The School of Sustainable Energy Engineering (SEE) hosted the inaugural SEE Graduate Student Research Conference on May 10 at the SFU Surrey Engineering building, sponsored by University Canada West and supported by volunteers from the IEEE Student Branch.

The conference began with a keynote address by Melina Scholefield, executive director of the Metro Vancouver Zero Emissions Innovation Centre, who emphasized the importance of leadership in advancing innovative technologies.

Organized by an executive committee comprising members of the SEE Graduate Student Association (SEEGSA), the Graduate Program Committee (GPC), the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC) and the Scientific Committee, the conference featured 16 individual research presentations and 19 poster presentations. These sessions showcased innovative ideas and research initiatives aimed at promoting a sustainable future. Over 80 registrations, including students, faculty, and industry professionals participated in the conference.

The awards for the best presentations were as follows:

1. Reza Farzam ($2000): Modelling and Analysis of Hydrogen-Diesel Dual-Fuel Engines: An Approach to Accelerate Heavy-Duty Long-Haul Trucks Near-Term Decarbonization
2. Yameena Naqvi ($1500): Boil-Off Management of Liquid Hydrogen Tanks Using Ionic Liquid Compression System
3. Omar Nemir ($1000): Optimizing Micro-Engineered Textures on Silicon Enhances CO2 Capture

The top three posters, which all tied, were:

• Ali Azimi ($1000): Optimal Water Film Cooling of a PV Module in Real Ambient Conditions
• Negaar Razzaghi ($1000): Emission Modeling to Quantify Contribution of Diesel Truck High Emitters to Local Air Quality
• Trevor Barnes ($1000): Emission Reduction Options for Near-Term Targets

The conference successfully highlighted SEE’s cutting-edge research and innovation in interdisciplinary fields such as innovative vehicle technologies and energy sources, carbon capture and sequestration, use of material science in sustainability, energy and atmospheric modeling, photovoltaics, smart power grids, hydrogen and fuel cells, the nexus of water, energy, and food, and sustainable vehicle-track interaction.