1999 and moved to the University of Victoria in 2015. He has attained national and international stature as a leading expert in advanced thermal insulation materials, bio-based building materials, hygrothermal properties of building envelope materials, moisture management in exterior building envelopes, and energy audit of buildings. He is a sought-after speaker and received the 2022 professor of the year award from ASTM, the international standards organization. Starting with the leaky condo issue in BC in the late 1990s, Phalguni helped develop moisture design guidelines that were applicable in all climates. From that, Phalguni also worked on developing a durability index to analyze results and create solutions. Phalguni also introduced the concept of vacuum insulation panels to Canada and wrote the first research paper on alternative core materials in construction. One of his nominators, UVic colleague Dr. T. Aaron Gulliver, P.Eng., noted about Phalguni: "Typically, he starts with finding a solution for a pressing issue impacting the local/global construction industry and validates it through laboratory experiments and modelling studies. Thereafter, he takes those solutions to field applications, and this is where he stands out among his peers." The Meritorious Achievement Award recognizes Phalguni's achievements. "This award means a lot to me for two reasons. First, the evaluation criteria, which is weighted 80 percent for professional and technical achievements in engineering, and second, it is administered by an organization which has over 40,000 members who are practicing engineers and geoscientists in BC. It also means added motivation to work even harder."

I N N O V A T I O N

S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3

1 9