UBC Engineering researchers receive over $2.2 million in funding from B.C. Knowledge Development Fund

Aerial view of UBC Vancouver campus looking north
December 16, 2025

UBC Engineering researchers were awarded over $2.2 million in funding from the Government of BC, the Province announced on December 15.  

Thirteen projects, including 11 from UBC Vancouver and two from UBC Okanagan, received funds for research infrastructure through the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF). The cutting-edge labs and equipment supported by the BCKDF help UBC Applied Science attract top researchers and innovators, and build impactful partnerships with industry. 

Also announced was support for projects related to Canada’s Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub, including two led by School of Biomedical Engineering researchers. AVENGER, co-led by School of Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Dr. Anna Blakney, aims to establish a national platform to rapidly develop and manufacture RNA vaccines. The Advanced Therapeutics Manufacturing Facility, co-led by Dr. Megan Levings, will provide a space on the UBC Vancouver campus for teams to engineer and manufacture next-generation therapies. 

A total of $15.4 million was invested into 71 UBC-led projects through the BCKDF. 

UBC Engineering-led projects:  

Kiana Amini (Materials Engineering) 
Advancing Redox Flow Battery Technology and Electrochemical Carbon Capture: A Parallel Development Approach  

Sara Beck (Civil Engineering) 
Microbial and Chemical Contaminant Removal in Decentralised Water Treatment Systems  

Qian Chen (School of Engineering) 
Digital Integration for Robotic Fabrication in Construction (DIRFIC to facilitate rapid affordable housing in Canada  

Adrien Desjardins (Mechanical Engineering) 
Foundational Infrastructure for Marine Robotics  

Govind Kaigala (School of Biomedical Engineering) 
Tissue microprocessing platform: Technologies to unravel heterogeneous interactions in Cancer  

Eric Lees (Chemical and Biological Engineering) 
Electrification of chemical manufacturing and separations  

Xiaoxiao Li (Electrical and Computer Engineering) 
Building a Decentralized Future with Foundation Models: Continual Learning and Monitoring at the Edge  

Dominic Liao-McPherson (Mechanical Engineering) 
Safe cooperation and co-existence for multi-agent robotic systems  

Joseph Salfi (Electrical and Computer Engineering) 
Quantum Computation and Networks with Spins  

Rachel Scholes (Civil Engineering) 
Stormwater infrastructure for treatment of emerging trace organic contaminants  

Alexandra Tavasoli (Mechanical Engineering) 
Engineering Solar-Driven Industrial Chemical Processes for the Net Zero Economy  

Klaske van Heusden (School of Engineering) 
Data-driven control for safety-critical applications  

Kefei Wen (Mechanical Engineering) 
Synthesis, Simulation, and Validation of an Advanced Macro-Mini Robotic System 

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UBC is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people (Musqueam; which means 'People of the River Grass') and Syilx Okanagan Nation. The land has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam and Syilx peoples, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history and traditions from one generation to the next.

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