UBC MEL MHLP Professional Leadership Master Degrees
Student Projects
Technical classes offer exciting opportunities for industry-driven projects where you will work with your peers to apply your knowledge to a real-world issue. Read about some recent projects where students used their technical and business knowledge to develop practical, innovative and sustainable solutions.
Student projects

Managing Scope For A Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion Project
MEL students reviewed scope management practices and proposed approaches for Metro Vancouver’s $2-billion investment to upgrade the Northwest Langley Wastewater Treatment Plant.
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HPB students compete in international design competition
A group of students in the Master of Engineering Leadership (MEL) in High Performance Buildings entered their capstone project into an international design challenge – and they were invited to compete in the finals in April 2023.
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Leaving diesel behind
Dean Gesuri’s capstone project for the Master of Engineering Leadership in Clean Energy Engineering modelled optimal scenarios for two First Nations communities in BC who want to transition away from diesel power to renewable energy sources.
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Assessing the feasibility of offshore green hydrogen production
Peter Shaw-Wood, a student in the Master of Engineering Leadership in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, set out to see if green hydrogen could be produced using ocean currents as the energy source.
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Innovative urban planning ideas for a sustainable community
Urban Systems students traveled to Edmonton to meet with city representatives and tour the 536-acre site. They returned to Vancouver with an assignment to propose practical and cost-effective innovations that would support Blatchford’s environmental, social and economic goals.
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Developing a speech-based VR application
For their capstone project, four students in the MEL in Dependable Software Systems program developed a working prototype of a note-taking tool for a virtual reality application that will be used by UBC medical students to learn about neuroanatomy.
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From mine tailings to magnets: students launch a green venture
After meeting in the Advanced Materials Manufacturing program, Felipe Blanco and Sangeeth Karuppiah developed an idea for a commercial venture. Their vision? To redefine tailings management by upcycling tailings storage facilities to produce critical value-added products for a low-carbon world.
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Improving the fault tolerance of machine learning models
Dependable Software Systems students tested how different machine learning models perform against mislabeled datasets. Their results were a surprise – showing that a current assumption among researchers about the best model for training machine learning was incorrect.
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Proposing retrofits to an historic building in Istanbul
For her capstone project in the High Performance Buildings program, Ezgi Yuruk H. offered more than a dozen suggestions for upgrading and retrofitting a 170-year-old building in Istanbul that is home for Istanbul Technical University’s Faculty of Architecture.
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Powering Mine Sites with Renewable Hydrogen
For the capstone project, Clean Energy Engineering student Umer Farooq evaluated the technical and economic viability of powering mine sites with renewable hydrogen – a solution that could significantly reduce a mine’s carbon footprint and allow for greater energy self-sufficiency.
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Evaluating the Feasibility of Green Ammonia Production
As part of their Venture Design Lab course, Sustainable Process Engineering students evaluate the technical and economic viability of a new sustainable process or product. Barry Kanchan looked at the feasibility of producing green hydrogen as a feedstock for a currently idled ammonia plant in Trinidad & Tobago.
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Combining the Science of Stability and Seakeeping
Working with a leading classification society, two Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering students developed a straightforward methodology to help design plan appraisal surveyors assess the likelihood of a loss of ship propulsion when high waves cause ships to incline at high angles.
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From wells to wheels: Seeing the big picture on emissions
Lighter vehicles have lower emissions. But as students in the Advanced Materials Manufacturing program discovered, reducing tailpipe emissions by choosing lighter-weight components can actually increase the overall carbon footprint of vehicles.
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Shining a light on asset management
Three students in the MEL in Urban Systems developed a streetlight asset management plan for the City of Surrey. With its assessment of the current state of the infrastructure and seven key recommendations, the plan can now be considered by the City to help meet the goals in its Sustainability Charter.
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Seeing data in new ways
Four MEL students used Tableau to develop an interactive tool on real estate trends in Metro Vancouver – and they’re excited about the opportunities to put their new data analysis and visualization skills to work.
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Creating A Biomass Energy Feasibility Study For A First Nations Community
Clean Energy Engineering student Harshil Trivedi conducted a biomass energy feasibility study for a First Nations community in northern Alberta.
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Developing A Water Safety Plan
Two MEL in Integrated Water Management students developed a comprehensive water safety plan for a small island community in British Columbia that addresses water quality risks from source to tap.
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Using machine learning to improve vessel fuel efficiency
Under the guidance of visiting professor Fredrik Ahlgren, two students from the Master of Engineering Leadership in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering worked on a project for BC Ferries to develop a machine learning model that can predict vessel fuel consumption.
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Implementing the BC Energy Step Code
As a Sustainability Scholar, Madhur Motwani advised a local municipality on ways to successfully implement the BC Energy Step Code for commercial buildings.
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Improving Naval Vessel Operations Through Data Visualization
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering student Gaby Marino completed a student project where she investigated the potential for data visualization software to streamline operations on naval vessels. She talked to us in August 2020 about her work.
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Energy Efficiency Review
As part of his capstone project in the MEL in High Performance Buildings program, Chris Moore took on the challenge of improving the energy efficiency of a recently built LEED Gold building on the UBC campus.
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Investigating the interplay of health policy and the built environment
A research project conducted by three Master of Engineering Leadership (MEL) in Urban Systems students explored whether designated smoke- and vape-free areas were successfully deterring people from lighting up.
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Generating change
For his capstone project in Clean Energy Engineering, Derek Oppedisano developed a business case for supplementing diesel-powered electricity generation with lithium ion battery storage in a remote community.
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Helping communities make informed energy decisions
For her capstone project, Anna Swanson analyzed the potential greenhouse gas emission reductions and financial implications of both supply-side and demand-side strategies for remote communities, and then developed a tool that they can use to determine where to begin investing.
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Whole-Building Energy Modelling
For their capstone project, students in the High Performance Buildings program developed energy models for a research lab in Prince George, BC, to explore the potential of three certification standards.
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Launching An Incubator Program for Startups in the Shipbuilding Industry
MEL students in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering hope to meet the needs of students, startups and large industry players.
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Making the Case for Solar-Powered Microgrid
MEL students apply their skills to optimize a solar-powered microgrid.
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Increasing Citizen Engagement through Free Public Wi-Fi
MEL in Urban Systems students worked with the City of New Westminster to explore the impact of added free public Wi-Fi zones.
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Holistically assessing Building Performance
MEL Clean Energy Engineering student Kerry Shaw piloted a tool to help UBC identify if new buildings are living up to expectations.
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Making the Business Case for fast-charging Fuel Stations
Student Swathi Bhat has ideas for how to make electric vehicle fast-charging stations more profitable — and more prevalent
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Edmonton Blatchford Site Redevelopment
Turning a brownfield site into a sustainable community: Students developed design concepts for sustainable, livable, mixed-use multimodal and innovative neighbourhoods
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Research to Action: Advancing Urban Sustainability
MEL students participated in the “Research to Action: Advancing Urban Sustainability” conference
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Bringing Wind Power up to Speed
Student project finds ways to remove limits from one of Canada’s most valuable energy sources
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Using Unconventional Energy Sources to fuel District Energy
A student’s project underlines the benefits of district energy, and the innovative ways in which clean energy can work
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