10 impacts UBC Applied Science had in 2024
As 2025 begins, we look back on and celebrate the contributions that UBC Faculty of Applied Science researchers made last year to people’s lives, communities and our planet. Here are 10 stories from 2024 that showcase how UBC Applied Science research and discoveries are transforming lives and tackling global challenges.
1. Smart glove boosts stroke recovery
An interdisciplinary team involving electrical and computer engineer Dr. Peyman Servati unveiled a cutting-edge smart glove designed to improve hand mobility for stroke survivors. This wearable, washable device uses advanced sensors and robotics to assist in rehabilitation, offering a promising new avenue for patients to regain independence and functionality in their daily lives.
The glove represents a breakthrough in assistive technology, blending engineering innovation with medical expertise, with findings published in Nature Machine Intelligence.
2. New, culturally-grounded Indigenous parenting app
The School of Nursing's Dr. Wendy Hall, Indigenous Elders and members of the səxʷkn̓xitəlx k̓l̓ c̓əc̓málaʔ Central Okanagan Aboriginal Early Years Table launched a new app designed to support young Indigenous parents and contribute to revitalizing language within the Okanagan Nation community.
The Two-Eyed Seeing for Parents app combines Indigenous wisdom and contemporary knowledge, helping parents nurture their children while supporting language revitalization efforts.
3. Accelerating hydrogen innovation in BC
UBC Applied Science launched the Smart Hydrogen Energy District (SHED) this year, a state-of-the-art engineering research facility dedicated to advancing hydrogen energy technologies. Led by Dr. Walter Mérida in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, SHED is one of the first initiatives to combine hydro, solar and hydrogen energy at a single site, connecting these renewable energy sources to a unified micro-grid.
The facility highlights the Faculty’s leadership in sustainable energy research and commitment to tackling climate change.
4. Keeping outdoor play spaces cool
Protecting children from scorching sun and intense heat during outdoor play has taken on new urgency due to climate change. A “natural shade lookbook” from Susan Herrington and her students from the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture identifies the best trees, shrubs, and plants in BC to create natural shade, ensuring that children and families can safely enjoy outdoor activities.
5. Battery innovation takes centre stage
Dr. Jian Liu in the School of Engineering is leading a cutting-edge Battery Innovation Centre at UBC’s Okanagan campus. The centre focuses on advancing next-generation battery production and storage technologies that will critical to the energy transition, as the number of battery-powered devices people rely on continues to increase.
This initiative will place BC at the forefront of battery technology innovation and create more jobs for people through an inter-provincial circular economy.
6. All-in-one solution to catch and destroy “forever chemicals”
UBC chemical engineers developed an all-in-one solution to trap and treat PFAS substances—widely known as “forever chemicals”—in a single, integrated system. PFAS are widely used in manufacturing consumer goods, but are also pollutants found in surface and groundwater worldwide, where they have been linked to health issues.
Dr. Johan Foster and his team's breakthrough system makes it possible to remove and destroy these substances from the water supply before they can harm human health. This research was published in Nature's Communications Engineering.
7. Renewable energy: more popular than politicians realize
Research published in Nature Energy, co-authored by Dr. Holly Caggiano in the School of Community and Regional Planning, highlighted that local policymakers in the US routinely underestimate public support for renewable energy infrastructure. The study reveals strong local support in Pennsylvania for community-owned solar energy and projects that create jobs. The findings indicate a potential for change by focusing on community benefits.
8. Gender-diverse youth feel more welcome at home, less welcome in public
A report from nursing researchers Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, Dr. Annie Smith, and the McCreary Centre Society compared data from the 2018 and 2023 BC Adolescent Health Surveys, and found that while gender-diverse youth have seen improvements in family and community support, they still face higher rates of discrimination, harassment and bullying than cisgender peers in school and other spaces.
This work highlights the importance of creating inclusive environments and outlines what young people say they need to feel safe and supported.
9. Bringing clean water to a Kenyan school
In Kisii County, southwestern Kenya, collecting water was once a daily burden that defined the rhythm of life for children, who spent hours walking to creeks and springs that exposed them to waterborne diseases, and which left little time for schoolwork.
A new water treatment system developed in partnership with the community by civil engineering researchers Dr. Sara Beck and Dr. Paul Onkundi Nyangaresi, who grew up in the region, is now providing the community of 365 schoolchildren enough clean water for drinking and cooking needs everyday.
10. A more sustainable future for critical minerals
UBC Applied Science researchers are bringing their expertise in critical minerals to the Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials, a US $150-million research endeavour to fundamentally revolutionize how we produce, use and recycle the minerals needed for modern technologies and the clean energy transition.
As the only Canadian institution within the Centre, UBC experts will work in diverse, interdisciplinary teams with Imperial College London, the University of California, Berkeley, the Australian National University and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, to make critical mineral production and usage more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.
